UN Secretary General calls on nations to take positive approach to migration

13, Jan 2018 | CJP Team

The Guardian reported that United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres is calling on member nations to create more avenues for migration, and promote and protect foreign workers. According to the Guardian, Guterres is “calling for a collective shift to celebrate the international benefits of migration as part of an ambitious plan to create a more humane global strategy on the issue.” A report, titled ‘Making Migration Work for All’, was published this week, which emphasises that migrants contribute to their host nations’ economies, with 85% of their income entering these economies. The rest is sent to their home countries. The Guardian noted that in 2017, global remittances amounted to an estimated $596 billion, of which $450 billion went to poor countries; the latter is thrice the amount in “overseas development assistance,” the Guardian said. Negotiations on a global compact on migration will be taking place at the UN later this year. In an editorial for the Guardian, Guterres said that compact would be the “first overarching international agreement of its kind,” and offers “an unprecedented opportunity for leaders to counter the pernicious myths surrounding migrants, and lay out a common vision of how to make migration work for all our nations.”