The needs of 95 million migrant women, constituting half of all international migrants, continue to be overlooked and ignored despite their substantial contributions to their families and communities abroad, the United Nations Populations Fund said Wednesday.
In its latest State of the World Population report launched in New York on Wednesday, the UN agency said that although migrant women contribute billions of dollars in cash and services, policymakers continue to disregard both their contributions and their vulnerability -- even though female migrants tend to send a much higher proportion of their lower earnings back home than their male counterparts.
"This report calls on governments and individuals to recognise and value the contributions of migrant women, and promote and respect their human rights," says Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, UNFPA executive director.
"There is an urgent need for stronger cooperation between countries to make migration more safe and fair. And there is a dire need for greater action to address the lack of opportunities and human rights violations that lead many women to migrate in the first place," Obaid added.
The 115-page report, 'A Passage to Hope: Women and International Migration', examines the scope and breadth of female migration, the impact of the funds they send home to support families and communities, and their disproportionate vulnerability to trafficking, exploitation and abuse.
'A Passage to Hope' shows that although female migration can enhance equality and offer women opportunities not available at home, it can also lead to terrible human rights violations -- cases of migration gone bad.
Restrictive immigration policies that limit opportunities to migrate safely and legally fuel the desperation that drives millions of women and girls to entrust their well-being and, in some cases, their very lives to unscrupulous traffickers who misrepresent themselves as legitimate labour recruiters.
Today, human trafficking represents the third largest illicit trade after drugs and gun-smuggling. Unlike both however, trafficking victims remain an ongoing source of "revenue" to be exploited over and over again until they are too ill too worn out to continue.
"Although awareness and action against trafficking is growing, there is an urgent need to do more to end this terrible crime and the impunity that goes with it," says Obaid.
"The report calls for greater cooperation between and within countries to bring traffickers to justice and to provide services and human rights protection for trafficking victims," she said.
The number of people living outside their country of birth is larger than at any time in history. "International migrants would now constitute the world's fifth most populous country if they all lived in the same place -- after China, India, the United States and Indonesia," the report stated.
The launch of the 'State of World Population 2006' comes just a week before the high-level dialogue on International Migration and Development in New York.
This meeting, which will take place at the United Nations from September 14-15, is the first of its kind to bring together the world's governments to discuss the many challenges and benefits of migration.
