The ‘2018 Global Compact for Migration’ and the Political and Electoral Rights of Migrants. A missed opportunity?

On 19 December 2018, the UN General Assembly approved Resolution 73/195 endorsing the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (Global Compact for Migration or GCM). Despite its non-binding status, the GCM has raised strong expectations and attracted criticism on various grounds, much of which has been commented upon elsewhere. One of the most overlooked, yet crucially relevant, aspects is the lack of attention devoted to migrants’ exercise of their political rights. The granting of these rights is an essential tool to both promote inclusion and integration of migrants in the receiving societies and also to ease their future voluntary return to their home countries. The GCM represented a unique occasion to stress the importance of these rights in the interest of both States and the migrants themselves. A closer look at the content of the GCM highlights that, unfortunately, this important opportunity was missed.