On December 18, The World Celebrates The Annual International Migrants Day

On December 18, the world celebrates the annual International Migrants Day. On this day in 1990, the UN General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th December, 2018) On December 18, the world celebrates the annual International Migrants Day. On this day in 1990, the UN General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.

International Migrants Day was proclaimed on December 4, 2000.

International migration has been sparked by globalization process as well as achievements in transportation and communication, making the movements of people easier.

Many developed and rapidly developing countries need migrant workers to take jobs that the local population is unwilling to do due to low pay and poor working conditions. As more young people are getting higher education, they are less likely to take jobs that involve hard physical labor so migrants are filling the gap. The increased demand for migrants is also driven by aging population in many post-industrial countries.

Migration may result in pay cuts and growing unemployment in developed countries among unskilled workers, who are second-generation migrants themselves. However, the majority of migrants complements local labor force, and does not compete with them. By taking up the work that may not be done or will require higher costs, migrants allow locals to undertake other, more productive and well-paid jobs. Migrants are also engaged in work that could be outsourced.

By joining the ranks of the labor force and increasing the number of consumers, as well as demonstrating their entrepreneurial abilities, migrants contribute to economic growth in host countries.

The unpredictability, urgency and complexity of the migration challenges require well-coordinated action and cooperation between regions and countries. The United Nations plays an active role in migration, contributing to the initiation of a dialogue and cooperation between countries and regions, as well as encouraging the exchange of experience and empowerment on global scale.

On September 19, 2016, during the first-ever high-level meeting on refugees and migrants, the UN General Assembly made a number of commitments to protect refugees and migrants. These commitments have been confirmed in the New York Declaration, which expresses the political will of the world's leaders to save lives, protect human rights and equally share responsibilities at global level.

At the UN Intergovernmental Conference on December 2018 the delegations of various levels from more than 150 states approved the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration.

According to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the global compact will facilitate the access of legal migrants to the countries in need of labor. At the same time, in his opinion, legal means will make it possible to more effectively fight illegal flows of migrants.

The document states that it aims to "foster international cooperation among all relevant actors on migration, acknowledging that no State can address migration alone, and upholds the sovereignty of States and their obligations under international law."

The pact is not legally binding and only provides an opportunity for global cooperation in this area. It is expected that the pact will be approved at a meeting of the UN General Assembly on December 19.

According to the World Bank report titled Migration and Remittances: Recent Developments and Outlook from April 2018, more than 258 million people live outside their native countries.

The United States (47.5 million migrants), Germany (12.6 million), Saudi Arabia (12.2 million), Russia (11.7 million) and the United Kingdom (9.2 million) host the largest number of international migrants.

Most migrants come from India (16.4 million people), Mexico (11.9 million), Russia (11 million) and China (10.1 million).

The concentration of the migratory flow increases depending on the migrants' level of qualification. Over 65 percent of migrants with higher education live in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia.

According to the World Bank, Russia is a hub for migrants from the countries of Eastern Europe outside the European Union. About 65 percent of migrants from non-EU countries migrate within the region.

Money transfers from immigrants to developing countries amounted to $466 billion in 2017, showing an increase of 8.5 percent in comparison with 2016, according to the World Bank's "Migration and Development Brief" from April, 2018.

The biggest financial transfers from migrant workers in 2017 were made to India ($69 billion), China ($64 billion), the Philippines ($33 billion), Mexico ($31 billion), Nigeria ($22 billion), and Egypt ($20 billion).

According to estimates of the Russian Interior Ministry, more than 15.7 million foreign citizens and stateless persons were registered as migrants in Russia in 2017. Within the period from January to September 2018, 13.6 million people were officially registered as migrants in the country.

In 2017, the largest number of migrants came to Russia from Uzbekistan (4 million people), Tajikistan (2.1 million), Ukraine (1.7 million) and China (1.4 million),according to the ministry's figures.

UN member states, as well as intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations, have been invited to celebrate International Migrants Day by raising awareness about human rights and freedom for migrants, the exchange of migrant experiences and the development of measures to ensure their protection from exploitation.