Migrants Day: Honoring contributions, protecting rights of migrants

Migration is a global reality. There are an estimated 281 million international migrants worldwide, and the majority of migrants travel, live and work in a safe, orderly and regular manner. Nonetheless, migration undeniably affects our countries, communities, migrants and their families in very different and sometimes unpredictable ways.

International Migrants Day (IMD) on 18 December is a powerful advocacy tool that provides an opportunity to raise awareness on issues related to migrants, educate the public on benefits to the community from the contributions of migrants, and to mobilize political will and resources to address migration in all its dimensions. It is also an occasion to reinforce the achievements of humanity and celebrate the resilience of migrants.

The World Development Report 2023 by the World Bank notes that in the coming decades, the share of working-age adults will drop sharply in many countries. For instance, Spain, with a population of 47 million, is projected to shrink by more than one third by 2100, with those above age 65 increasing from 20 percent to 39 percent of the population. Countries like Mexico, Thailand, Tunisia and Türkiye may soon need more foreign workers because their population is no longer growing.

Beyond this demographic shift, the forces driving migration are also changing, making cross-border movements more diverse and complex. Today, destination and origin countries span all income levels, with many countries, both sending and receiving migrants. The number of refugees nearly tripled over the last decade. Climate change threatens to fuel more migration. So far, most climate-driven movements were within countries, but about 40 percent of the world’s population live in places highly exposed to climate impacts.

Current approaches not only fail to maximize the potential development gains of migration, they also cause great suffering for people moving in distress. About 2.5 percent of the world’s population—184 million people, including 37 million refugees—now live outside their country of nationality. The largest share—43 percent—lives in developing countries.

The report underscores the urgency of managing migration better. The goal of policymakers should be to strengthen the match of migrants’ skills with the demand in destination societies, while protecting refugees and reducing the need for distressed movements. The report provides a framework for policymakers on how to do this.

“This World Development Report proposes a simple but powerful framework to aid the making of migration and refugee policy,” said Indermit Gill, Chief Economist of the World Bank Group and Senior Vice President for Development Economics. “It tells us when such policies can be made unilaterally by destination countries, when they are better made plurilaterally by destination, transit and origin countries, and when they must be considered a multilateral responsibility.”

Origin countries should make labor migration an explicit part of their development strategy. They should lower remittance costs, facilitate knowledge transfers from their diaspora, build skills that are in high demand globally so that citizens can get better jobs if they migrate, mitigate the adverse effects of ‘brain drain’, protect their nationals while abroad, and support them upon return.

Destination countries should encourage migration where the skills migrants bring are in high demand, facilitate their inclusion, and address social impacts that raise concerns among their citizens. They should let refugees move, get jobs, and access national services wherever they are available.

International cooperation is essential to make migration a strong force for development. Bilateral cooperation can strengthen the match of migrants’ skills with the needs of destination societies. Multilateral efforts are needed to share the costs of refugee-hosting and to address distressed migration. Voices that are underrepresented in the migration debate must be heard: this includes developing countries, the private sector and other stakeholders, and migrants and refugees themselves.

People on the move are powerful drivers for development in both their origin and destination countries, as workers, students, entrepreneurs, family members, artists, and much more. Migrants often maintain strong connections to their home countries while embracing their new communities, where they bring a wealth of knowledge, experience and skill.

If managed well, mobility can be a cornerstone of sustainable development, prosperity and progress. Unlocking migration’s potential is key to accelerating efforts to meet the significant challenges of the 2030 Agenda articulated during the Sustainable Development Goal summit in New York in September 2023, for the benefit of all. There is an urgent need for the international community to provide people-centred and evidence-based solutions for people to remain in their communities, and for those who want to or must move.

The COP28 summit in Dubai in 2023 provided the opportunity for the International Organization of Migration (IOM), the UN migration agency, to advocate again for the impact of climate change on migrants to be a central part of this discussion. Promoting equal and inclusive partnerships with migrants, women, persons with disabilities and communities, while emphasizing the role of youth, is now more critical than ever.

Migrants and displaced people represent some of the most vulnerable and marginalized groups in society. Migrants have proven to be a source of prosperity, innovation, and sustainable development to countries of origin, transit, and host countries. On 19 September 2016, Heads of State and Government came together at the global level within the UN General Assembly to discuss issues related to migration and refugees.

In adopting the  New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, 193 UN Member States recognized the need for a comprehensive approach to human mobility and enhanced cooperation at the global level. They committed to elaborate and adopt the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM).

The GCM– the first-ever intergovernmentally negotiated UN agreement on a common approach to managing international migration, which UN member states endorsed at the 60th plenary session of the UN general Assembly in September 2018—offers the opportunity and guidance to actualize human mobility and seize the opportunities it presents.

No state can manage migration effectively and sustainably in isolation. The Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration is an effective tool for States to discuss how best to address challenges to human mobility without compromising the human rights of people and states’ sovereignty.

On this International Migrants Day, and every day, IOM reaffirms its commitment to promoting a humane and orderly management of migration for the benefit of all, including the communities of origin, transit, and destination. The IOM defines a migrant as any person who is moving or has moved across an international border or within a State away from his/her habitual place of residence, regardless of (1) the person’s legal status; (2) whether the movement is voluntary or involuntary; (3) what the causes for the movement are; or (4) what the length of the stay is.

The International Organization of Migration aims to position migration as one of the solutions to global challenges, such as adapting to the impacts of climate change or providing better economic opportunities for communities. The IMD theme for 2024 is: Honouring the Contributions of Migrants and Respecting their Rights. Migration is a global phenomenon driven by many forces. These start with aspirations for dignity, safety and peace. The decision to leave home is always extreme, and, too often, the beginning of a dangerous, sometimes fatal journey.

International Migrants Day provides us with an opportunity to reflect on and celebrate the contributions of millions of migrants worldwide. Every person can make a difference. Every person can be an agent of change. Together, our collective actions today, will prepare us for a better tomorrow.

[Courtesy of World Bank, International Organization for Migration]