The United States has withdrawn from participating in the United Nations (UN) global treaty on Migration, which will be adopted in 2018 to pledge to protect and preserve rights of migrants and refugees.
President Donald Trump’s administration said the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants agreement was “inconsistent” with its policies. The U.S. Mission to the UN informed the UN Secretary-General about the exit, following which Amnesty International, a non-government organization which focuses on human rights, slammed U.S. as a “devastating abdication of responsibility in the world’s largest refugee crisis.”
In September 2016, the 193 members of the UN General Assembly unanimously adopted a non-binding political declaration and a set of commitments which pledged to uphold the rights of refugees, help them resettle and ensure they have access to education and jobs.
President Trump determined that the U.S. would end its participation in the global treaty as the New York Declaration contains numerous provisions that are inconsistent with U.S. immigration and refugee policies and the Trump Administration’s immigration principles.
The American Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, said the country would continue its generosity in supporting migrants and refugees around the world, but the decisions on immigration policies will always be made by Americans alone. She further said that they will oversee their country’s border and decide who will be permitted to enter the country.
Under Trump and his “America First” policies, the U.S. has withdrawn from several global commitments made under the administration of President Barack Obama, including an international treaty, the Paris climate deal that aimed at preventing the negative effects of global warming. Recently, the U.S. also pulled out of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), accusing it of “anti-Israel bias.”
Pradnya Sawant, Legal Assistant
Keywords: United States, Global treaty, Migrants, Refugees, Exit, UN, Donald Trump