UNITED NATIONS (AN) — A new global pact for promoting safe migration is advancing through the United Nations without participation from the United States and Hungary, both headed by populist right-wing leaders espousing hard-lines policies trying to keep immigrants out.
The compact affects some 250 million migrants, the U.N. estimated. Around 90% of cross border migrants move for economic reasons. Migrants comprise just 3.4% of global population but contribute nearly 10% of global GDP, according to a recent McKinsey Global Institute study.