Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussions her Department has had with officials in the US Administration on the decision of that Administration to withdraw from UN negotiations on the Global Compact for Migration.

It is standard practice for the UK Government to stay in regular contact with the US administration on a range of issues, including the Migration and Refugee Compacts. The UK – alongside partners – remains committed to the UN process to develop both a Global Compact for Migration and a Global Compact for Refugees. The decision by the United States to withdraw from the former does not alter the UK Government’s commitment to engage fully and work towards the successful delivery of these compacts. We believe that the Global Compact on Migration should offer an effective international framework to ensure that migration is safe and orderly and that it should balance the rights and responsibilities of both states and migrants. This should include states committing to the full implementation of the existing legal frameworks that protect fundamental human rights of their own citizens and of migrants.