Global Forum on Migration: a New Stage of State Cooperation on Forced Migration

Introduction. The 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees is the legal basis of the global system of international protection of forced migrants, but it does not cover all contemporary aspects of international legal regulation of forced migration. UN member states cannot agree on the adoption of a new international legal act of universal character that would replace the 1951 Convention, which was adopted more than seven decades ago [13. P. 4-5]. “Migration crisis” of 2015–2016 forced the world community to return to the search for solutions to the problems of international legal regulation of forced migration. First, UN member states adopted the New York Declaration on Refugees and Migrants in 2016. According to Annex I to the Declaration, UNHCR was tasked with developing a new international legal act on forced migration within two years. The UNHCR, as part of its annual report in 2018, presented a draft Global Compact on Refugees, which was adopted by the UN General Assembly. Global Compact on Refugees drafted by UNHCR, although not legally binding, enshrined mechanisms for equitable burden-sharing among states. One such mechanism is the Global Refugee Forum, which is to be held every four years. This article focuses on the first and second Global Refugee Forums and their outcomes, which took place in 2019 and 2023.
Materials and methods. The methodological basis of the study was the following general scientific and special methods of cognition of legal phenomena and processes: historical and legal comparative method; method of system-structural analysis; formal logical method.
Research Findings. The analysis revealed that the Global Compact on Refugees 2018 is the compromise that UN member states agreed to. It is not legally binding. One of the main problems that continue to the present day is the lack of mechanisms for equitable burden and responsibility sharing among states. The Global Compact enshrined mechanisms for predictable and equitable burden and responsibility sharing among all UN member states. One of these is the Global Refugee Forum.
Discussion and Conclusion. In the study, the authors formulated the preconditions for the adoption and analyzed the content of the Global Compact on Refugees 2018, and substantiated the importance of the Compact at the current stage of international legal regulation of forced migration. It is established that this Compact does not completely eliminate the problem of unfair burden sharing. The authors analyze the activities of the first and second Global Forum on Refugees, concluding that the forum has its own mechanisms for summarizing results, analyzing achievements, and biannual meetings of high-level officials are envisaged. The authors conclude that such a mechanism could have a positive impact on improving international legal regulation of forced migration and providing international protection to forced migrants.  

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