Estonia 200: Political declaration must be added to migration compact
Political party Estonia 200 on Tuesday stated it was of the opinion that the Estonian government has to add its own political declaration to the UN's Global Compact on Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration that would clearly establish that the framework would not create for Estonia new legally binding international responsibilities in connection with migration.
"International law is created not only by international agreements but also by general political agreements, and the UN global migration framework may create various possibilities for interpretation in the future," Estonia 200 chairwoman Kristina Kallas said in a press release on Tuesday. "This is why our concrete stance is necessary. We also believe that the government must translate the migration agreement into Estonian as quickly as possible and turn it into a widely accessible document."
According to Kallas, the aim of the government's declaration is to clearly state the position of the Estonian state regarding migration, according to which each state maintains its sovereign right to decide regarding migration.
"Migration issues have to be discussed on an international level, and agreements for addressing this problem must also be international," she said. "Thus, the establishment of this agreement is in itself important."
Estonia 200 said that in order to handle ever increasing migration flows in the world, more attention needs to be paid not so much to the target countries of migration, that is, agreements regarding the acceptance terms of migratnts, but on the causes for migration in the countries of departure. People need to be helped there where they live, and the reasons forcing them to leave their homes addressed.
According to the nascent political party, Estonia's foreign aid must be directed toward alleviating migration-related issues. The party's platform notes that mass immigration is beyond the capabilities of either Estonia or Europe.
"Based on our historical experience, we know that large-scale immigration has its strong negative impact on societies," Kallas said. "This is why Estonia must be prepared to help those in need, but this can first and foremost happen by means of increasing the foreign aid budget and in countries where our reform experience helps address the reasons behind migration, among other things."
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Editor: Aili Vahtla
