Austria withdraws from the United Nations pact on migration

Along with the United States and Hungary, Austria will not sign the United Nations Migration Pact in December. The Austrian government expresses concern for the Austrian media that the pact dilutes the line between illegal migration and legal migration.

The 34-page Migration Pact was developed to better organize refugee flows and define their rights more precisely. Participating countries agree, among other things, that they limit the pressure on countries with large numbers of migrants and that they promote the self-sufficiency of newcomers.

Although the agreements are not binding, the Austrian Chancellor Kurz said earlier that he feared the pact to the detriment of the sovereignty of the countries. The pact also stresses that participating countries must organize their migration policy independently and that they can not be affected by the agreements.

A growing number of critical countries are expanding

In July, 192 of the 193 UN member states expressed support for the pact. Only the United States does not have. Later, the Hungarian government of Prime Minister Orbán also gave up these agreements. Poland, the United Kingdom and Australia also criticize the pact. Poland also plans to withdraw

The United Nations Pact on Migration is signed in December in Marrakech, in the Moroccan city. We will vote on next year. Austria will not send representation to Marrakesh and will also refrain from voting in 2019.

Austrian Chancellor Kurz leads a right-wing populist government and takes a tough stance against migration. Previously, he had joined EU Member States such as Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, who wanted to remove the EU's mandatory quota of refugees.