Thank you for contacting me about the Global Compact on Migration.
The UK, alongside international partners, is committed to the UN process to develop both a Global Compact on Migration and a Global Compact on Refugees.
The Government believes that the Global Compact on Migration will offer an effective international framework to ensure that migration is safe and orderly and that it balances the rights and responsibilities of both states and migrants. It is non-legally binding and will complement existing frameworks to foster stronger international cooperation on migration.
The Government has said that the Compact supports the UK’s 3 Global Migration Principles – to acknowledge the rights of countries to protect their borders, to improve how we distinguish between refugees and migrants, and to ensure that refugees claim asylum in the first safe country they reach.
Our participation in the Global Compact will not, in the view of the UK Government, affect our continued ability to determine our own immigration policy. Indeed it reaffirms the sovereign right of States to determine their national migration policy. We will continue to control our borders and prevent irregular migration into the UK.
It also provides support to the Prime Minister’s principle that refugees should seek asylum in the first safe country they reach by promoting greater support for hosting countries in protecting and supporting refugees.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.
Craig Whittaker MP
December 2018