Israel will not participate in the UN World Pact on Migration and will continue to defend its borders against illegal immigrants as it has done so far, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stated.
“I instructed the Foreign Ministry to announce that Israel will not participate in the migration agreement or sign it. We are committed to maintaining our borders against illegal infiltrators. That's what we did, and that's what we'll continue to do,” Netanyahu's office has quoted the head of government as saying.
The intergovernmental deal outlining a common approach to international migration has raised lots of criticism from officials, saying it is 'not perfect' even if it can help address the 'root causes' of the migration issue.
The aforementioned bill, dubbed Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, is set to be adopted by the Intergovernmental Conference in Marrakesh on 10-11 December.
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In recent years, Israeli authorities have reduced to zero the flow of migrants from Africa, having blocked their borders with Egypt, and now they are looking for an opportunity to expel about 40,000 illegal immigrants who managed to penetrate it.