UN General Assembly Approves Global Compact To Track, Respond To Refugees

A global compact on refugees that is intended to reduce the burden on host nations has been overwhelmingly adopted by the UN General Assembly, days after participants at a United Nations conference in Morocco adopted a similar compact on migration, the United Nations said in a press release on Monday.

UNITED NATIONS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th December, 2018) A global compact on refugees that is intended to reduce the burden on host nations has been overwhelmingly adopted by the UN General Assembly, days after participants at a United Nations conference in Morocco adopted a similar compact on migration, the United Nations said in a press release on Monday.

"After two years of extensive consultations led by UNHCR [UN Refugee Agency] with member states, international organizations, refugees, civil society, the private business sector and experts, this new global deal will provide more robust support for the countries where most refugees live," the release said. "It will also strengthen the shared responsibility to aid those who are forced to flee by conflict or persecution."

General Assembly spokeswoman Monica Grayley later told reporters that the vote was 181 in favor of the compact, with two against and three abstentions.

The compact aims to ease the burden on developing nations, which host 90 percent of an estimated 25 million refugees, by providing more investment - from both governments and the private sector - to further strengthen infrastructure and the provision of services for refugees and host communities, the release said.

The new agreement will also track refugee flows through the creation of follow-up systems, including a Global Refugee Forum every four years, at which governments will report and pledge on a range of measures - funding, policy, legal changes and resettlement quotas.

The refugee compact was approved days after an intergovernmental conference adopted a separate Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration in Marrakech, Morocco, which will be presented to the UN General Assembly later this week, the release said.

The United States boycotted the Marrakech conference and also declined to vote for the refugee compact in the UN General Assembly on Monday.