Pamela Cruz. Peninsula 360 Press [P360P].
The COVID-19 pandemic cannot be an excuse to backtrack on commitments made to promote and protect the rights of migrants, regardless of their legal status, the United Nations (UN) said.
As part of the International Migrants Day, which is commemorated every December 18, the agency explained that neither can be a pretext for more arrests, in addition to the forced return to their countries of origin without due process, in many cases in violation of international law.
For UN Secretary-General António Guterres, this is a year of crisis where "millions of people have suffered the pain of separation from friends and family, job uncertainty and have been forced to adapt to a new and unfamiliar reality".
This year, he said, has seen a growing awareness of our dependence on migrants, who are often invisible in communities, but have played a prominent role in the front line of response to the health crisis, whether caring for the sick or ensuring food supplies during confinements.
As such, he added that migrants must also play a central role in recovery and it must be ensured that, regardless of their legal status, they are included in countries' response to the pandemic, particularly in health and vaccination programmes.
"We must reject hate speech and acts of xenophobia. We must also find solutions for migrants who are stranded, without income or legal status, and without the means to return to their place of origin," Guterres added.
For his part, the Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), António Vitorino, also recognized the important work migrants have done as frontline actors in maintaining essential services.
"The dedication and entrepreneurial spirit they have shown reminds us that as we move from pandemic response measures to recovery work in the coming months, migrants must be an integral part of the return to normalcy," he stressed.
Human rights are not a prize or a reward, he explained, but "are an inalienable right of all people, regardless of their origin, age, gender and legal status. However, in order for migrants to fully contribute to their and our recovery, we must support and protect them.
In turn, UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay urged the international community to promote the fundamental rights of migrants, such as safety, dignity and peace, as this is an imperative duty.
"As the Iranian novelist Dina Nayeri writes: it is the duty of every person born in a safe room to open up when someone in danger knocks on the door. This duty is part of our humanity, a humanity on the move across ideas, people and cultures," he said.
According to a Department of Homeland Security estimate, there are 6.6 million immigrants in the U.S., of which Mexicans remain the largest undocumented immigrant community, with 51 percent of the total.
This community is followed by undocumented immigrants from El Salvador, with 7.0 percent; Guatemala, with 5.0 percent; India, with 4.0 percent; China and Hong Kong, also with 4.0 percent each; and the Philippines, with 2.0 percent.
According to the Migration Policy Institute (MPI), undocumented persons represent 23 percent of U.S. immigrants, with naturalized citizens accounting for 44 percent, legal permanent residents 28 percent and temporary visa aliens 4.0 percent.
It is worth mentioning that California is the state that hosts the most undocumented immigrants, with 2.62 million, representing 24 percent of the total, followed by Texas, with 1.73 million (16 %); New York, with 866 thousand (8.0 %); and Florida, with 732 thousand (7.0 %).
