Migration is getting riskier even as progress is made
Key takeaways
- The Global Compact is working, but shifting routes are making journeys more dangerous.
- Adopted in 2018, the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration is the first international agreement aimed at making migration safer and more humane through cooperation.
- Across the Mediterranean, arrival numbers alone can be misleading.
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
The Global Compact is working, but shifting routes are making journeys more dangerous.
xwhatsapp-strokecopylinkgoogle Add Al Jazeera on Googleinfo. An inflatable 'small boat' carrying migrants crosses the channel after leaving northern France on April 27, 2026 in Dover, England [Dan Kitwood/Getty Images]As governments gather in New York for the second International Migration Review Forum (IMRF) to assess progress on global migration commitments, a central question looms: is the Global Compact for Migration improving conditions for people on the move?
Adopted in 2018, the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration is the first international agreement aimed at making migration safer and more humane through cooperation. For the Middle East and North Africa, the International Organization for Migration’s Global Overview of Migration Routes (2025), which tracks migration patterns, risks and deaths along major routes worldwide, offers a mixed picture. Some routes are shifting, but the risks people face remain severe, and in some cases are worsening.