Page 10 - AT

A10 WORLD NEWS
Tuesday 11 december 2018

Nearly 85 percent of UN nations back migration deal; not US

By AMIRA EL MASAITI countries’ character, im-
JAMEY KEATEN port poverty or crime, re-
Associated Press duce wages and take jobs
MARRAKECH, Morocco from tax-paying citizens.
(AP) — Defying fierce op- A total of 164 countries
position from the U.S. and among the 193 U.N. mem-
a few other nations, nearly bers approved the agree-
85 percent of U.N. member ment by acclamation
states agreed Monday on Monday. The U.N. General
a sweeping yet non-bind- Assembly will meet on Dec.
ing accord to ensure safe, 19 to endorse it.
orderly and humane migra- At the two-day confer-
tion. ence, U.N. leaders were
The debate over the Glob- hoping to lure in holdouts
al Compact for Migration, from mostly Western na-
the first of its kind, has prov- tions who were not sign-
en to be a pivotal test of ing: Australia, Austria, the
the U.N.-led effort to crack Czech Republic, the Do-
down on the often danger- minican Republic, Hunga-
ous and illegal movements ry, Latvia, Poland and Slo-
across borders that have vakia along with the United
turned people smuggling States, which under Presi-
into a worldwide industry, dent Donald Trump did not
and give people seeking Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel walks past U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and participate in drafting the
economic opportunity a Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for International Migration Louise accord.
chance. Arbor in Marrakech, Morocco, Monday, Dec.10, 2018. Louise Arbour of Cana-
“Unregulated migration Associated Press da, a former U.N. human
bears a terrible human rakech, Morocco. “More cities, families fleeing war greases the wheels of the rights chief, said the issue
cost: a cost in lives lost on than 60,000 migrants have or persecution at home, world economy by diver- also has been tied up in
perilous journeys across died on the move since the impoverished workers from sifying and rejuvenating parliamentary debates in
deserts, oceans and rivers; year 2000,” he said. “This the developing world look- workforce in aging rich Belgium, Bulgaria, Estonia,
and a cost in lives ruined is a source of collective ing for jobs in rich countries. countries and providing a Italy, Israel, Slovenia and
at the hands of smugglers, shame.” It can also involve high- needed source of cash to Switzerland — although
unscrupulous employers Migration affects hundreds skilled workers from devel- poorer countries through some of them did partici-
and other predators,” U.N. of millions of people across oped nations looking for remittances sent home by pate in creating the ac-
Secretary-General Anto- the globe — farmers com- opportunities beyond their migrants. Opponents of- cord, which has since been
nio Guterres told a migra- ing off the land or forced by homelands. ten fear that an influx of ensnared by tough political
tion conference in Mar- climate change to head to Defenders say migration migrants can dilute their headwinds.q

Armenian PM’s bloc wins majority in parliamentary vote

By AVET DEMOURIAN led by Pashinian. Sargsyan
Associated Press was accused of trying to
YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) cling to power by switching
— Allies of Armenia’s new to be prime minister after
leader have won an over- 10 years as president, and
whelming majority of seats lasted only days in that role.
in the country’s early parlia- The preliminary vote results
mentary election, accord- Monday showed the Re-
ing to preliminary results re- publicans polling less than
leased Monday. 5 percent, which means it
Prime Minister Nikol Pashin- will be unlikely to make it
ian, a 43-year-old former into parliament.
journalist, took over in May An election observers’ mis-
after spearheading mas- sion of the Organization
sive protests that forced his for Security and Coopera-
predecessor to step down. tion in Europe on Monday
He had pushed for an early praised the election for
parliamentary vote to win “genuine competition,”
control of the chamber saying the vote was “held
that was dominated by his with respect to fundamen-
political foes. tal freedoms and enjoyed
Pashinian himself has found broad public trust.”
broad popularity, tapping Acting Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian casts his ballot in a polling station during an early The OSCE noted there was
into public anger over parliamentary election in Yerevan, Armenia, Sunday, Dec. 9, 2018. no vote-buying or pressure
widespread poverty, high Associated Press on voters but expressed
unemployment and ram- lion that borders Georgia, crushing defeat for the time leader Serzh Sargsyan, concern over “cases of
pant corruption in the for- Azerbaijan, Turkey and Iran. former ruling Republicans who was ousted from of- inflammatory rhetoric
mer Soviet nation of 3 mil- Those figures represent a Party of Armenia’s long- fice in May by the protests online.”q