BEYOND BORDERS: MIGRATION, HUMAN SECURITY, AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF GLOBAL SECURITY GOVERNANCE

Abstract

The relationship between international migration and global security governance is becoming more complex and is now shaping perceptions of borders, sovereignty and national security. The relationship between migration, human security and transformation of global security governance has been studied focusing on the notion of migrant vulnerability, securitization, border governance, migrant protection, and international cooperation. The study adopted a qualitative documentary research design and involved analyzing a purposively selected sample of 60 academic documents and policy documents mainly published from 2020 to 2026. Thematic analysis was used in the analysis of the data with a human security perspective as well as a human security perspective. Thematic analysis was used in the analysis using the Human security perspective and the Securitization perspective of the data. These analyses revealed that 46 documents (76.7%) dealt with human security and migrant vulnerability, 43 documents (71.7%) with migration securitization, 39 documents (65.0%) with border governance and border control, 37 documents (61.7%) with migrant rights and protection, 34 documents (56.7%) with international cooperation and multi-level governance, and 31 documents (51.7%) with the transformation of global security governance. The last five years of literature (2024–2026) contained 35 documents (58.3%), showing a pronounced focus on the current developments in migration security in recent years. The results showed shifts toward governance approaches that engrained national security with human protection, rights, dignity and international cooperation, in order to facilitate migration. The research found that the "security governance" process was becoming more multidimensional and multi-level, but state-centered securitization and border control still had a strong influence. A balanced framework with human-centered approach may provide a better governance of migration and tackle reasonable security concerns.