UrduPoint News
Sputnik
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will likely participate in an international meeting in Morocco next week that is expected to produce a landmark United Nations pact on migration, Spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters on Wednesday.
Representatives of governments from around the world are expected to convene in Marrakesh, Morocco on December 10-11 to formally adopt the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration.
When asked whether Guterres would participate in the meeting, the spokesman said, “I think you can expect to see him there: it is an open secret.”
Dujarric did not specify how many countries would participate in the meeting after several European states pulled out of the gathering, saying they would not endorse the pact, despite its non-binding nature.
Initially, the United Nations was expecting over 150 countries to attend the global meeting, but several countries reversed position in the days leading up to the event.
Dujarric called the withdrawal of several countries from the agreement “regrettable” and pointed out that migration is one of the key issues that can only be dealt through dialogue.
The text of the UN migration pact was finalized on July 13 by all UN member states except the United States, which withdrew from the pact last year. The agreement represents the international community’s attempt to establish a common global approach to all aspects of international migration. The pact comprises 23 objectives for better managing migration at local, national, regional and global levels.
The measure has proved particularly divisive issue in Europe, with Bulgaria, Slovakia, Belgium, Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland raising concerns over possible limits on their ability to shape own immigration policies.
