Por María Paula Alvarado Mora – International Relations Student

The current situation of migrants is a very vast topic to cover due to all the different aspects that it entails. Some examples of these are the adaptation to the environmental changes, the obstacles and challenges they face, the countries with more migrants and the economic, social and political situation of these said nations. Also, the factors contributing migration to increase and the response of the countries with more migrants. Each time the migratory activity will increase due to the lack of labor opportunities and social inequality that many countries have. “In 2019, Europe and Asia each hosted around 82 million and 84 million international migrants, respectively – comprising 61 per cent of the total global international migrant stock combined” (International Organization for Migration, 2019).

According to the World Migration Report 2020, the majority of people migrate internationally for reasons related to work, family and study, and other people leave their homes and countries sometimes due to tragic reasons, such as conflict, persecution and disaster (International Organization for Migration, 2020). Many migrants have been involved in situations of discrimination and mistreatment in the country that they go to. Some examples are verbal and physical abuse, denial of job opportunities to them and their families. Rejection and repulsion by the citizens are also some negative situations that many migrants have dealt with.

Many organizations across the globe have the role and objective of providing protection to the rights of migrants. There is an inter-agency group called The Global Migration Group that seeks to adapt a more comprehensive and coordinated approach to international migration. This group consists of ten organizations that are actively participating in migration issues. Some examples are the International Organization for Migration (IOM), International Labour Organization (ILO), United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), among others. The IOM is one of the most outstanding organizations for migration issues because it is the United Nation’s migration agency (The UN Refugee Agency, 2006).

International Organization for Migrants (IOM) is an inter-governmental organization that provides advice and services to migrants and governments as well. It promotes international cooperation on various migration issues, assist in the search for solutions to migration problems and help to provide humanitarian assistance to refugees and internally displaced people.

One of the most vulnerable groups that require more help and resources are the internally displaced people, which are people that are forced to leave their place of residence but remains in their country’s border. They tend to move to areas in which humanitarian assistance can’t be delivered. According to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), by the end of 2019, 50.8 million people were internally displaced due to armed conflict, generalized violence and human rights violations (n.d.).

As already mentioned, there are many international organizations involved in the protection and care of migrants. As the migrant activity increases there will be hopefully more organizations that have as objective the protection of their rights. As there are governments that have given more thought to the security of their migrant population, there are others that have helped with the increase of this problem due to their bad handling of power and the lack of human rights in the country. The mistreatment towards the migrant population comes in hand with the lack of empathy and comprehension, because it shows that many people don’t believe that they can be in that same situation in a couple of years when their government start abusing power and restraining civil rights. Millions of people are forced to leave their jobs, families and homes in order to try to settle in a different country looking for a better lifestyle and security. It is good news that there are organizations across the world that make an effort to provide resources and help to those who are going through a difficult situation in regards to looking for a better way of living and looking for their safety and their families.

 

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References:
  • Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre. (n.d.). Internal Displacement. https://www.internal-displacement.org/internal-displacement
  • International Organization for Migration. (2020). World Migration Report 2020. https://publications.iom.int/system/files/pdf/wmr_2020.pdf
  • The UN Refugee Agency. (2006). Global Migration Group. https://www.unhcr.org/global-migration-group.html