10 December 2018•Update: 10 December 2018
By Khaled Majdoub
MARRAKESH
UN member states on Monday adopted a global migration agreement, Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita announced on Monday.
“The Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM)” was adopted during a two-day UN conference attended by world leaders and high-profile officials in the Moroccan city of Marrakesh.
“The pact was approved by majority of votes and without opposition from any country,” Bourita told a press conference.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the agreement would be a roadmap to address the problems facing migrants.
"This moment is the inspiring product of dedicated and painstaking efforts," Guterres told participants in the conference.
"Migration has always been with us. But in a world where it is ever more inevitable and necessary, it should be well managed and safe, not irregular and dangerous," he said.
"National policies are far more likely to succeed with international cooperation," Guterres said, going on to warn of the high number of deaths of irregular migration, with the number of migrants standing at 60,000 who have died since 2000.
Many countries participating in the UN conference have refused to sign the non-binding charter, notably Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Bulgaria, Croatia, the U.S., Hungary, Australia and Israel.
The compact includes a series of principles, including the defense of human rights, the rights of children, the recognition of national sovereignty, an index to assist the countries in addressing migration, and measures to improve the integration of migrants and the exchange of experiences.
