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UN General Assembly Approves Global Compact to Track, Respond to Refugees

© REUTERS / Francois LenoirMigrants carry their belongings as they leave a makeshift camp for refugees outside the foreign office in Brussels, Belgium October 2, 2015
Migrants carry their belongings as they leave a makeshift camp for refugees outside the foreign office in Brussels, Belgium October 2, 2015 - Sputnik International
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UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) - A global compact on refugees that is intended to reduce the burden on host nations has been overwhelmingly adopted by the UN General Assembly, days after participants at a United Nations conference in Morocco adopted a similar compact on migration, the United Nations said in a press release on Monday.

"After two years of extensive consultations led by UNHCR [UN Refugee Agency] with member states, international organizations, refugees, civil society, the private business sector and experts, this new global deal will provide more robust support for the countries where most refugees live," the release said. "It will also strengthen the shared responsibility to aid those who are forced to flee by conflict or persecution."

General Assembly spokeswoman Monica Grayley later told reporters that the vote was 181 in favour of the compact, with two against and three abstentions.

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READ MORE: Prof: UN Migration Compact Is Threat to Sovereignty of Free Member Countries

The compact aims to ease the burden on developing nations, which host 90 percent of an estimated 25 million refugees, by providing more investment — from both governments and the private sector — to further strengthen infrastructure and the provision of services for refugees and host communities, the release said.

The new agreement will also track refugee flows through the creation of follow-up systems, including a Global Refugee Forum every four years, at which governments will report and pledge on a range of measures — funding, policy, legal changes and resettlement quotas.

READ MORE: Belgian MP on Why 'Western Europe is Turning Into a Third World Continent'

The refugee compact was approved days after an intergovernmental conference adopted a separate Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration in Marrakech, Morocco, which will be presented to the UN General Assembly later this week, the release said.

READ MORE: WATCH Police Disperse UN Migration Pact Protests in Brussels With Water Cannons

The United States boycotted the Marrakech conference and also declined to vote for the refugee compact in the UN General Assembly on Monday.

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