The 18th December was proclaimed on December 4th by the United Nations to be International Migrants’ Day, to recognise the contributions made by millions of migrants to the economies and well being of their host and home countries, and to promote respect for their basic human rights. December 18th is the date in 1990 when the UN adopted the text of the international treaty covering the human rights of migrants. The UN resolution was introduced by Mexico, and co-sponsored by 25 other countries in Latin America, Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Europe, as well as the USA.

A central element of the December 18th effort was calling for wider ratification and entry into force of the International Migrants Rights Convention. Although it is now 10 years since its adoption by the UN General Assembly, the Convention is still not in force. The pace of ratification has, however, picked up recently.

As migrant organiser Mayan Villalba of the Philippines puts it, "December 18th is a day when families ‘left behind’ recognise the significant contribution that their migrant member gives to the country, not only to their own families, and feel proud of it."

Today, 150 million people are living outside their countries of origin, according to new estimates by the International Organisation for Migration. The UN’s International Labour Office counts 97 million of these as migrant workers and members of their families. Migrant workers and permanent immigrants usually fill difficult jobs, pay taxes and often subsidise economies of host countries with cheap labour while they generate billions of dollars of income for their home countries. Recent estimates by the World Bank calculate that migrant remittances to home countries account for 42 billion dollars annually, second only to world petroleum exports in international trade monetary flows.

Despite providing key agricultural, construction, service and high-tech labour in many countries, migrant workers - including a growing number of women - are also subject to horrendous abuse and violent attacks because they are foreigners. Such violations have become widespread and today occur across the globe. Women are now estimated to make up 50% of the world's migrants.

Recognition of these abuses as an international human rights issue is still fairly recent. It is the NGO community — with support from a small number of governments — which is pressing for wider attention to the protection and promotion of Migrants rights.

The UN proclamation of December 18th as International Migrants’ Day is an important step, offering a rallying point for everyone across the world who is concerned with the protection of migrants. The UN proclamation invites UN member states, intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations to observe this day by disseminating information on human rights and fundamental freedoms of migrants, sharing experiences, and undertaking action to ensure the protection of migrants.

In early 2000, some 60 NGOs from around the world joined the campaign for official UN designation of an International Migrants’ Day, initiated by NGOs in Asia. They co-signed letters addressed to member governments of the UN Commission on Human Rights, and then to the Ambassadors of all country missions to the UN in New York, asking for support for designating December 18th as International Migrants’ Day. At the same time NGOs also approached governments in national capitals to support the initiative.

For more information about International Migrants Day and the International Migrants Rights Convention, contact Patrick Taran, Director of Migrants Rights International at migrantwatch@vtx.ch or Myriam De Feyter, Coordinator of December 18 at info@december18.net.

Migrants Rights International is the independent global monitoring body focusing on human rights of migrants, founded in Cairo in 1994 as the International Migrants Rights Watch Committee. Its purposes are to promote recognition and respect for the rights of all migrants; to lobby for ratification of the 1990 International Migrants Rights Convention; and to facilitate work and co-operation among migrant associations, NGOs and international organisations. Its members are drawn from human rights, trade union, migrant and religious backgrounds in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, North America and the Pacific.