The United Nations’ International Organisation for Migration (IOM) defines a migrant as “a person who moves away from his or her place of usual residence, whether within a country or across an international border, temporarily or permanently, and for a variety of reasons.” These reasons include work, education, family reunification, or the pursuit of safety and stability. The definition is intentionally broad, reflecting the many social, economic, political, and environmental forces that shape the relocation of people today.
According to the latest data from the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), over 304 million individuals, roughly 3.7% of the global population, resided outside their birth country in 2024. Their journeys impact economies, reshape societies, and enrich cultures around the world. On International Migrants Day, observed annually on 18 December, the global community acknowledges the scale, complexity, and human stories behind these movements.
Refugees, Asylum Seekers, Migrants, and the Displaced
Refugees are people who flee their home countries due to well-founded fear of persecution based on race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group. They receive protection under international refugee law, primarily the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol.
Asylum seekers are those who have applied for refugee status and await a decision on their claim. Every refugee starts as an asylum seeker, but not all asylum seekers gain recognition as refugees.
Unlike refugees, migrants pursue diverse opportunities, such as work, education, or family reunification, without a single global treaty for protection, relying instead on fragmented national laws.
Displaced persons are uprooted by conflict, disasters, or widespread human rights violations. They may stay within their country as internally displaced persons (IDPs) or cross borders without refugee status, yet remain entitled to humanitarian aid under international human rights and humanitarian law.
Historical Constant
Migration is not new; it forms a core thread of human history. Anthropological and genetic evidence indicates modern humans originated in Africa and spread across continents between 70,000 and 100,000 years ago. Climatic shifts, quests for food and fertile land, expanding trade, conquests, wars, and colonial expansions have propelled migratory waves throughout history. Industrialisation, globalisation, and political upheavals intensified mobility in recent centuries. Today, conflict, environmental pressures, demographic changes, and economic disparities continue to fuel global migration.
Migrants’ Contributions
Migrants play an indispensable role in global progress, powering key sectors like healthcare, construction, agriculture, logistics, domestic work, and technology across continents. Countries with aging populations depend on migrant labour to stabilise workforces and fund social security.
According to the World Bank's Migration and Development Brief 39 (December 2023), migrants sent $860 billion in remittances worldwide in 2023, often surpassing foreign aid and direct investment in developing nations, while bolstering families and economies.
Migration ignites dynamic cultural exchanges in food, music, art, literature, and science, blending diverse influences into richer global innovation and identity.
Challenges and Vulnerabilities
Despite their vital contributions, migrants often face harsh realities like labour exploitation, unsafe working conditions, wage theft, and passport confiscation.
Limited access to healthcare, education, and justice systems compounds these barriers. Undocumented migrants endure constant fear of detention or deportation, while rising xenophobia and misinformation undermine their dignity, fray social cohesion, and spur discriminatory policies.
New Pressures and Political Tensions
Contemporary migration issues reveal how deeply mobility shapes global politics. Europe continue to grapple with asylum surges from conflicts in Syria, Ukraine, Sudan, and regions in the Middle East and Africa, sparking tensions over responsibility-sharing and nationalist sentiments.
In the United States, record arrivals at the US–Mexico border stem from poverty, political instability, violence across Latin America. In the Middle East, economies rely heavily on migrant labour, yet millions of workers from South Asia and Africa still face exploitation despite policy reforms. The mass displacement of the Rohingya remains one of the world’s most prolonged humanitarian crises, with nearly one million refugees living in congested camps in Bangladesh.
Climate change adds another layer of urgency with World Bank projections estimating up to 216 million environmentally displaced by 2050. These pressures demand global cooperation, long-term planning, and ethical policy responses.
Towards Humane and Practical Migration Policies
To address these complex realities, countries must adopt humane, realistic, and forward-looking migration policies. Expanding safe and legal pathways, through work visas, student programmes, family reunification mechanisms, humanitarian corridors, and refugee resettlement, can reduce the risks associated with irregular migration and protect vulnerable people from exploitation.
Strengthening labour protections is crucial to ensure fair wages, ethical recruitment, and safe working conditions. Migration must also be approached as a shared global responsibility, requiring equitable burden-sharing among nations. Effective integration policies, including access to healthcare, education, language instruction, and anti-discrimination measures, help migrants thrive and contribute fully to society.
At the same time, long-term solutions must focus on addressing the root causes of forced migration: conflict, poor governance, poverty, inequality, and the accelerating impacts of climate change. Public education campaigns are equally vital to counter xenophobia and highlight the indispensable contributions migrants make to communities worldwide.
Recognising Our Shared Humanity
International Migrants Day invites us to recognise the dignity and resilience of millions of people on the move. Migration shaped our beginnings as a species and continues to shape our collective future. When migrants are protected, empowered, and welcomed, they become agents of economic growth, cultural dialogue, and global progress.
A fair, safe, and humane migration system is more than a policy aspiration, it is a moral imperative. Building such a world requires empathy, cooperation, and a shared commitment to justice. Only then can we create a global community where every person, regardless of where they come from or where they move, has the opportunity to live with dignity, security, and hope.
