(Minister for the Middle
East): I am writing to update the House on the UK’s
endorsement of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular
Migration, which we will announce at the intergovernmental launch
event in Marrakesh on 10 December.
Overview
Well-managed migration is in everyone’s interests. But
uncontrolled migration erodes public confidence, damages
economies, and places people on the move in situations of great
vulnerability. The UK is taking significant steps, including with
our ODA-funded programming, to tackle uncontrolled migration by:
- Addressing the root causes of migration, through our targeted
assistance for livelihoods, healthcare, education and economic
development;
- Tackling modern slavery and organised immigration crime;
- Supporting enhanced border management overseas;
- Providing critical humanitarian support and protection for
vulnerable migrants, as well as offering voluntary return and
vital reintegration support to those wishing to return home; and
- Supporting refugees to stay in a first safe country through
our humanitarian and development work in Africa, the Middle East
and Asia.
The Global Compact for Migration embeds these efforts within the
international system and enhances cooperation between states
whilst reaffirming the sovereign right of all countries to
control their own borders. The Compact is not legally binding. It
creates a framework to allow countries to work together to make
global migration more beneficial for everyone.
UK Endorsement of the Global Compact for Migration
On 10 December, the UK will endorse the Global Compact for
Migration (GCM) at the intergovernmental launch event in
Marrakech.
The Migration Compact marks a major milestone for the
international community. No country can address the challenges
presented by illegal migration on its own and an agreement on
this scale, with the overwhelming support of the international
community including endorsements from 165 other UN Member States
including France, Germany, Canada and Japan, highlights the need
for global co-operation.
The Compact will not, and is not intended to, affect our
continued ability to determine and implement our own migration
policy in our national interest. The Compact will not in any way
create legal obligations for States, nor does it seek to
establish international customary law or further interpret
existing treaties or national obligations. It protects every
country’s right to determine its own immigration policies,
including in areas such as asylum, border controls and returns of
illegal migrants. The GCM emphasises that migrants are entitled
to the same universal human rights as any human being, and does
not create any new ‘rights’ for migrants. As a result, the UK
does not interpret the Compact as being in conflict with its
current domestic policies. At the same time, the Compact will
help us take important steps to keep migrants around the world
safe and to protect the most vulnerable, domestically and
overseas, who can become victims of modern slavery. The Compact
also sets out actions to harness the economic benefits of safer,
regular migration, for example by reducing the costs of
remittances that migrants send home.
I believe the end result serves the UK’s national interest. The
Prime Minister set out the UK’s priorities for global migration
reform in 2016 and, taken together, the Refugee Compact and the
Migration Compact help embed these priorities into global
migration governance. In practice, that means a Refugee Compact
that helps ensure refugees can claim asylum in the first safe
country they reach. And a Migration Compact which makes a clear
distinction between refugees and migrants, and which sets out a
well-managed global migration system confirming the sovereign
right of States to control their borders and the clear
responsibility of States to accept the return of their nationals
who no longer have the right to remain elsewhere.
It also includes proposals which will help the UK make a strong
contribution to the delivery of the global Sustainable
Development Goals, including through our ODA-funded programming.
This includes those relating to orderly, safe, regular and
responsible migration and mobility of people; and those intended
to eradicate forced labour, modern slavery and human trafficking,
and child labour.
Next Steps
After the political launch in Marrakesh, the document will need
to adopted by the UN General Assembly in New York. As part of
this process, the UK will issue an Explanation of Position,
alongside likeminded EU Member States which will publicly capture
the UK’s interpretation of the text.
