UN Assembly president regrets US withdrawal from global migration compact

United Nations, Dec 4 (IANS) UN General Assembly President Miroslav Lajcak on Sunday expressed regret over US decision to withdraw from the global migration compact, a UN-led process toward safe, orderly and regular migration.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was informed of the decision by US President Donald Trump to end participation in the process that would achieve the first intergovernmentally negotiated agreement on international migration by 2018, Xinhua quoted the US mission to the United Nations statement.

Lajcak regretted the US decision, saying no country can handle international migration alone.

"In the (2016) New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, all UN member states acknowledged that no one state can manage international migration on its own. Furthermore, they committed to strengthening global governance of migration. To that end, member states agreed at the highest level to launch a process leading to the adoption of a global compact in 2018," Brenden Varma, the spokesman for Lajcak, was quoted as saying.

"The role of the US in this process is critical as it has historically and generously welcomed people from all across the globe and remains home to the largest number of international migrants in the world. As such, it has the experience and expertise to help ensure that this process leads to a successful outcome."

Lajcak stressed that migration is a global phenomenon that demands a global response and that multilateralism remains the best way to address global challenges, said the statement.

Despite the US withdrawal, the United Nations should not miss this opportunity to improve the lives of millions of people throughout the world through global migration compact, it said.

US participation in the compact process began in 2016, following the Obama administration's decision to join the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants.