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U.N. migrant accord adopted, but debate seems far from over

By JAMEY KEATEN, Associated Press
Published: December 11, 2018, 7:50pm

MARRAKECH, Morocco — Reminding the world that migrants are people too, a U.N. migration conference ended Tuesday with pledges to put a landmark new accord to work but facing unfinished business to end the divisive debate between nationalists and globalists with migrant detention centers, caravans and deaths at sea or in deserts making headlines.

U.N. officials and governments touted the adoption of the Global Compact on Migration by 164 countries a day earlier, but with signs that it was already fraying and still the source of disgruntlement from populist, right-wing politicians who see the call for global cooperation as a threat to national sovereignty.

The agreement is a sort of one-stop-shop to bring together existing, and disparate U.N. agreements that touch on migration. And it is rich in lofty — if ill-defined and uncertain — ambitions typical of U.N. technocracy: Its top officials trumpeted a new “network on migration” and a “start-up fund” linked to the U.N. migration agency.

They envision a regular check-up on implementation of the pact every four years, starting in 2022. Nasser Bourita, foreign minister of host Morocco, said simply: “We don’t want this compact just to be ink on paper.”

Officials will be at pains to entice back countries like the U.S., Italy, Australia and Hungary that shunned the accord — and stem any further defections. Brazil’s newly elected populist government says that country will pull out in January.

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