Majority of UN countries still signed up
MARRAKESH: More than 150 countries will join a United Nations conference to adopt a global pact to better handle migrant flows, a senior UN official said yesterday, less than the number that initially worked on the plan.
In July, all 193 UN members except the US finalised the socalled Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration to better handle migration.
Since then, the text has come under fire from European politicians. At least six European Union members have shunned the accord.
UN Special Representative for International Migration Louise Arbour said more than 150 governments had registered for the event in the Moroccan city of Marrakesh.
The pact is not legally binding but can provide useful guidance for countries facing migration, she said.
‘‘Many challenges will stand in the way of its implementation, not least the toxic and illinformed narrative that too often persists when it comes to migrants,’’ she said.
In the latest political turmoil over the pact, Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel relaunched his government yesterday as a minority administration after the biggest party in his coalition quit in a dispute over signing the compact. The rightwing NVA pulled its ministers after Michel refused its demand that he not agree to the pact.
Also yesterday, Chile’s Interior Ministry Subsecretary Rodrigo Ubilla told El Mercurio newspaper that the country’s representatives would not attend the event, saying: ‘‘We have said that migration is not a human right. Countries have a right to determine the entry requirements for foreign citizens.’’
In November, Austria’s rightwing government, which holds the EU presidency, said it would also withdraw.
Australia said it would not sign up to the agreement because it would compromise its hardline immigration policy and endanger national security.
The Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration and aims to reduce illegal migration, help integrate migrants and return them to their home countries. — Reuters