Wednesday, August 3, 2016

Somino Sengupta of the New York Times reports that, after days of intense negotiations over an international agreement, the nations of the world "on Tuesday adopted a draft that contained virtually no concrete commitments to make their journeys better or safer." According to the article, Western European countries, along with Russia, resisted what many had hoped would be a pledge to resettle one-tenth of all the people fleeing war and persecution. The United States balked at language that would have committed all countries to not detain undocumented children who arrive at their borders.

What emerged late Tuesday was a 22-page draft “outcome document” that all 193 countries of the United Nations could agree to. The document will serve as the basis for a meeting at the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly next month. Decisions on specific commitments on what countries should do to protect refugees and migrants were deferred until 2018.

Refugees and migrants will be the biggest issue at the gathering of world leaders at the United Nations next month. President Obama plans to lead a meeting at the General Assembly in an effort to encourage countries to take in more refugees and contribute to countries that have taken them in for years.

Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations secretary general, also plans to hold a meeting on the plight of refugees and migrants. The document under negotiation will be the centerpiece of his meeting.

"While the draft text has no force of international law, every sentence has been negotiated. The resulting language is sometimes so vague that it is likely to bring little comfort to the millions who are seeking safety and opportunity abroad."

KJ

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/immigration/2016/08/united-nations-drafts-agreement-on-refugees-and-migrants.html