International organizations and global migration governance

Rapid population growth, the advancement of technologies, war and conflicts, decolonisation, economic crises and other significant events have had implications for the patterns and governability of population movements. Accordingly, this dissertation tells the story of how migration has evolved as a global policy issue since 1919. Drawing on interviews with key actors involved in global-level discussions on migration and the United Nations (UN) archives, the dissertation investigates how migration became a global governance issue and the role played by the UN in this process. It also offers a methodological toolkit that could be applied to other global policy issues.
The dissertation provides a historical understanding of the emergence of global migration governance which is of use to students and policymakers alike. Accordingly, the materials in the dissertation have already been integrated into several of the educational programmes at UNU-MERIT and the Maastricht Graduate School of Governance, including in a capacity building training programme for government officials in Kosovo (September 2020).