Thought-Provoking Quotes On Migration For International Migrants Day 2020

Dec. 18 marks International Migrants Day, a day to raise awareness about the plight of the millions of migrants worldwide.

Migration has always been a part of human history and as of 2019, the United Nations (UN) estimated that there are about 272 million migrants worldwide. That's about 50 million more than the number of global migrants in 2010, the organization pointed out.

Although many migrants play important roles in the societies and communities they move to, often working in all-important sectors such as health and transportation, they often face unfriendly circumstances such as discrimination and exploitation.

"People on the move hope for a brighter future," the UN said. "It is our collective responsibility to create a safer, more resilient world."

For this year's International Migrants Day, here are some thought-provoking quotes about migration courtesy of Good Reads, AZ Quotes and Brainy Quote:

• "History in its broadest aspect is a record of man's migration from one environment to another." — Ellsworth Huntington
• "Remember, remember always, that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists." — President Franklin D. Roosevelt
• "Migration is as natural as breathing, as eating, as sleeping. It is part of life, part of nature. So we have to find a way of establishing a proper kind of scenario for modern migration to exist. And when I say "we," I mean the world." — Gael Garcia Bernal
• "The land flourished because it was fed from so many sources—because it was nourished by so many cultures and traditions and peoples." — President Lyndon B. Johnson
• "Migration isn't a one-directional process; it's a colossal process that has been happening in all directions for thousands of years." — Moshin Hamid
• "Actually what is happening in the twenty-first century, this is the great century of migration, so we have people from all around the world going all over the place, and they have to integrate into a society, that society that exists has to integrate with them. Both sides have to work at it. It's not a one-way thing." — Roma Tearne
• "In the final analysis, we are all migrants, armed with a temporary residence permit for this Earth, each and every one of us incurably transient." — Gazmend Kapllani
• "The unprecedented movement of people—what some call a "global migration crisis"—is, in reality, a natural progression of history." — Jose Antonio Vargas
• "As a global community, we face a choice. Do we want migration to be a source of prosperity and international solidarity, or a byword for inhumanity and social friction?" — UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres