Governments urged to crack down on human smugglers, not illegal migrants

Governments should hunt down human smugglers and not irregular migrants, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Wednesday, December 17, the eve of International Migrants Day.

“Governments should de-criminalize irregular migrants so that they can report smugglers to the police for prosecution and contribute to efforts against trans-national organized crime,” IOM director general William Lacy Swing said in a statement.

IOM records show some 4,868 migrants died while being smuggled across countries this year, with 3,540 dying in unseaworthy boats and 307 in trying to cross the land border between Mexico and the United States.

The IOM is batting for more labor migration partnerships, family reunification programs, and information dissemination to prevent what it called "desperation migration," which is predicted to increase internally displaced persons and refugees number at 33.3 million and 16.7 million each.

“Migration is not only inevitable, but also necessary and desirable... the rise of anti-migrant sentiment is a cruel irony at a time when ageing societies need migration to provide much-needed labor,” Swing said.

He added that hosts countries and countries of origin have much to gain from improved migration, the latter benefiting hugely from remittances by migrants. —Rie Takumi/KBK, GMA News

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