UNITED NATIONS, Dec 2 (APP):A Global Compact on migration has to be ‘truly global’ but it also has to take into account the regional specifics, given the very diverse nature of the phenomenon, a senior United Nations official on international migration has said.
“There are some 250 million migrants in the world and they move and settle in very different circumstances,”
Louise Arbour, the UN Special Representative for International Migration, said ahead of a meeting on the
Global Compact, to be held Monday in Mexican city of Puerto Vallarta.
“If you look at Asia for instance, even within the continent there are lots of different configurations of migrant
workers: people who move permanently, others who move temporarily but sometimes for decades with the
expectation of coming back home,” she explained.
At the three-day stocktaking meeting, UN Member States, civil society and other stakeholders will jointly
shape a vision for the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration.
They will review the outcomes and recommendations gathered during the consultations phase of the
Global Compact, held between April and November this year, as well as look at the process going
forward.
Enumerating her hopes from the meeting, Ms. Arbour said that the Puerto Vallarta is the ‘last opportunity’
for Member States to ‘express clearly to each other’ what their expectations are.
“We will probably be in a better position coming out of this meeting to understand where the work has to
be done were there still room for potential disagreements or more problematic area. So I think it’s a
critical really important step towards a Global Context.”
Migration compact must balance regional, global realities, says UN envoy
