December 18, 2012: Every moment, around the world, people leave their countries in
search of a safer or better life. Globally, more than 214 million people are on the
move. Many flee difficult conditions only to face even greater struggles, including
human rights violations, poverty and discrimination. But these migrants have more
than fear and uncertainty; they also possess hopes, courage and the resolve to build
a better life. With the right support, they can contribute to society’s progress,
said United Nation’s Secretary General Ban Ki Moon in his message for International
Migrants Day 2012, which is observed on 18 December. The United Nations' International
Migrants Day is annually held on December 18 to recognize the efforts, contributions
and rights of migrants worldwide. Each year the UN invites governments, organizations,
and individuals to observe International Migrants Day by distributing information
on the human rights and migrants’ fundamental freedoms.
Migration is a global
issue that is rightly attracting more and more global attention. Next year, the United
Nations General Assembly will hold its second High-Level Dialogue on International
Migration and Development, giving Member States and their partners a chance to discuss
practical measures to facilitate labour mobility, foster sustainable development and
protect the rights of migrants, especially women and girls, Ban Ki Moon said in his
message.
He further said: Attention to the rights of migrants is especially
important at this time of global economic and financial distress. As budgets tighten,
we are seeing austerity measures that discriminate against migrant workers, xenophobic
rhetoric that encourages violence against irregular migrants, and proposed immigration
laws that allow the police to profile migrants with impunity. During economic downturns,
it is worth remembering that whole sectors of the economy depend on migrant workers
and migrant entrepreneurs help to create jobs.
When migration policies are
developed without attention to vulnerability, marginalization and discrimination,
millions of migrants become cheap, disposable labour, the scapegoats for failed economic
and social policies, and even casualties in an ill-defined war against “illegal migration.”
As
human mobility becomes more complex, and the journeys taken by many migrants more
perilous, it becomes all the more urgent to forge national policy responses that address
migration based on human rights principles.
In the lead-up to the High-level
Dialogue, I hope that Member States will approach human rights as a central issue
in migration governance; at the national level I encourage them to take such measures
as decriminalizing irregular migration, setting up effective alternatives to immigration
detention, and ensuring that the functions of public service providers such as nurses
or teachers are kept strictly separate from those of the immigration authorities.
I also hope participants will duly consider the issue of migration in the context
of the post-2015 global development agenda.
On this International Migrants
Day, I call on States to ratify and implement all instruments on this issue. And I
encourage all people to help foster a principled, practical and creative discussion
on how we can ensure the protection of the rights of all migrants, wherever they are
and whatever their status.