International

The Marrakesh Pact, also known as the UN Migration Pact, is a United Nations declaration the official name of which is the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration. The Pact does not concern refugees, for whom a separate Pact exists. The Marrakesh Pact deals with migration in the general sense. It is in large part a summary of the good points already contained in human rights treaties, but there are also points which must be looked at critically.

So why is the SP critical?

We have concerns about the passages on economic migration, because this often leads to wage dumping, exploitation and oppression, but also to a braindrain, the departure of well-educated people from for example Africa. We are against capitalist-driven globalisation which puts societies under pressure.

What is the SP's view on migration?

Refugees, people fleeing war and violence, must be accommodated – if possible in their own region, but if that can't be done safely, then in Europe. But economic migrants, who do not have the right of asylum in the Netherlands, can't come here to live and work. This is to prevent wage dumping, exploitation and oppression. Earlier in the year we presented a five-point plan to regulate labour migration.

What is the difference between the SP and the standpoint of the far right parties, the PVV and the FvD?

The SP's analysis is completely different. The far right and their leaders, Thierry Baudet of the Forum for Democracy (FvD) and Geert Wilders of the Freedom Party (PVV), never miss a chance to accuse migrants of being guilty of everything and anything. They refuse to attack the roots of the problem, which is capitalist-driven globalisation which dislocates the whole society. In so doing they distract from the desire of big capital for cheap labour.

What does the SP intend to do about 'Marrakesh'?

The SP is very critical in its views of the causes of migration. It's not for nothing that big capital has long lobbied for more economic migration. That's why we're demanding a guarantee that economic migration, and the related risks of wage dumping, oppression and exploitation cannot be forced on a country on the basis of the Marrakesh Pact.