Vietnam considers UN migration pact important step forward

Migrants captured near the Mexican border

The UN Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) marked an important step forward in international cooperation concerning the matter, stated Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung.

Dung made the statement at an intergovernmental conference to adopt the pact, held in Marrakesh, Morocco, on December 10 and 11, as part of the UN Migration Week, which ran from December 5 to 11.

The diplomat affirmed that Vietnam support orderly and legal migration as well as increasing international collaboration in illegal migration prevention.

He said there is no perfect multilateral agreement that could meet the demands and interests of all countries concerned, thus the implementation of the pact should respect specific conditions of each nation and continue fine-tuning the content.

At the conference, participants agreed that migration has become a global issue that no country could handle by itself. They stated migrants’ basic rights and interests must be ensured, adding that orderly and legal migration contributes significantly to sustainable development of countries’ involved.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the pact will help curb the pressing issue of illegal migration in many countries.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said it is regrettable that some countries are yet to join the accord, which she considers a requirement rather than an option.

The GCM is the first intergovernmentally negotiated agreement, prepared under the auspices of the United Nations, to cover all dimensions of international migration.

In September 2016, the UN General Assembly decided, through the adoption of the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, to develop a global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration. The process to develop this global compact started in April 2017, with its text finalized on July 13 by UN member states