International Migrants Day: 280 million people leave their homes for ‘a better life’

Secretary General Antonio Guterres recognized the more than 80 percent of those who cross borders safely and orderly as powerful drivers of “economic growth, dynamism and understanding”.

“But unregulated migration along increasingly dangerous routes – the cruel realm of human traffickers – continues to exact terrible costs,” he continued in his Message marks the day.

deaths and disappearances

At least 51,000 migrants have died and thousands more have disappeared in the past eight years, the top UN official said.

“Behind every number is a person – a sister, a brother, a daughter, a son, a mother or a father,” he said, recalling: “Migrant rights are human rights“.

“They must be respected without discrimination – whether their movement is coerced, voluntary or formally authorized.”

“Doing Anything”

Mr Guterres urged the world to “do everything possible” to prevent the loss of their lives – as a humanitarian imperative and as a moral and legal obligation.

And he urged search-and-rescue efforts, medical care, expanded and diversified rights-based migration routes, and greater international investment in countries of origin “to ensure migration is a choice, not a necessity.”

“There is no migration crisis; there is a crisis of solidarity,” concluded the Secretary General. “Today and every day, let us protect our common humanity and secure the rights and dignity of all.”

There is no migration crisis; There is a crisis of solidarity – UN Secretary General

realize fundamental rights

For his part, the head of the International Labor Organization (ILO) (ILO), Gilbert F. Houngbo, highlighted the protection of the rights of the world’s 169 million migrant workers.

“The international community needs to do better to ensure that… [that they] able to realize their basic human and labor rights,” he said in his message for the day.

When they are unable to exercise fundamental rights, migrant workers become “invisible, vulnerable and undervalued for their contribution to society,” stressed the senior ILO official.

vulnerabilities

And when they intersect with race, ethnicity and gender, they become even more vulnerable to various forms of discrimination.

Mr Houngbo pointed out that migrants are not only missing on risky and desperate journeys.

“Many migrant domestic workers, farmhands and other workers are isolated and unreachable to those who might protect them,” with undocumented people particularly at risk of abuse.

Fair labor migration

Meanwhile, the ILO supports governments, employers and workers in making fair labor migration a reality.

Like all workers, migrant workers are entitled to labor standards and international human rights protections, including freedom of association and collective bargaining, non-discrimination and safe and healthy work environments, the ILO chief affirmed.

They should also be entitled to social protection, development and recognition.

To make these rights a reality, Mr. Houngbo stressed the key importance of fair recruitment, including eliminating recruitment fees for migrant workers, which can help eliminate human trafficking and forced labour.

Injustices suffered by migrant workers are injustices to all of us – ILO chief

“Access to decent work is a key strategy to realize the development potential and contribution of migrants to society,” he said.

“We must recognize that injustices suffered by migrant workers are injustices to all of us. We have to do better.”

“Cornerstone of Development”

Meanwhile in his messagethe head of the International Migration Organization (IMO), António Vitorino, described migrants as “the cornerstone of development and progress”.

“We must not allow the politicization of migration, hostility and divisive narratives to distract us from the values ​​that matter most,” he urged.

Regardless of what compels people to move, “their rights must be respected,” the IMO chief stressed.