18 December 2014: The UN recognized International Migrants Day with high-level officials drawing attention to the precarious situation faced by the world’s 232 million migrants and calling for their protection. Officials also highlighted the relationship between migration, equality and sustainable development, noting that persistent and structural discrimination can generate inequalities and undermine sustainable development.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon highlighted the post-2015 development agenda as an opportunity to prioritize the needs of the poorest and most marginalized, and called for devoting “greater attention to the precarious situation of the world’s migrants,” in a message for the Day. Ban also: urged accurate data collection on migration to develop evidence-based migration policies; and called on States to adopt comprehensive, human rights-based migration policies that promote legal migration channels, and to ratify international human rights instruments and labor laws, including the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families.

“The international community must work together to change the actual migration narrative to something more positive,” said International Organization for Migration (IOM) Director General William Lacy Swing, highlighting migrants’ contributions to both their host and home countries, including from remittances. He described migration as inevitable, necessary and desirable, and recommended addressing the drivers of irregular migration, saving lives and partnering for action, including through labor migration partnerships and political leadership.

“No society can develop its true potential when legal, social or political barriers prevent entire segments of the population, such as migrants, from contributing,” according to a joint statement from International Labour Organization (ILO) Director-General Guy Ryder and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein. They highlighted the challenges faced by migrants who go abroad in search of decent work, and called for applying labor laws in sectors that typically employ migrants such as agriculture, construction or domestic work.

Officials also underscored the dangers faced by migrants, including: losing their lives at sea or in mountains and deserts; exploitation by smugglers; and incarceration, persistent abuse and discrimination rather than protection and empathy upon their arrival. According to IOM, 2014 was the deadliest year for migrants on record, with nearly 5,000 migrants losing their lives. In addition, the number of people displaced by conflict and violence is the highest since World War II.

The UN General Assembly proclaimed 18 December as International Migrants Day in December 2000, in recognition of the large and increasing number of migrants in the world. [UN Press Release] [UN Secretary-General Statement] [Migrants Day Webpage] [IOM Director General Statement] [ILO, HCHR Statement] [IISD RS Story on High-level Panel on Migration in Post-2015 Agenda]