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Prelims · Global Affairs

Diaspora, Migration and Soft Power

3 questions, from 2023 to 2026.

2023

1 question

2023 · Q90

Consider the following statements:

  1. 1.Recently, all the countries of the United Nations have adopted the first-ever compact for international migration, the 'Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM)'.
  2. 2.The objectives and commitments stated in the GCM are binding on the UN member countries.
  3. 3.The GCM addresses internal migration or internally displaced people also in its objectives and commitments.

How many of the above statements are correct?

  1. (a)Only one
  2. (b)Only two
  3. (c)All three
  4. (d)None
Show answer and explanation
  • Statement 1 is incorrect because of the word all. The Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration was adopted in Marrakesh in 2018 and endorsed by the General Assembly, but the United States withdrew from the process, and several States voted against or abstained, among them Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Israel and Australia.
  • Statement 2 is incorrect. The Compact is expressly non legally binding, resting on cooperation and a common understanding while reaffirming State sovereignty over migration policy, and this was the central point of contention for the States that declined it.
  • Statement 3 is incorrect. The Compact deals with international migration. Internally displaced persons are addressed through the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement and related frameworks, not through the GCM. None stands, giving (d).

Difficult · Current Affairs Inspired · Global Affairs · Diaspora, Migration and Soft Power

2024

1 question

2024 · Q97

Consider the following statements:

  1. Statement-I: Recently, Venezuela has achieved a rapid recovery from its economic crisis and succeeded in preventing its people from fleeing/emigrating to other countries.
  2. Statement-II: Venezuela has the world's largest oil reserves.

Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?

  1. (a)Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II explains Statement-I
  2. (b)Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct, but Statement-II does not explain Statement-I
  3. (c)Statement-I is correct, but Statement-II is incorrect
  4. (d)Statement-I is incorrect, but Statement-II is correct
Show answer and explanation
  • Statement-I is incorrect. Venezuela has not achieved a rapid recovery. Following years of hyperinflation, contraction of output and collapse of oil production under sanctions and mismanagement, more than seven million Venezuelans have left the country, constituting one of the largest displacement crises in the world and placing heavy burdens on Colombia, Peru and Brazil.
  • Statement-II is correct. Venezuela holds the world's largest proven crude oil reserves, of the order of three hundred billion barrels, concentrated in the extra heavy crude of the Orinoco Belt, ahead of Saudi Arabia. The juxtaposition is the point of the question. Vast resource endowment has coexisted with economic collapse, a textbook illustration of the resource curse, since heavy crude is costly to extract and refine and the economy became dangerously undiversified. Hence (d).
  • Options (a) and (b) require the false claim of recovery, and (c) inverts both truth values.

Easy · Current Affairs Inspired · Global Affairs · Diaspora, Migration and Soft Power

2026

1 question

2026 · Q69

Consider the following statements about platforms for multilateral co-operation:

  1. 1.The 'Colombo Process' is a regional consultative process in which member states take binding decisions by consensus.
  2. 2.The 'Abu Dhabi Dialogue' is a voluntary non-binding consultative process among Asian countries of labour origin and destination to facilitate regional cooperation on contractual labour mobility.
  3. 3.The 'Global Forum for Migration and Development', created upon the proposal of a former UN Secretary General, is a voluntary forum whose decisions are non-binding in nature.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. (a)1, 2 and 3
  2. (b)1 and 3 only
  3. (c)2 and 3 only
  4. (d)2 only
Show answer and explanation
  • Statements 2 and 3 are correct and statement 1 is the eliminator, so (c) is the answer. The Colombo Process, established in 2003, is a regional consultative process of Asian countries of origin for overseas employment, and like every regional consultative process on migration it is explicitly non-binding, producing recommendations rather than obligations. The word binding is therefore the single defect in statement 1.
  • Statement 2 is accurate, since the Abu Dhabi Dialogue of 2008 widened the Colombo Process by bringing in the Gulf countries of destination alongside the Asian countries of origin, and it is voluntary and consultative on contractual labour mobility.
  • Statement 3 is accurate, since the Global Forum on Migration and Development was set up in 2007 following a proposal by Kofi Annan after the first High Level Dialogue on migration, and it is state led, informal, voluntary and outside the United Nations system, with non-binding outcomes. (a) and (b) accept the binding characterisation, and (d) rejects the well documented account of the Global Forum.

Difficult · Current Affairs Inspired · Global Affairs · Diaspora, Migration and Soft Power

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