International Migrants Day

On 18 December 1990, a resolution on the ‘International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families’ was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly. In order to mark the adoption of the resolution, every year December 18 is observed as the International Migrants Day by the United Nations through the UN-related agency International Organization for Migration (UN Migration.

Who is a Migrant?

As per UN Migration Agency (IOM), a person who has moved or is moving across an international border or within a State away from his/her place of residence, regardless of (1) the person’s legal status; (2) whether the movement is involuntary or voluntary; (3) causes for the movement are; (4) length of the stay is a “Migrant”.

Key Points for UPSC Prelims

• The theme for International Migrants Day 2020 is ‘Reimagining Human Mobility’.
• The number of international migrants has reached 272 million people in the year 2019.
• Out of the total migrants, around 49 percent are women migrants. Approximately, 38 million children are included in this number.
• Around, 30% of the international migrants are in Europe, 30 percent in Asia, 26 percent in the Americas, 3 percent in Oceania, and 10 percent in Africa.
• 3 out of 4 international migrants are of working age i.e. aged between 20 and 64 years.

International Organization for Migration (IOM)

It is an organization that provides advice and services related to migration to the migrants and governments. It was formed in the year 1951 and is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. At present, IOM has 173 member states and 8 observer states.

Since the year 2006, also serves as a platform for the Global Migration Film Festival (GMFF) Awards of IOM.