Cooperation Arrangements on Migration (CAMs) Dataset
The CAMs Dataset collects agreements designed to manage and securitize migration through international cooperation. Covering over 300 negotiated agreements from 10 frontier states with more than 90 parters across five continents from 1990 to 2023, CAMs are negotiated to control migration by equating irregular migration to other forms of criminal activity, often solely focusing on irregular migration as a security issue. More specifically, I define CAMs along three dimensions. They are restrictive in direction: their object is to reduce and deter irregular arrivals, not to open, regularize, or protect channels of movement. They are securitized in method: they operate through police, border, military, and intelligence cooperation rather than through labor, development, or humanitarian instruments. Lastly, they are enforcement-oriented in content: they commit signatories to interdiction, surveillance, readmission, and capacity-building for control. The dataset records an array of key details including the date of enforcement, signatories, concessions, and implementation commitments.
By documenting the full universe of traceable bilateral migration-security bargains, this approach expands the empirical foundations for studying the externalization of migration control and foreign policy co-optation through bilateral means. Its systematic coding enables researchers to analyze the frequency, mode, and selectivity of cooperation beyond migration pressure, revealing how states strategically deploy diplomacy, aid, and security ties to manage mobility. For example, 67% of recorded CAMs are enacted with non-democratic partners and more than a third with closed autocracies.
Funding:
The data collection was supported by the University of California Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation (IGCC) and the Institute for Humane Studies (IHS) under grant no. IHS018335.