The Global Compact for Safely, Orderly and Regular Migration was finalised on 13 July and shall be formally adopted during the Intergovernmental Conference that will be held in Marrakesh, Morocco, on 10-11 December 2018.
A group of migrants on their way to EU. (Photo: Ajdin Kamber/Shutterstock)
As Fr. Fabio Baggio C.S, Under-Secretary of the Holy See’s Migration & Refugees Section, explained during the recent COMECE-organised meeting, the UN Global Compact on Migration is a non-binding intergovernmental negotiated agreement aiming at governing international migration in a first-ever comprehensive framework.
The Catholic Church is fully committed to the benefit of migrant persons and their families, always respecting and promoting their fundamental rights and human dignity. The Global Compact on Migration should not only be a fair migration management tool, but also a significant step forward in promoting human dignity.
“Solidarity and mercy is the only reasonable response before the challenges of contemporary movements of migration – stated Pope Francis during the recent Holy Mass for Migrants at the Vatican. A just policy is one at the service of the person, of every person involved; a policy that provides for solutions that can ensure security, respect for the rights and dignity of all; a policy concerned for the good of one’s own country, while taking into account that of others in an ever more interconnected world.”
Since its inception, the UN Global Compacts on Migration, together with the one on Refugees, has been enriched by a substantial contribution by the Migration & Refugees Section of the Vatican through its “20 Action Points”.
COMECE is closely following the development of these two UN instruments in its Working Group on Migration and Asylum.