Migrants symbolize the force that moves humanity forward. Their culture, their traditions and their knowledge enrich the cultural heritage of the societies where they decide to settle, contributing to a merging of cultures and to building new vibrant and prosperous nations. Migrants also embody our resilience to overcome adversity since time immemorial.
Today, it is with great concern that we witness that migrants and refugees face rejection, discrimination and abuse. These threats are further aggravated by the stigmatization in their countries of destination, being easily targeted for the issues and challenges those countries face, because of ignorance, racism or mere political opportunism. That is why I am convinced that the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has done well to promote a better protection of migrants rights and in policies that address the causes of migration.
Now more than ever, migrants, their dignity and well-being must be at the center of international support. The international community has an outstanding opportunity to tackle global migratory flows. Mexico, as a country of origin, transit, destination and return of migrants, is no stranger to this phenomenon.
***
This post is part of a series produced by The Huffington Post to mark the occasion of two critical conferences at the UN on the Refugee and Migrant crisis: the UN Summit for Refugees and Migrants (Sept. 19th, a UN conference) and the Leaders Summit on Refugees (Sept. 20th, hosted by U.S. Pres. Barack Obama, at the UN). To see all the posts in the series, visit here. To follow the conversation on Twitter, see #UN4RefugeesMigrants.
KJ