UN General Assembly president regrets U.S. withdrawal from global migration compact

UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) -- UN General Assembly President Miroslav Lajcak on Sunday expressed regret over a U.S. decision to withdraw from the global migration compact, a UN-led process toward safe, orderly and regular migration.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has been informed of the decision by the Trump administration to end participation in the process that would achieve the first intergovernmentally negotiated agreement on international migration by 2018, said the U.S. mission to the United Nations on Saturday.

"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," said Brenden Varma, the spokesman for Lajcak, in a statement.

"The role of the United States 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 U.S. withdrawal, the United Nations should not miss this opportunity to improve the lives of millions of people throughout the world, it said. Enditem