Members of the United Nations (UN) are scheduled to meet from the 10th-11th December 2018 in Marrakesch, Morrocco to adopt the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration.
Leading up to the adoption of the compact at the General Assembly has seen a varied and growing response from ambivalence and support to reservation and boycotting from UN members states.
The Global Compact is a non-binding document which will be adopted by UN Member states except for the United States of America. The document is grounded in values of non-discrimination and human right. It recognises the need for co-operation between states and the need to prioritise the benefits of migration while recognising the challenges and difficulties for all those in countries of origin, transit and host. This document is important as it will be a guiding principle for cross-border migration policy across the world. It will impact and influence policy in the fields of labour, immigration, detention, security, remittances among others.
Read the document here
IOM Director General William Lacy Swing at a Global Compact meeting earlier this year stated that ‘The Global Compact is a historic opportunity to achieve a world in which migrants move as a matter of genuine choice. It’s time for the international community to come together to more responsibly and humanely manage the movement of people’
The Global Compact serves as an important opportunity for civil society organisations and grassroots organisations working in the field of migration to monitor and report on the impact and importance of these principles. Watch this video to hear more.