Intergovernmental conference on the adoption of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration
The intergovernmental conference on the adoption of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration took place in Marrakech on December 10-11, 2018 . On Monday, December 10th, the pact was acclaimed by representatives of 164 governments. The Compact is to be endorsed at the General Assembly of the United Nations . According to the conference's decision, the pact is also to be referred to as the " Marrakech Compact on Migration ".
Conference background
In a press conference on December 9th, Louise Arbor , UN Secretary-General's Special Representative on International Migration, announced that over 150 countries and over 400 NGOs and international organizations would be attending the conference. The Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) was developed as an initiative of the member states of the UN. The background to this was the experience of migration and refugee movements in previous years, in which, on the one hand, a large number of people lost their lives and, on the other hand, some governments lost control of their borders. The central goal of the pact is better management of migration. The pact comprehensively covers essential aspects of migration, from the need to reduce migration, to the protection of migrants in transit and destination countries, and to the need for safe and sustainable return procedures. Each state should implement its own migration priorities. The pact recognizes that each state experiences migration differently, it strengthens the prerogative of the individual states to shape their own immigration policy at their own discretion.
The UN special envoy for international migration Louise Arbor made the following points clear: The pact does not create the right to migration; he does not impose anything on the states; it is also not a question of so-called " soft law "; it is not legally binding; he expressly allows states to distinguish between regular and irregular migrants as they see fit.
procedure
The general debate was opened by 18 heads of state or government, including: Angela Merkel (Germany), Lars Løkke Rasmussen (Denmark), Alexis Tsipras (Greece), Charles Michel (Belgium), Pedro Sánchez (Spain) and Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin . A total of 81 ministers take part in the conference.
The conference consisted of two parts. In the plenary debate on December 10th and 11th, the member states explained their political commitment, their positions and their interpretations of the Global Compact for Migration . Two dialogues focused on concrete implementation initiatives and partnerships at all levels and with all relevant stakeholders . Both panels were interactive, each with a keynote speaker and three panelists.
On December 10th, a special event commemorated the 70th anniversary of human rights , which was adopted on December 10th, 1948.
Statements (selection)
In the opening statement, the UN Secretary General António Guterres emphasized that the pact is aimed particularly at the 20% (approx. 50 million) worldwide illegal migrants. It is also about avoiding human suffering during migration - over 60,000 migrants have lost their lives since 2000. The pact is historic as it gives the UN the ability to work effectively with UN member states on migration issues. The UN Secretary-General said there had been "a lot of untruths" about the agreement and "the general issue of migration" in recent months. To dispel the "myths", he said that the GCM does not allow the United Nations to impose migration policies on member states and that the pact is not a formal treaty either.
The German Chancellor Angela Merkel declared in her speech that it was "a good sign that we are dealing with the fate of the many millions of migrants worldwide." Merkel addressed "fears" that were being stoked around the world in order to discredit the migration pact. “It is worth remembering that the United Nations was created as a result of World War II,” which was the answer to “pure nationalism”. It is worth fighting for the UN migration pact and thus for a "clear commitment to multilateralism ", said Merkel.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ https://www.zeit.de/politik/ausland/2018-12/marrakesch-marroko-migrationspakt-un-gipfel-verendung
- ^ UN General Assembly: Outcomes of the Conference. A /CONF.231/L.1, 10 December 2018.
- ^ Remarks by Louise Arbor, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for International Migration, 9th December
- ^ Journal of the United Nations. No.1, GCM.
- ↑ UN News Governments adopt global migration pact to help 'prevent suffering and chaos', December 10th
- ↑ Angela Merkel: "Legal Migration Creates Prosperity" . Zeit Online, December 10, 2018.