Wow! Trump withdraws US from UN Compact on migration/refugees

The United States has announced it is withdrawing from the Global Compact on Migration. The non-binding UN migration pact was meant to boost international cooperation on migration issues.

US President Donald Trump’s administration has withdrawn the United States from a United Nations pact to coordinate and improve international migration and refugee issues, the US mission to the global body said.

“Today, the US Mission to the United Nations informed the UN Secretary-General that the United States is ending its participation in the Global Compact on Migration,” the US mission to the UN said.

In September 2016, all 193 UN member states of the General Assembly adopted the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants. [You may remember that was Obama’s big show at the UN.—ed]

The non-binding declaration includes a set of pledges to protect migrants, foster migrant integration, develop guidelines on the treatment of vulnerable migrants and strengthen global governance of migration, among other issues.

“The New York Declaration contains numerous provisions that are inconsistent with US immigration and refugee policies and the Trump Administration’s immigration principles. As a result, President Trump determined that the United States would end its participation in the Compact process that aims to reach international consensus at the UN in 2018,” the US statement said.

US Ambassador Nikki Haley said, “America is proud of our immigrant heritage and long-standing leadership” on supporting migrants and refugees.

“No country has done more than the United States, and our generosity will continue. But our decisions on immigration policies must always be made by Americans and Americans alone,” she added. “We will decide how best to control our borders and who will be allowed to enter our country. The global approach in the New York Declaration is simply not compatible with US sovereignty.”

... The GCM must offer a framework for protecting the human rights of migrants and integrating them in the places to which they move—often for the purposes of finding employment—while also helping combat xenophobia, racism, and discrimination toward migrants...

The GCM is expected to include provisions on thorny issues such as forced removals (deportations) and the detention of child migrants. However, it will also cover intergovernmental cooperation related to migration for the purpose of employment (labor migration), including proposals to increase channels for labor mobility and to achieve the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs, approved in September 2015, have 17 goals and 169 targets to reduce poverty while promoting inclusive and sustainable development. Each target has several indicators to track progress...

Goal 10 to reduce inequality within and between countries includes target 10.7 to facilitate safe, orderly, and regular migration via well-managed migration policies...

When it comes to labor migration, UN Member States are seeking consensus to better manage it in the 21st century—a technically difficult task and politically controversial issue—on a very short timeline. That’s a herculean challenge for a world with increasing right-wing anti-immigrant populist movements and xenophobia towards migrants. Some governments are even erecting or proposing more border walls, detaining migrants and asylum-seekers, and pursuing other policies that violate the human rights of migrants...