Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what contribution the Government plans to make to the Global Compact for Migration.

Alistair Burt, Minister of State for the Middle East at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office: The UK Government is supportive of the UN’s Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, as a step forward in international co-operation to tackle irregular migration and as a framework to help us deliver our commitments under the sustainable development goals.

We believe that the final document sets out a better international framework for action and co-operation on migration, whilst importantly respecting a State’s sovereign right to determine its own migration policy. The Compact also contains important commitments and actions to help us tackle human trafficking and people smuggling.

Moreover, our aim is to use the Compact to further our Migration priorities within multilateral fora. This includes: reducing modern slavery; upholding migrant’s human rights; and addressing irregular migration through improved border management and safer and more productive legal migration.

We remain committed to working closely with European and Global partners to build on the momentum we have gathered thus far to ensure effective implementation of the Compact.

We look forward to the formal launch of the Compact in Marrakech this December.

Hansard

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