Merkel sets off for UN migration conference in Marrakech

Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) set off for Morocco on Sunday to attend the United Nations Intergovernmental Conference on the Global Compact for Migration.

In the city of Marrakech Merkel plans first to meet Moroccan King Mohammed VI in the early evening and then to have dinner with Prime Minister Saadeddine Othmani.

According to the German government, the talks are expected to focus on relations between the two countries and on regional issues. Like the UN conference being held on Monday and Tuesday, the talks are also expected to focus on migration policy.

The chancellor is scheduled to give a speech on Monday morning on the adoption of the controversial UN migration pact, before she flies back to Berlin.

For the first time, the UN migration pact lays down guidelines to better manage global migration.

The document contains 23 objectives to improve international migration policy in order to tackle illegal and disorderly migration and make migration safer.

Although the pact is not legally binding and expressly emphasizes the sovereignty of the member states, some countries fear an erosion of their national sovereignty.

A number of governments have rejected the pact in recent weeks, including Hungary, Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland, Bulgaria, Australia, Slovakia and Israel. The Belgian government has split in the dispute over the pact.

According to the definition of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), migrants are all people who leave their place of residence - for whatever reason, for how long or whether voluntarily or involuntarily.

The UN counted 258 million migrants worldwide in 2017.