No lessons learned? German government votes in favour of UN Migration Pact

The German government voted today with a majority in favour of the Global Compact for Migration which has been widely criticised for seeking to mix migration and asylum.

In total 372 MPs voted in favour, 153 voted against and 141 abstained. Before the votes were cast Heiko Maas, the current Foreign Minister from the Socialist Democratic Party, called the pact a great success, which would allow for safe migration.

He went on to call out critics for their ineptitude to read the pact and believes it to be in the interests of Germany.

Stephan Thomae of the Free Democratic Party mentioned the pact was non-binding by law and would lower migration pressure on Germany because it would enforce international standards on migration.

The left-wing Green party had already demanded for the migration pact to be implemented into German law even prior to its signing.

Therefore, confirming fears of critics that this pact will by no means be non-binding. Petra Pau from the Left party made a questionable remark that Berlin wouldn’t exist without migration and such that a topic could only be solved globally.

MPs from the Alternative for Germany (AfD) reminded parliament that a number of nations already announced not to sign the pact and questioned to what states people would migrate to then.

The populist AfD made clear that they would vote against this proposal. This outcome does not come as a surprise as secret papers only recently revealed Germany may have had a much larger role in drafting the Global Compact for Migration than previously thought.

Currently the US, Austria, Hungary, Australia, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Estonia, Poland, Israel and Slovakia have all decided against signing the pact set to be ratified in Marrakech on 10-11 December.

https://voiceofeurope.com/2018/11/no-lessons-learned-german-government-votes-in-favour-of-un-migration-pact/#.XAB2IOC3FjQ.twitter