National says no to UN’s Global Compact on Migration

Simon Bridges announced:

National would pull New Zealand out of the UN’s Global Compact on Migration because of its potential to restrict New Zealand’s ability to set its own migration and foreign policy, National Leader Simon Bridges says.

“National is supportive of global action on major issues and of migration into New Zealand because it brings skills, capital and connections and makes New Zealand a better, more diverse place. And we support the ability for New Zealanders to travel and live and work overseas should they choose.

“But immigration policy is solely a matter for individual countries and must take account of their individual circumstances – and New Zealand’s policies are already held up as international best practice. There is no automatic right to migrate to another country without that country’s full agreement, a view which the United Nation’s Global Compact on Migration, set to be signed next week, seeks to counter.

I am very pro-immigration. Managed well, as NZ generally does, it benefits the country both economically and culturally. But it is vital that a country can determine its own immigration policy and have secure borders. A country has the right to determine who can join them.

The UN conference on adopting the compact starts on the 10th of December. It is not formally binding, but a government that signs up to it would be expected to abide by it.

Countries which have stated they will not sign include Austria, Australia, Italy, Israel, Switzerland and the US.