STATEMENT DELIVERED BY COUNSELLOR (POLITICAL) YASMIN ALI AT THE OPENING SESSION OF THE INTERGOVERMENTAL CONSULTATIONS OF THE GLOBAL COMPACT FOR SAFE, ORDERLY AND REGULAR MIGRATION, UNHQ, NEW YORK, 20 FEBRUARY 2018

Thank you Mr Chair.

1                 Singapore aligns itself with the statement delivered by Malaysia on behalf of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. We wish to join other delegations to thank the Co-Facilitators and their teams for their hard work in coming up with a well-drafted and comprehensive zero draft which serves as a good basis for negotiations.

2                 The scale, complexity and impact of the migration phenomenon is clear. In the lead-up to the start of the negotiation phase today, many Member States acknowledged that no country can address the challenges and opportunities of this global phenomenon on its own. Singapore believes that all member states, whether countries of origin, transit, destination, or a combination of the three, have a role to play in managing migration, and that the responsibilities of States should be balanced. Enhanced cooperation at the regional and global level is thus essential.

Mr Chair,

3                 Close to 40% of Singapore’s population are foreigners. Migrants comprise about one-third of our workforce. We value the skills, experience and knowledge that these migrants contribute to our country. Singapore citizens, legal migrants and travellers form a symbiotic community working and living together. Our policies reflect our belief that migrants should have the right to travel safely through legal pathways, without being exploited by traffickers and smugglers. Singapore’s balanced approach to migration, emphasising regular channels for migrants who legally seek opportunities, while reducing the attractiveness and means of irregular channels, has served our society, including legal migrants, well over the years.

4                 It is critical that States retain their sovereign right to manage their inflow of migrants and determine the conditions in which migrants may enter, reside and take up employment legally.  It is equally critical to focus on the key drivers of migration. Migration should ideally be undertaken out of choice. Unfortunately, for many, migration has become a matter of necessity rather than a choice and their journeys overseas often involve a great deal of uncertainty and personal sacrifice. The international community needs to work together to address the factors that lead to migration undertaken out of necessity.

Mr Chair,

5                 My delegation is encouraged that these important elements have been captured in the set of guiding principles in the zero draft. In addition, the zero draft’s pragmatic approach in recognising that individual States face very different contexts and circumstances and thus should have the leeway to implement commitments according to their respective capacities and needs, is a reflection of the understanding that in reality, migration affects States in different ways. My delegation will work constructively with other delegations to achieve a Global Compact through which States are in a position to best promote and protect the rights of migrants while taking into account the interests of the societies which receive them.

I thank you.

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