The U.S. Department of State recently honored International Migrants Day by reiterating its pledge to support safe, orderly and humane migration globally through the implementation of humanitarian programs.

International Migrants Day, held on Dec. 18, celebrates the contributions of migrants and increases awareness of their rights and the risks some face when attempting expatriation, a State Department press release said.

The Department highlighted its Collaborative Migration Management Strategy and Strategy to Address the Root Causes of Migration in Central America as efforts to improve the migration process worldwide and protect people from exploitation and harm.

“Managing the unprecedented level of migration in the Western Hemisphere is a shared responsibility, and we continue to encourage governments and partners in the region to join us on a bold new regional approach on migration and protection,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in the release.

Blinken added that migrants often face perilous danger and risk losing their lives “in dangerous irregular journeys across the Mediterranean, the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea, the Red Sea, the Darien Gap, and desert conditions near our own southwest border.”

“The United States underscores the need to discourage irregular migration, which exposes migrants to dangerous smuggling operations and trafficking in persons,” Blinken said.

Many people accept the risk involved with irregular migration in order to escape economic hardship and instability, the release said. The State Department aims to improve the humane treatment of migrants through focused policy implementations globally.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) found in its World Migration Report that there were roughly 281 million international migrants in 2020, equal to 3.6% of the total global population, the release said. The U.S. provided more than $25 million to IOM in fiscal year 2021 for regional migration programs, making it the largest donor to the organization.