(United Nations) Several dozen countries and NGOs pledged in a declaration on Friday to better defend human rights and improve the treatment of migrants, the subject of a Global Compact adopted in 2018 but with limited progress so far.
Posted at 6:20 p.m.
This declaration was adopted at the end of a forum organized this week in New York to assess the progress of this international agreement.
It highlights the determination of its participants “to strengthen cooperation on international migration in all its dimensions, to discuss and share progress in the implementation of all aspects of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration”.
During a press conference, the President of the United Nations General Assembly, Abdulla Shahid, recalled that the planet had more than 281 million migrants or 3.6% of the world’s population.
It is the “responsibility of the international community to ensure that the human rights of all those involved are respected and protected”, he stressed.
At his side, Antonio Vitorino, director of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), acknowledged that the Global Compact on Migration had resulted in “uneven progress”.
“There is a need for an additional boost”, particularly in the areas of “respect for human rights, access to basic services, the construction of alternatives to the detention of migrants and especially in the rescue lives of migrants,” said the IOM director.
The Global Compact for Migration had been ratified by the end of 2018 by more than 150 countries. The forum at the UN brought together political leaders and representatives of civil societies, diasporas, the private sector, universities, trade unions and parliaments.
For 4 years, “there have not been enough changes in policies and practices to guarantee safe and dignified migration”, summed up the president of the International Federation of Red Cross and Crescent Societies on Monday. -Red (IFRC), Francesco Rocca, deploring the rising deaths of migrants in the Mediterranean.
Non-binding, the Pact identifies a series of principles – defense of human rights, children, recognition of national sovereignty, etc. – and lists various cooperation options. He advocates the prohibition of arbitrary detentions, authorizing arrests only as a last resort.