New York, March 12, 2018. Cuban expert Dennis Casares Benítez, from the General Division for Multilateral Affairs and International Law of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, heads the Cuban delegation that is participating in the second formal session of intergovernmental negotiations to adopt a Global Compact for safe, orderly and regular migration.
On this first day the delegation of the Caribbean island participated in the interesting interactive debate on the conceptualization of regular and irregular migration and the distinctions between migrants and refugees.
The Cuban diplomat, in his statements, referred to the political, conceptual and technical aspects of both problems and stressed the importance of ensuring that the text of the Compact reinforces the actions aimed at protecting the rights to which migrants must be entitled. He also stressed that the exercise of the sovereign right of States to decide which persons enter their territory should not be invoked to justify discriminatory, xenophobic or racist treatment against these persons, as well as the violation or impediment of access to their fundamental rights.
Casares also stated that in this context it is imperative to solve the root causes of migration flows and expressed the hope that the Compact will be a tool aimed at ensuring that migrants are not forced to use irregular routes to migrate.
These highly animated and substantive debates among the delegates will be extended during the next two working days and will be related to other topics such as the implementation of the Compact, training actions, capacity building, monitoring and evaluation of its fulfillment.
Permanent Mission of Cuba to the UN