Presse- und Informationsamt der Bundesregierung
Speech by Federal Chancellor Dr Angela Merkel at the Intergovernmental Conference to Adopt the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration in Marrakech on 10 December 2018
Conference President Foreign Minister Bourita,
Secretary-General,
President of the General Assembly Maria Espinosa,
Special Representative for International Migration Louise Arbour,
Presidents,
Colleagues,
Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,
I am delighted to be here with you in Marrakech today. I would like to express my sincere thanks to our Moroccan hosts, as well as to the United Nations and to everyone else who has made this conference possible.
Today is a very important day. For we are adopting a comprehensive political agreement on migration at global level for the first time. The United Nations General Assembly was right to focus on two issues in 2016 – on the one hand the topic of refugees, the legal basis of which is the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, and on the other hand the topic of migration, an issue affecting millions of people throughout our world. A clear distinction has been made here between refugees and migration, which is particularly significant. That is why two Compacts have been drawn up as a result. And both are to be adopted by the General Assembly before the end of December.
Today, on the 70th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations General Assembly, it is particularly appropriate that we are also considering the fate of the many millions of migrants across the globe and reiterating our conviction that universal human rights apply to every individual in every country of the earth.
Ladies and gentlemen, today we are adopting this Compact, which expressly states that its focus is on safe, orderly and regular migration. The very title of the Compact therefore describes its goal very specifically. It has become clear, and it also makes sense that this goal can only be achieved through multilateral cooperation. We could therefore say that 70 years after adoption of the International Bill of Human Rights it is high time that we also turned our joint attention to the issue of migration. Migration is a natural and frequent occurrence, and it is a good thing when it takes place legally.
Germany is a member of the European Union. Within the European Union we enjoy freedom of movement for the purposes of taking up employment. That is one aspect of our single market, and it brings us greater prosperity. That is why labour migration within the European Union is clearly regulated, also reflecting the principles of this Compact. It is all about equal pay for the same work. It is about reasonable standards. All this is something we take for granted within the European Union.
