December 18, 2020
The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed December 18 as International Migrants Day on the date in 1990 that the General Assembly adopted the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.
Labor migration feeds the global economy. There are an estimated 247 million migrants in the world, the overwhelming majority migrating for work. Migrant workers generated global remittances of more than $580 billion in 2013.
An estimated 200,000 Burmese migrants fuel Thailand’s huge fishing industry in Samut Sakhon province, an hour outside of Bangkok. Credit: Solidarity Center/Jeanne Hallacy