Many of the people who leave their country do so voluntarily, in search of better prospects. However, many others are forced to flee to escape conflicts or terrorism in certain countries. According to the UN, there are 68 million forced immigrants, including 25 million refugees, 3 million asylum seekers and more than 40 million internally displaced persons.

Due to the magnitude of this issue, in December 2000, the UN General Assembly proclaimed 18 December as International Migrants Day.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) defines migrants as “any person who is moving or has moved across an international border or within a State away from his/her habitual place of residence, regardless of the person’s legal status; whether the movement is voluntary or involuntary; what the causes for the movement are; or what the length of the stay is”.

According to figures from the Global Migration Data Portal, belonging to IOM’s Global Migration Data Analysis Center, Asia hosts 31% of the international migrant population, Europe 30%, the Americas 26%, Africa 10% and Oceania the remaining 3%. In addition, in 2017 the number of international migrants reached 258 million worldwide, of which 48% are women.

What is the International Organization for Migration (IOM)? 

Such is the scale of migration that an organisation is needed to verify that migration is managed in an orderly and humane way. IOM was created to fulfil this purpose in 1951, and is the main intergovernmental organisation in the field of migration. IOM promotes international cooperation on migration issues, helps find solutions to migration problems and offers humanitarian assistance to migrants.

Migration and the 2030 Agenda 

Over the past decade, the international community has experienced an evolution in its vision of international migration and development. Since the first High-Level Dialogue was held in 2006, the discourse on world migration has been transformed. Examples of this are the search for ways to optimise the benefits of international migration for development, as well as the creation of the Global Forum on Migration and Development. The latter has increasingly focused on the review and implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals related to migration, in particular through the setting-up of the Forum’s working group on the 2030 Agenda and the Global Compact on Migration.

The adoption of the 2030 Agenda in 2015 and the inclusion of the goal relating to “orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration and mobility of people” is the first official contribution to the inclusion of migration for development in the United Nations. In the agenda, indicators have been developed that can be used to measure progress on how countries manage migration for development.

Effects of immigration 

The effects of immigration depend mainly on the context and how mobility is regulated in different countries. We cannot compare the situation of a person who voluntarily travels to another country to work with the situation of refugees who arrive in countries seeking asylum because of the situation in their place of origin. To understand the effects, we need to ask where, when, how and who.

It is true that there is a growing recognition of the positive effects of migration, when it is safe, regular and well managed. Many governments around the world have expressed great interest in optimising the benefits of migration through more international alliances to make migration beneficial for all.

However, one of the main obstacles preventing the integration of migrants into host societies, as well as their access to human rights, are the feelings of rejection, the negative attitudes and the discriminatory practices that they must face in their day-to-day lives.

Formulating and implementing public policies aimed at combating racism, xenophobia, discrimination and intolerance is therefore fundamental since many migrants are subject to discrimination in areas such as access to housing, employment, health, education and social services.

Living without discrimination in Morocco 

The project “Living Together Without Discrimination: an approach based on human rights and the gender dimension”, which is financed by the European Union and which FIIAPP manages together with the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation, is a good example of an initiative aimed at combating the problems mentioned above: racism, xenophobia, discrimination and intolerance towards migrants in our societies. In addition, the project relies on the collaboration of specialised institutions such as the Spanish Observatory on Racism and Xenophobia (OBERAXE).

Its main objective is to strengthen public instruments and policies aimed at preventing and combating racism and xenophobia toward the migrant population in Morocco.

“Living Without Discrimination provides an opportunity to strengthen the existing collaboration between Spain and Morocco on migration issues, learn about the experience of Spanish public institutions in implementing policies to combat racism and xenophobia, and benefit from existing best practices at a national and European level”, highlights Florencia Gaya Campal, project technician and expert in discrimination.

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