Lack of global compact on migration is "inhumane:" UN

UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- It is "inhumane" that the world has no global strategy to deal with 60 million migrants and refugees, the spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday.

"What is inhumane is that we live in a world where there is no global strategy, global vision on how to deal with more than 60 million people who are forcibly on the move," said the spokesman Stephane Dujarric. "There needs to be a system in place where countries of origin, countries of transit, countries of destination all agree on how to manage this."

When pressed on whether the UN secretary-general agrees with UN Special Representative for International Migration Louise Arbour who cautioned against sometimes "toxic" talk about "illegal" migrants or immigrants,Dujarric said: "It is important that people respect the laws of the land."

At a conference for a vision for the global compact on migration in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, Arbour said: "The global compact for migration is an opportunity to re-orient the often toxic narrative against migrants towards a more accurate narrative on migration that recognizes the overwhelmingly positive impact and is prepared to address the challenges of migration in a sober, realistic way."

On the eve of the Mexico meeting, the United States announced it abandoned the global migration compact which is being worked on.

The effort to reach a global migration compact by 2018 is seen as a UN-led process toward safe, orderly and regular migration. Enditem