What Is International Migrants Day?
As of 2020, it is estimated that there were over 280 million international migrants in the world—about 3.6% of the total world population. There is no universally accepted definition of a migrant, but they are generally individuals who travel from one place to another, usually in search of economic opportunities or better living conditions. International migrants move across international borders from one country to another.
Migrants can face many struggles and dangers in their lives. They can also commonly be overlooked for their contributions to societies and economies. That’s why International Migrants Day was created. So, when is International Migrants Day, and why is it important?
International Migrants Day Explained
International Migrants Day is observed each year on December 18th. It was first designated as a day of observance by the United Nations General Assembly on December 4th, 2000. The General Assembly chose that day because the Assembly adopted the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families on that day in 1990.
Why Is International Migrants Day Important?
International Migrants Day is important for several different reasons, but the main one is that it is a day of recognition for all migrants around the world. It is a day to acknowledge their rights, the contributions they make to society, and the struggles they face. All of these factors are often overlooked, and International Migrants Day serves as a time to rectify that.
The rights of migrants include the right to leave their home country at any time, as well as the right to re-enter and remain in their country of origin. Other rights include not being held in servitude or slavery, not performing forced labor, and having freedom of thought and religion.
Migrants also contribute to the economies they are a part of, both the ones they travel to work in and those in their home countries they leave behind. They perform needed labor in the areas they travel to—often labor that no one else wants to do—while also opening up job opportunities in the economies that they travel from.
Migrants face many struggles as they move between locations, including physical dangers from terrain and weather as they travel. They are also at risk of human trafficking, extortion, kidnapping, abuse, and gender-based violence. Migrants face all these dangers in the hope of building a better life for themselves and their fa
ICMC’s efforts include protecting internally displaced children in Burkina Faso, providing assistance to Afghan refugees with our partner agencies, providing support to survivors of gender-based violence in Malaysia, aiding Ukrainian refugees, and more.
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