Walls Won't Work. International Law for Sustainable Migration

Abstract

In this essay I argue that to find sustainable solutions for handling international migration it is necessary to develop fundamental international principles on migration as a basis for global governance and international law. The essay briefly discusses general aspects of migration and migration law and then distinguishes three aspects that need to be addressed: the realities of international migration; the need of guiding principles; the need for gradual changes in international law that reflect the fact that issues such as international migration can only be solved at an international level through a system of law that finds a better balance between international law as the law of and for states and international law as the law of the international human society.

Keywords: migration, migration law, development of international law, principles of international law, sustainable society

JEL Classification: K33, K37, F22, K30, K40, F51, F53