International Migrants Day

What is International Migrants Day?

International Migrants Day raises awareness about the difficulties faced by international migrants. This day is often used to reflect upon the challenges faced by over 272 million migrants around the world. Whether migrants travel searching for security and safety, job opportunities, education or because of other factors, they take massive risks for their hopes for the future.

When is International Migrants Day?

International Migrants Day is on December 18^th every year. It began in 2000, when the General Assembly considered the large and rising numbers of migrants across the world and properly acknowledged them.

What is Migration?

Migration is the movement of people from one place to another. While some people can migrate out of choice, others are forced to leave their home country due to war, persecution or other similar factors.

Immigration refers to when people move into another country. This can be due to ‘pull factors’ like better housing, security and education. On the other hand, emigration is when people move out of a country because of ‘push factors. These can include war, persecution, inadequate healthcare and more. As a result of recent conflicts around the world, there has been an increase in the number of migrants who have emigrated from their home countries to escape conflict, war or persecution.

Increasing numbers of Migrants

More than 18,000 migrants have crossed the channel this year, and since 2000, the international number of migrants has almost doubled. Many migrants travel across the channel in boats or stow away in lorries, both of which can be extremely dangerous, but they feel they have no alternative to escape their current situation.

There have been cases where boats with migrants on them have sunk and where lorries get so hot and overcrowded that they suffocate the migrants inside. Most commonly, migrants are smuggled into other countries, simply because they do not have a quicker alternative to escape a country and get into a new one. However, this can sometimes cause their deaths due to dangerous conditions.

While migration is global, the top three countries that migrants move to are the US, Germany and Saudi Arabia, according to the United Nations. UN figures now show that the number of migrants is growing faster than the world population. Over the last 10 years, 34 million children have migrated.

Celebrate International Migrants Day

This day is celebrated to pay tribute to the sacrifices and risks refugees and migrants have made for their hopes for a better future. To honour them, providing food and gifts can be a nice gesture. There is usually a theme very year for this day to prompt people to support migrants.

Many migrants have made significant contributions to society and have a hard time adjusting to new environments, making it even more important that they are supported and feel that they belong.

Giving Charity

“The believer's shade on the Day of Resurrection will be his charity” (Tirmidhi). This hadith indicates the significance and reward of giving charity.

This International Migrants Day, you candonate to our appealsto support migrants financially. By donating to Muslim Aid, we can provide them with essential items and support to help them to adapt to their new surroundings.