US Committed to Idea of Global Regular Migration, Respecting Migrants' Rights

US State Secretary John Kerry stated that the United States supports a global compact for safe, orderly, and regular migration and called on other states to increase efforts aimed at fighting xenophobia, securing borders, upholding immigration laws and respecting migrants' rights.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The United States is committed to the UN-proposed global compact for safe and regular migration and supports the efforts aiming to protect vulnerable migrants, US State Secretary John Kerry said in a statement on Sunday devoted to the International Migrants Day.

"The United States supports… a global compact for safe, orderly, and regular migration. The compact should improve the treatment of vulnerable migrants, open new paths for legal migration, and maximize migrants’ contribution to sustainable development. The United States is committed to advancing these goals diplomatically and through assistance we provide to countries around the world," the statement published by the Department of State reads.

Kerry has called on other states to increase efforts aimed at fighting xenophobia, securing borders, upholding immigration laws and respecting migrants' rights.

The International Migrants Day is observed annually on December 18. On this day in 1990, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.

According to the World Bank, 250 million people, or 3.4 percent of world's population, lived outside their native countries in 2015.

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