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International Migrants Day: It is observed on 18 December every year to raise awareness regarding the challenges and difficulties faced by migrants. Let us have a look at the history, significance, and themes of International Migrants Day.
International Migrants Day: Date
- 2024: 18 December, 2024 [Wednesday]
- 2025: 18 December, 2025 [Thursday]
- 2026: 18 December, 2026 [Friday]
- 2027: 18 December, 2027 [Saturday]
It is observed on 18 December every year. Globalization with the advancement of communications and transportation has greatly increased the number of people, who have desired and the capacity to move to other places. Across the world, this new era has created challenges and opportunities for societies.
It has been seen that today more people live in a country other than the one in which they were born. According to the UN, the number of migrants globally reached an estimated 272 million in 2019 more than in 2010 which is 51 million. The proportion of international migrants in the world population has also risen compared to 2.8 percent in 2000 and 2.3 percent in 1980. Some individuals migrate out of choice and many others migrate out of necessity.
According to the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, “On this International Migrants Day, let us seize the opportunity of the recovery from the pandemic to implement the Global Compact for Sale, Orderly and Regular Migration, reimage human mobility, enable migrants to reignite economies at home and abroad and build more inclusive and resilient societies”.
About Migrant:
As per UN Migration Agency (IOM), a migrant is 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;
- the person’s legal status
- whether or not the movement is voluntary or involuntary
- what may be the causes for the movement are or
- what may be the length of the stay is
International Migrants Day: Theme
- 2024: Honouring the Contributions of Migrants and Respecting Their Rights
- 2023: Promoting Safe Migration
- 2022: Integrating migrants into primary health care
- 2021: Harnessing the Potential of Human Mobility
- 2020: Reimagining Human Mobility
- 2019: Social Cohesion
- 2018: Migration with Dignity
- 2017: Safe Migration in A World on the Move
International Migrants Day: History
The United Nations General Assembly on 4 December 2000, taking into account the large and increasing number of migrants in the world, proclaimed 18 December as International Migrants Day. In 1990, on this day, the Assembly adopted the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families.
On 14 and 15 September 2006, the 132 Member States participated in the High-level Dialogue on International Migration and Development which was conducted by the General Assembly. They reaffirmed a number of key messages including underscoring that international migration was a growing phenomenon and that it could make a positive contribution to development in countries of origin and countries of destination provided it had been supported by the right policies. They also emphasized that migrants’ fundamental rights and freedoms should be respected to reap the advantages of international migration and recognized the importance of strengthening international cooperation on international migration bilaterally, regionally, and globally.
International Migrants Day: Migrants and the SDGs
The Sustainable Development 2030 Agenda recognizes for the first time the contribution of migration to sustainable development. Eleven out of the Seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) contain targets and indicators relevant to migration or mobility. The core principle of the agenda is to “leave no one behind” not even migrants.
About the International Organization for Migration (IOM)
IOM was established in 1951 and is the leading inter-governmental organization in the field of migration. IOM entered into an agreement with the United Nations in 2016 and became one of its specialized agencies.
