According to
the United Nations World Migration Report
2020, there were approximately 25.9 million
refugees globally as of 2018. Palestinians
registered with United Nations Relief
organizations accounted for 5.5 million of
that total.
While 25.9 million is a large number, it is
less than 10 per cent of the estimated 272
million international migrants in the world in
2019. Out of a global population of 7.7
billion, it means one in every 30 people on
earth is an international migrant. It is a
staggering statistic. But these are living
breathing human beings, with legitimate claims
upon society to affirm and guarantee their
rights wherever they are, not just where they
were born.
India had the largest number of migrants
living abroad, 17.5 million people, followed
by Mexico and China with 11.8 million and 10.7
million respectively. The top destination
country, with 50.7 million international
migrants now calling it home, is the United
States. It has been so since 1970. Germany,
which in 2019 was home to 13.1 million
international migrants, is a distant second to
the U.S. Regionally, Europe and Asia host 82
million and 84 million international migrants
respectively, 61 per cent of the total, while
North America collectively accounts for 22 per
cent and Africa, 10 per cent.
Economic
insecurity is the leading reason why people
leave their homes, in search of employment and
stability. War, violence and oppression is
second to economic insecurity. This phenomenon
of hundreds of millions compelled to become
international migrants is clearly an
expression of a global social order that rains
catastrophe down upon the peoples of the
world.
It is also the face of a new world in the
making, that which is coming into being, of
the workers of all lands who regardless of
place of origin exist as one working class in
whichever country they are living. Migrants,
regardless of the status imposed upon them,
are part and parcel of the main force for
humanizing the social and natural environment.
They are "essential workers" as we have seen
in Canada during the pandemic. It is in laying
claim to that which belongs to them by virtue
of being human and advancing the fight for the
rights of all that societies will come into
being which uphold the rights of all.
This article was published in
June 18, 2021 - No. 58
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/WF2021/Articles/WO08583.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
