dChan - Q Origins Project Archive

ANTÓNIO GUTERRES, United Nations Secretary-General, said this Conference marks the inspiring product of dedicated and painstaking efforts. “You are here because you recognize the importance of this Compact as a road map to prevent suffering and chaos, and to provide cooperation strategies that will benefit all,” he said. “But, there have been many falsehoods about the agreement and the overall issue of migration. So let me begin by dispelling a few myths.”

The Global Compact is not a treaty and is not legally binding, he said, addressing a myth that the agreement will allow the United Nations to impose migration policies on Member States, infringing on their sovereignty. Rather, the Global Compact is a framework for international cooperation, rooted in an intergovernmental process of negotiation in good faith, which specifically reaffirms the principle of State sovereignty, including the sovereign right of States to determine their national migration policy and their prerogative to govern migration within their jurisdiction, in conformity with international law. Turning to more examples of false myths, he said South-South migration is in fact larger than South-North movements of people, and developed countries actually need migration. On the latter issue, he said that, in places where fertility is declining and life expectancy is rising, economies will stagnate and people will suffer without migration.

“So let us move from myth to reality; that is precisely what the Compact does,” he said, highlighting that, while more than 80 per cent of the world’s migrants move between countries in a safe and orderly fashion, unregulated migration bears a terrible human cost. “More than 60,000 migrants have died on the move since the year 2000. This is a source of collective shame. And of course, behind every number is a person, a woman, a child, a man, who simply dream for what any of us dream ‑ opportunity, dignity and a better life.”

Whether their movement is voluntary or forced, he said, all human beings must have their rights respected. To deny this is the road to dehumanization and horror. “We must not succumb to fear or false narratives,” he said. Societies are stronger, more resilient and enriched, not threatened, by diversity, which must be nurtured as a way to counter the current groundswell of racism and xenophobia. The Global Compact rests on two simple ideas ‑ that migration has always existed and, in a world where it is ever more inevitable and necessary, it should be well managed and safe, not irregular and dangerous, and that national policies are far more likely to succeed with international cooperation.

Elaborating on these ideas, he said the Global Compact aims at assisting migrants, their communities of origin and host nations while recognizing the importance of remittances from a development perspective. Indeed, funds migrants send home represent triple the amount of public development assistance and 85 per cent of their income is spent in their new communities. It also emphasizes a need to establish legal ties that open job markets and combat trafficking and exploitation.

Migration should be an act of choice, not of desperation, he said, adding that the Global Compact proposes a framework for development strategies in countries of origin. Moreover, it considers the voice of women and girls, who make up half of the world’s 260 million migrants, while offering measures to prepare for imminent challenges, including the movement of people affected by climate change, and is based on the principles of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Along with the Global Compact on Refugees, he said, the Global Compact for Migration provides a platform for humane, sensible, mutually beneficial action.

“It is true that some States are not with us today,” he said. “I can only hope that they will see the Compact’s value for their own societies and join us in this common venture.” Welcoming the overwhelming global support for the Compact, he said: “Let’s work together for a safer, less fearful and more prosperous future for both our own societies and for the world’s migrants. That means for us all.”

Marrakech meeting Dec 10