The UN’s International Migrants Day is annually observed across the globe on 18th December with an aim to ensure effective and full protection of human rights of the migrants and to spread the information on the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all migrants.
The theme of 2020 International Migrants Day is “Reimagining Human Mobility”, which highlights that migration should be a choice and not a necessity.
Background:
i.The United Nations General Assembly(UNGA) adopted the resolution A/RES/55/93 on 4 December 2000 and proclaimed the 18th December of every year as the International Migrants Day.
ii.The day 18th December was chosen to mark the anniversary of the adoption of the 1990 resolution A/RES/45/158 on International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of all Migrant Workers and Members of their family by the UNGA.
Migrants:
According to the UN migration Agency International Organization for Migration (IOM) Migrant is a person who is moving or moved across an international border or within a state outside his habitual residence regardless his legal status, weather his movement is voluntary or involuntary, cause of the movement
Key Points:
i.As of 2019, the total number of migrants living outside their county of birth has reached 272 million which was around 258 million in 2017.
ii.Female migrants account for around 48% of the international migrant stock.
iii.It is also estimated that there are around 38 million migrant children and 3 out of 4 migrants are between the age 20 and 64.
iv.Around 31% of international migrants reside in Asia, 30% in Europe, 26% in the Americas, 10% in Africa and 3% in Oceania.
Efforts of UN:
i.In 2016, The UNGA organised a high level plenary meeting to address the large movements of refugees and migrants, which affects all the member states of the UN.
ii.The member countries of the UN have also adopted a set of commitments to the “New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants” to recognise the need for a comprehensive approach to migrants.
iii.This commitment resulted in the development of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration which was adopted at an intergovernmental conference held in 2018 in Morocco.
About International Organization for Migration (IOM):
Director General- António Manuel de Carvalho Ferreira Vitorino (10th DG of IOM)
Headquarter – Grand-Saconnex, Switzerland
Established in– 1951
