Deal-Driven Migration

Abstract: This article examines the burgeoning volume and significance of transactional migration deals, analyzing their geopolitical and human rights implications. Drawing on an array of historical and contemporary examples, the piece contextualizes the European Union’s proposed external return hubs and Common European System of Returns. Contemporary migration deals represent a systematic abandonment of post-war human rights principles and refugee protection frameworks, facilitated by formal treaties and informal arrangements that often bypass legal safeguards. These arrangements frequently involve asymmetric power relations, euphemistic humanitarian language masking coercive practices, and the complicity of international organizations. With climate change and rising conflicts projected to increase displacement pressures, these transactional approaches threaten to further erode liberal ordering principles while institutionalizing forced population transfers as legitimate policy instruments.