UN Migration Pact Needs Additional Support In Order Not To Remain 'Ink On Paper' - Rabat

MARRAKESH (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 13th December, 2018) The recently adopted UN-backed Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) may become a basis for a global solution of migration issues, however, additional support is needed in order for the document not to remain "ink on the paper," Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita told Sputnik.

"This document is aimed at filling up the vacuum because up until now, the international community had no unified basis for [tackling] migration issues. The pact is only the first step. We have joint principles and joint objectives in this area ... We should be realistic, because there are three challenges to the implementation of the pact," Bourita said.

The diplomat listed the need to convince the opponents of the pact to join it, the issues of the implementation of the document in practice and incorrect media coverage of migration issues as these challenges.

Bourita noted the importance of support for the pact on the part of media, civil society and think tanks.

On Monday, the GCM was adopted by 164 countries at a summit in Marrakesh. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the document provided a platform for "humane, sensible, mutually beneficial action" on migration.

However, the UN migration pact has triggered division amid the currently tough migration situation, with a number of states, including Austria and the United States, pulling out of the document.