Tsipras to attend UN migration conference in Marrakesh

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was due in Marrakesh on Monday for the launch of a two-day United Nations conference on migration. 

Apart from addressing the Intergovernmental Conference to Adopt the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, the Greek premier was to hold several meetings on the sidelines of the event with María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, president of the UN General Assembly, and Gilles Carbonnier, vice president of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Tsipras arrived in Marrakesh on Sunday evening with Migration Minister Dimitris Vitsas.

European Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos is also due to attend the event.

The key aim of the conference is for heads of state to endorse and adopt a pact called the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration which was drafted in July.

It includes 23 objectives for better managing migration at the local, national, regional and global levels and underlines the need for protecting migrants' human rights.