UN members sign global migration pact after 10 countries shun deal over sovereignty fears

The non-binding deal was agreed by all 193 UN countries, except the United States, in July. But in the months that followed, 15 more nations have either pulled out or expressed concerns over the impact of the agreement on sovereignty and ability to control their borders. At a signing ceremony in Marrakesh today, the deal was described by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres as a ”roadmap to prevent suffering and chaos”.

He reiterated the pact “is not legally binding” and includes specific measures which “reaffirms the principle of state sovereignty”.

Mr Guterres also hit out at the “fear and false narratives” surrounding the deal.

The UN migration pact, officially the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, sets out a series of shared goals aimed at better managing the estimated 258 million migrants living outside their country of birth.

These goals include providing access to basic services for migrants, improving integration for new arrivals, combatting people trafficking and coordinating how to send migrants home.

A total of 164 nations signed up to the agreement today – including the UK – but none are legally bound to make good on the goals.

However 10 countries, mostly in Eastern Europe, have pulled out.

Six more, including Israel and Bulgaria, are debating whether to quit, a UN spokesman said after the pact was adopted.

Work on the deal began in 2015 at the height of the migrant crisis which saw more than one million people, many fleeing war-torn Syria or poverty in Africa, arrive in Europe.

But President Donald Trump’s administration last year said it would not be taking part on the grounds the pact was not compatible with US sovereignty.

The United States on Friday had hit out at the deal, labelling it “an effort by the United Nations to advance global governance at the expense of the sovereign right of states”.

Since then, other nations have said the pact could increase immigration from African and Arab countries.

Australia, Austria, the Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Poland and Slovakia have already pulled out.

Austria’s right-wing government said it would not sign up because the pact would blur the line between legal and illegal migration.

Chile became the latest country to shun the deal when it withdrew on Sunday.

Angela Merkel, accused by critics of worsening the refugee crisis by opening Germany’s borders in 2015, said cooperation was the only answer to tackle the world’s problems.

Speaking in Marrakesh today she said: “The pact is worth fighting for.

“It’s about time that we finally tackle migration together.”

Without naming Mr Trump or his “America First” policy, the German leader said multilateralism is the way “to make the world a better place”.