Poland's government said on Tuesday it would join a growing list of EU countries to shun a U.N. migration pact.

The Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration was approved in July by all 193 member UN nations except the United States, which backed out last year. It followed the biggest influx of migrants into Europe since World War Two, many fleeing conflicts and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and beyond.

Central Americans stalled at US-Mexico border, mull work offers Hundreds of migrants from a caravan of Central Americans were stalled at the U.S.-Mexico border on Saturday, where a handful said they welcomed recent Mexican offers of employment in the face of a hostile U.S. reception.The Mexican government last week reiterated job offers to the migrants, saying that those who obtained legal status could occupy thousands of vacancies, most of them in the country's "maquiladoras," doing factory work.Since arriving at the border last week, they have been denied entry through the gates linking Mexico to the United States.Dozens of the mostly Hondurans waited in lines to bathe and washed clothes sullied from 2,600 miles of relentless travel.Several members of the caravan, which left the crime-wracked city of San Pedro Sula, Honduras, on Oct. 13, told Reuters they would be willing to stay put in Mexico rather than face rejection across the border."If we had work, we would stay. This has been very tiring," said Orbelina Orellana, a 26-year-old Honduran mother of three, waiting at the Alfa and Omega shelter in the city of Mexicali, which borders Calexico, California."I cry a lot to not be able to feed them as I'd like," Orellana said of her children. "I just want an opportunity."Briefly stalled by Mexican riot police on a highway crossing between two southern Mexican states late last month, a dozen migrants told Reuters they rejected such offers, preferring to try their luck in the United States.But on Saturday, some said that thinking had changed."We had the idea to cross to the United States, but they told us it will be nearly impossible," said Mayra Gonzalez, 32, traveling with her two children. "We cannot starve as we wait to find out if they'll give us asylum. Better to work, by the grace of God, here in Mexico."In a sharp reversal of longstanding U.S. policy, President Donald Trump's administration last week began enforcing new rules that curtail asylum rights for anyone who arrives without documents at the U.S. border.Trump earlier this month deployed almost 6,000 troops along the long U.S. border with Mexico.As they wound north through Mexico, the migrants were helped along by local authorities and residents who offered food, clothing and even free rides on daily treks that averaged 30 miles a day, much of it on foot.But that welcome became noticeably frostier as the caravan reached the border.In Tijuana, a city long accustomed to a population of migrants in transit, deportees and U.S. pleasure-seekers, a clutch of local residents last week threw rocks at the migrants, telling them to go home.But some said the Central Americans could help boost the local economy."We are not against migration," Ulises Araiza, President of the Association of Human Resources of Industry in Tijuana, told Reuters."We know the situation that these people face in their country. But we also favor order so as to integrate them into the labor sector, because only in Tijuana do we have a demand in the maquiladora industry for 5,000 people."Mexico's Lopez Obrador to hold new public consultation on policy platformMigrant caravan reaches Mexico-US borderCommander says US military does not view Central American migrants as 'enemies'US troop levels at Mexico border likely at peak: commander

Turkish resolution on Rohingya gets UN approval A UN commission on Friday overwhelmingly approved a Turkish-backed resolution strongly condemning the continuing human rights violations and abuses against Rohingya.Turkey sponsored the resolution on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the European Union.The General Assembly’s Human Rights Committee approved the resolution by a vote of 142-10, with 26 states abstaining. 10 counties voted against the resolution: Belarus, Burundi, Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Philippines, Russia, Vietnam, and Zimbabwe.The resolution expresses deep concern that violence by Myanmar’s military against the Rohingya has forced over 750,000 people to flee to Bangladesh since August 2017.Myanmar holds 106 suspected Rohingya Muslims aboard boat, official saysTurkish Ambassador to UN Feridun Sinirlioglu, speaking on behalf of the OIC, called the commission’s findings “devastating.”“The serious human rights violations and abuses in Myanmar, perpetrated against the Rohingya Muslims and other minorities, continue to be a cause of deep concern for the international community. People in Myanmar have been trapped for decades in a vicious cycle of violence and forced displacement,” Sinirlioglu said.“The events that took place after Aug. 25, 2017 are only the latest episode of this cycle. Without a comprehensive strategy, reaching an enduring solution to this crisis is impossible. The findings of the independent international fact-finding mission are devastating,” he said.Bangladesh halts scheduled Rohingya repatriationSinirlioglu continued: “To end this vicious cycle, the government of Myanmar first of all must create the necessary conditions for peaceful coexistence in Rakhine state and the safe return of refugees. This requires ending all types of violence and giving humanitarian agencies immediate, unhindered access to populations in need. Implementing international humanitarian and human rights law in Rakhine state is crucial. Bringing the alleged perpetrators of violence to justice will also be of critical importance to put an end to the repetition of this cycle.”He added: “The OIC believes that the international community must do its utmost to find a lasting solution to the current crisis. With this understanding, the resolution we submitted on behalf of the OIC and the EU strongly condemns all violations and abuses of human rights in Myanmar.”Sinirlioglu also said that Turkey and OIC would still like to believe in the sincerity of Myanmar’s government on this issue.Forced return of Rohingya crime against humanity“Repatriation should not be from the camps in Bangladesh to the camps in Myanmar. Rohingya should return to their places of origin, and their basic rights should be guaranteed. Relevant UN agencies should be given access to verify. Moreover, without holding the perpetrators accountable for their crimes, ensuring the voluntary return of Rohingya to Myanmar will not be possible,” he said.Violence and oppressionThe Rohingya, described by the UN as the world's most persecuted people, have faced heightened fears of attack since dozens were killed in communal violence in 2012.Since Aug. 25, 2017, nearly 24,000 Rohingya Muslims have been killed by Myanmar’s state forces, according to a report by the Ontario International Development Agency (OIDA).Pence tells Suu Kyi persecution of Rohingya inexcusableMore than 34,000 Rohingya were also thrown into fires, while over 114,000 others were beaten, said the OIDA report, titled "Forced Migration of Rohingya: The Untold Experience."Some 18,000 Rohingya women and girls were raped by Myanmar’s army and police and over 115,000 Rohingya homes were burned down and 113,000 others vandalized, it added.According to Amnesty International, more than 750,000 Rohingya refugees, mostly children, and women, fled Myanmar and crossed into neighboring Bangladesh after Myanmar forces launched a crackdown on the minority Muslim community in August 2017.The UN has documented mass gang rapes, killings -- including of infants and young children -- brutal beatings, and disappearances committed by Myanmar state forces. In a report, UN investigators said such violations may have constituted crimes against humanity.</s>Israel will not sign a nonbinding, first-of-its-kind migration pact aimed at managing migration and making it more orderly and safe, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday.



“I have instructed the Foreign Ministry to announce that Israel will not accede to, and will not sign, the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration,” the prime minister said. “We are committed to guarding our borders against illegal migrants. This is what we have done, and this is what we will continue to do.”

The move comes after the US, Austria, Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic have all said they will not be a part of the UN pact. Australia, Romania and Slovakia have also signaled that they may not join.A number of the Central European and Eastern European countries that have pulled out have governments that ran on planks of limiting migration, and have been at odds with Brussels over the EU’s immigration policies.Israel’s decision to withdraw comes even though Israeli foreign ministery officials took part in drawing up the pact, which grew out of the migration to Europe crisis in 2015, which saw the biggest influx of refugees and migrants since World War II.The pact is to be signed during a meeting in Morocco in December, a meeting that Israel will now not attend.Diplomatic sources said that a number of countries, including the US, Hungary and Austria, turned to Israel with requests to withdraw from the pact, but that the decision was made based on Israel’s interests.“This agreement includes elements that are not in line with Israel’s interests,” one diplomatic official said. “For instance, family reunification for migrants. We are a small country in a very complicated geographic position. We are not like Germany, which can absorb a million people.”US President Donald Trump, who has made stopping the flow of migrants to the US a core issue of his presidency, pulled Washington out of the pact in 2017, saying that it was not compatible with US sovereignty.He explained the US position at the UN General Assembly meeting in New York in September.“We recognize the right of every nation in this room to set its own immigration policy in accordance with its national interests, just as we ask other countries to respect our own right to do the same – which we are doing,” he said. “That is one reason the United States will not participate in the new Global Compact on Migration. Migration should not be governed by an international body unaccountable to our own citizens. Ultimately, the only long-term solution to the migration crisis is to help people build more hopeful futures in their home countries. Make their countries great again.”The pact has been billed as an instrument to govern and manage migration around the world. The UN estimates that there are some 250 million migrants around the world. The pact deals with issues such as why people migrate, how to protect them, how to combat human trafficking, how to integrate the migrants into home countries, and what means can be used to return them home.Meretz MK Michal Rozin, former chairwoman of the Knesset’s committee on foreign workers, blasted Netanyahu’s decision, saying it “is another example of the process of Israel’s moral bankruptcy.”She said this is the “result of the prime minister joining with the extreme Right in Israel, Europe and the US. It cannot be that Israel – founded by many people who were refugees who fled murderous and cruel regimes, and which was among the leading countries in drafting the UN’s Refugee Convention – will join with the forces of hatred, division and nationalism.”

var cont = `Join Jerusalem Post Premium Plus now for just $5 and upgrade your experience with an ads-free website and exclusive content. Click here>>



`; document.getElementById("linkPremium").innerHTML = cont; (function (v, i){ });</s>Scott Morrison is expected to follow in the steps of the US and a number of other countries in refusing to sign up to an international migration covenant under the auspices of the UN.

The prime minister says the UN's Global Compact on Migration would weaken Australia's border security and undermine its immigration policies, News Corp reports.

"I'm not going to sign up to an agreement that I believe will only be used by those who have always tried to tear our stronger border policies down," Mr Morrison told The Australian.

"I experienced this first-hand back when I was responsible for stopping the boats. We must always decide on these issues and not have our laws undermined by outside influences."

The agreement is supposed to support safe and orderly migration but Mr Morrison said a key sticking point was the failure of the document to differentiate between illegal and "proper" migration when it comes to providing welfare benefits.

Mr Morrison will release a joint statement with Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton and Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne on the matter on Wednesday.

"We do not believe that signing this agreement will add anything to enhancing our capacity to controlling our borders and managing our successful immigration program," the statement will say.

Apart from the US, Israel, Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland, Croatia, Hungary and Bulgaria have refused to sign the agreement.

The Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration was finalised in July and is to be formally approved at a December meeting in Marrakesh, Morocco, before being passed by a resolution in the UN General Assembly in January. It is not legally binding.</s>Australia will endorse a global deal on refugees despite Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton’s strong criticism of a similar agreement.

The UN was expected to adopt the Global Compact on Refugees overnight, with Australia supporting the deal.

Mr Dutton’s spokesman said Australia would not co-sponsor the motion and would express concerns about the agreement.

“We remain concerned with aspects of the Global Compact on Refugees,” Australia’s statement to the UN will say, according to copy provided to The Australian.

“We reiterate our view — informed by our experience — that states have the right to ensure the security of their borders.”

Mr Dutton has previously criticised a second agreement, the UN Global Compact for Migration, and said Australia would not sign the deal as it was currently drafted.

UN member states, led by Mexico and Switzerland and including Australia, helped negotiate the non-binding Global Compact for Migration, but the US and Hungary withdraw prior to Mr Dutton’s comments.

Since then, the migration compact has become controversial in Europe and was the subject of heated debate in Germany’s parliament last week.

Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria have also suggested they may withdraw.

The Global Compact on Refugees, which Australia will endorse, was developed by member countries and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees as a means to ensure nations share the burden.

The final draft of the agreement says countries hosting large numbers of refugees as a result of their geographic location or otherwise should receive tangible support for their efforts.

The agreement sets up four yearly global refugee forums, with the first one slated for next year.

The forums will enable states to make pledges of financial and technical assistance during refugee crises, as well as commitments about refugee resettlement places.

The deal also says state will be kept accountable for their commitments through officials meetings every two years in between forums, with the first meeting taking place in 2021.

The government will have to reveal its final position on the Global Compact for Migration at a conference in Morocco next month.

Asked whether the nation would withdraw, a spokesman for the Home Affairs Department said “Australia will not surrender sovereign control of its border protection policies” and the government was “disappointed” with the agreement.</s>WARSAW, Poland (AP) — The Polish government said Tuesday that it will not support a global compact seeking international cooperation on migration, citing national sovereignty as it joins countries including Hungary, Austria and the United…

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — The Polish government said Tuesday that it will not support a global compact seeking international cooperation on migration, citing national sovereignty as it joins countries including Hungary, Austria and the United States in rejecting it.

The Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, which won’t be legally binding, was finalized under U.N. auspices in July. It is due to be formally approved at a Dec. 10-11 meeting in Marrakech, Morocco.

After a meeting of the Polish Cabinet, the government press office released a statement saying the document fails to meet “Poland’s demands regarding the confirmation of adequately strong guarantees of the sovereign right to decide who the countries accept in their territory and the distinction between legal and illegal migration.”

Poland’s government has taken a strong anti-migrant position. It won power in 2015 amid Europe’s migration crisis promising not to accept any Muslim migrants, describing them as a risk to the nation’s security and Christian identity.

Following that migrant wave, all 193 U.N. member states in September 2016, including the United States under President Barack Obama, adopted a declaration saying no country can manage international migration on its own, and agreed to launch a process leading to the adoption of a global compact in 2018.

But last December, the United States said it was ending its participation in negotiations on the compact, stating that numerous provisions were “inconsistent with U.S. immigration and refugee policies” under President Donald Trump.

The compact has 23 objectives that seek to boost cooperation to manage migration and numerous actions ranging from technical issues like the portability of earnings by migrant workers to reducing the detention of migrants.

Hungary withdrew in July and Austria in October, while reservations are being expressed in other countries, too, including Bulgaria and the Czech Republic.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said then that the pact was contrary to his country’s interests because while it had some positive aims, like fighting human trafficking, overall it considered migration an unstoppable and positive phenomenon worthy of support.

Austria’s interior minister, Herbert Kickl, has denounced what he called “an almost irresponsibly naive pro-migration tone.”

Copyright © 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.</s>Scott Morrison will follow in Donald Trump's footsteps by refusing to sign a global covenant on migration.

The prime minister says the UN's Global Compact on Migration would compromise Australia's border security and undermine its immigration settings.

"It doesn't distinguish between those who illegally enter Australia and those who come the right way," he told 2GB radio on Wednesday.

"I would never allow something to compromise our borders, I worked too hard to ensure that we weren't in that position."

The agreement is supposed to support safe, orderly and regular migration.

Mr Morrison argued the government had already achieved these goals.

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton said the compact was primarily focused on Europe, where asylum seekers were drowning at sea in the Mediterranean.

"I think this compact was largely directed at that problem, not towards our part of the world," he told Sky News.

Mr Dutton said Australia had stopped boat arrivals and drownings at sea through hardline border protection policies.

"We're not going to surrender that, we want our sovereignty to remain in tact," he said.

"We think there would have been a weakening if we had have signed up to this compact."

Mr Dutton said the lack of distinction between how migrants arrived was a sticking point in not signing the agreement, with concerns about how the courts would interpret the pact.

"We're concerned about whether or not it starves us as a sovereign nation of the ability to decide the way in which we can return people under the compact," he said.

"Certain obligations could be imposed where we needed to support people once they'd been returned back to a country of origin, so it really undermines the tenets of Operation Sovereign Borders."

Australia signed a similar refugee pact earlier this month, but Mr Dutton said that document contained "benign" language and didn't impose any onerous obligations on the country.

The US, Israel, Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland, Croatia, Hungary and Bulgaria have refused to sign the agreement.

The Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration was finalised in July and is to be formally approved in December, before being passed by a resolution in the UN General Assembly in January.

It is not legally binding.</s>Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday Israel would join the United States and other countries in rejecting a UN migration pact set to be adopted in December.

"I have instructed the foreign ministry to announce that Israel will not accede to, and will not sign, the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration," Netanyahu said in a statement.

"We are committed to guarding our borders against illegal migrants. This is what we have done and this is what we will continue to do."

The United Nations' Global Compact for Migration, aimed at boosting cooperation to address the world's growing number of migrants, is set to be adopted during a conference in Morocco on December 10-11.

Its final text was agreed in July after 18 months of negotiations and lays out 23 objectives to open up legal migration and better manage migratory flows as the number of people on the move worldwide has increased to 250 million, or three percent of the world's population.

The United States quit talks on the pact last December, Hungary's anti-immigration prime minister Viktor Orban rejected it in July and Austria followed suit in October.

The Czech Republic said it will reject the pact and Bulgaria last week said it might follow suit.

Israel's government has come under political pressure over the presence of some 42,000 African migrants, mainly from Eritrea and Sudan, and has sought to expel many of them.

Most of the migrants arrived in Israel after 2007, mainly through Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.

Security along the once porous border has since been signficantly tightened with the construction of a barrier fence.

Many of the migrants settled in poor neighbourhoods in the coastal city of Tel Aviv, the country's economic capital.</s>Scott Morrison is following in Donald Trump's footsteps by refusing to sign a non-binding migration agreement which Australia helped draft. Australian officials have been heavily active in negotiating the wording of the UN Global Compact on Migrant over the past two years. But the prime minister says the UN pact would compromise Australia's border security and immigration settings. "It doesn't distinguish between those who illegally enter Australia and those who come the right way," he told 2GB radio on Wednesday. "I would never allow something to compromise our borders, I worked too hard to ensure that we weren't in that position." The agreement is supposed to support safe, orderly and regular migration. Mr Morrison argues the government has already achieved these goals. The Refugee Council of Australia lashed out at the prime minister's "nonsense" excuses for refusing to sign the agreement. "Australia will join a small group of governments which are each trying to appeal to, or appease, minority far-right political movements within their countries," its chief executive Paul Power said. "It is hard to see the Australian government's decision as anything other than posturing for some political gain, as the facts do not align with the prime minister's claims." The US, Israel, Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland, Croatia, Hungary and Bulgaria have also refused to sign the agreement. Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton said the compact was primarily focused on Europe, where asylum seekers were drowning at sea in the Mediterranean. "I think this compact was largely directed at that problem, not towards our part of the world," he told Sky News. Mr Dutton said Australia had stopped boat arrivals and drownings at sea through hardline border protection policies. "We're not going to surrender that, we want our sovereignty to remain intact," he said. However, the pact explicitly affirms the sovereign right of states to determine their national migration policies. The Australian government is also worried about how the courts could interpret the pact. "We're concerned about whether or not it starves us as a sovereign nation of the ability to decide the way in which we can return people under the compact," Mr Dutton said. "Certain obligations could be imposed where we needed to support people once they'd been returned back to a country of origin." Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said Labor was not fussed whether the government signed the pact or not. "Obviously we'll take the advice of our security experts on what we should and shouldn't do," he told reporters in Sydney. Australia signed a similar refugee pact earlier this month, but Mr Dutton said that document contained only "benign" language. Save the Children is urging Australia to work towards global solutions on migration. "There is unprecedented movement of people, including vulnerable children, around the world which Australia cannot ignore," policy director Mat Tinkler said. The UN migration pact is due to be formally adopted at a meeting in Morocco next month. Australian Associated Press</s>Sydney: Australia’s conservative government on Wednesday announced it would reject a Unite Nations migration pact already denounced by the United States and several European countries.

Adopting the pact “would risk encouraging illegal entry to Australia and reverse… hard-won successes in combating the people-smuggling trade”, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said in a joint statement with his home and foreign ministers.

Morrison was an architect of Australia’s hardline policy of detaining asylum-seekers trying to reach the country by boat on remote Pacific islands.

The policy choked off what had been an active people-smuggling trade that saw hundreds of people die at sea trying to reach Australia. But hundreds of people have since been held for years in Papua New Guinea and Nauru under the program, which has been harshly criticised as inhumane by the United Nations and human-rights groups.

Also Read: Donald Trump threatens to close US-Mexico border over migrant ‘onslaught’

“We believe that the compact is inconsistent with our well-established policies and not in Australia’s interest,” the ministers said.

They added the pact “would also be used by those who have sought to undermine Australia’s strong border-protection laws and practices” in a jab at opposition parties which have been escalating calls for refugees to be released from Nauru and PNG’s Manus Island.

The UN Global Compact for Migration was agreed in July after 18 months of negotiations and is due to be adopted next month. It lays out 23 objectives to open up legal migration and better manage migratory flows as the number of people on the move worldwide has increased to 250 million — three percent of the world’s population.

The pact has already been rejected by the US administration of Donald Trump and conservative governments in Poland, Austria, Hungary and the Czech Republic.

Morrison’s minority government has been highlighting the issue of immigration as it prepares for national elections due by next May. Opinion polls show his conservative coalition trailing well behind the main opposition Labor Party.

Earlier this week Morrison announced he would also seek to slash legal migration into Australia, from the current official cap of 190,000 per year to around 160,000. He said the cut was needed to counter worsening congestion in the nation’s main cities.</s>Australia discards the UN migration pact. The Australian government announced that it would reject a UN migration pact. Prime Minister Scott Morrison, in a joint statement with his home and foreign ministers, said, adopting the pact would risk encouraging illegal entry to Australia.

The pact was already denounced by the United States. Conservative governments in Europe like Poland, Austria, Hungary and the Czech Republic had also refused to sign the pact.

The UN Global Compact for Migration was agreed in July after 18 months of negotiations and is due to be adopted next month.
Poland and Israel join Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Hungary, Australia and Austria in announcing that, despite their agreement in July, they will not sign the United Nations Global Compact for Migration in Marrakech on 10–11 December 2018.