Migration, inequalities and the Sustainable Development Goals

In this paper we start by considering SDG10 on Reduced Inequalities, arguing that the reference to facilitating ‘orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration and mobility of people, including through the implementation of planned and well-managed migration policies’ speak less to the experiences and interests of people on the move and more to the approaches of governments towards migrants; it prioritises migrants who move through legal means over those who do not or cannot and so are seen as ‘irregular.’ We then broaden the discussion of inequalities to consider SDG1, with its focus on eradicating poverty, making the case for a more inclusive approach that takes account of mobility and migrants in each of its targets and indicators. We discuss mobility as a means by which many people seek to realise the outcomes for themselves that SDG1 envisions. This kind of inclusion must take place if there is any chance of seeing significant progress either in eradicating poverty or reducing inequalities.