The U.S. Department of State recently celebrated International Migrants Day with a focus on worldwide safe migration that affords protection from human trafficking and other dangers.
"We recognize the rights, contributions and struggles of migrants, and reiterate the United States’ commitment to support safe, orderly and humane migration around the world," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a press statement.
Blinken stressed the power of regional partnerships created by the Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration with international humanitarian partners like the International Organization for Migration (IOM), as well as close coordination with governments around the globe. Such partnerships, he said, can "enhance cooperation and migration management, to protect migrants in situations of vulnerability and to address the root causes of irregular migration.”
In its World Migration Report 2022, the IOM pegged the number of international migrants in 2020 at approximately 281 million, which equates to 3.6% of the total global population.
“The United States underscores the need to discourage irregular migration, which exposes migrants to dangerous smuggling operations and trafficking in persons,” Blinken said. “At the same time, we encourage governments to improve access to international protection screening, strengthen their asylum capacity, identify and assist victims of trafficking in persons, support returning migrants’ reintegration and expand alternative legal pathways.”
With countless migrants having faced great hardship or even lost their lives in dangerous irregular journeys across the Mediterranean, the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea, the Red Sea, the Darien Gap, the U.S. is pushing orderly and humane migration while stressing the need for comprehensive regional and global plans that address the issues.
The largest single donor to IOM, the United States contributed upwards of $25 million to support regional migration programs in fiscal year 2021.
“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,” Blinken said.
