UN Secretary-General urges choosing dignity over division in global migration

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Human mobility is profoundly shaping our world. 

Yet instead of responding with cooperation, the global reaction has too often been driven by fear, division, and rank opportunism.

Across continents, migrants are being instrumentalized to score political points –with devastating human consequences.

They are being dehumanized in public discourse.

And they are being denied the rights and dignity that belong to every member of the human family – despite the enormous contributions migrants make to economies and societies. 

Safe and regular pathways are becoming ever more restrictive – especially for families and low-wage workers who face the steepest barriers. 

When pathways are blocked, migrants do not disappear. 

They are pushed into danger, exploitation, and the hands of smugglers.

It breaks my heart to see migrants exposed to abuse, violence and death along dangerous routes. 

It is a moral outrage that thousands of men, women and children die or go missing every year because no safe alternative exists.

Migrants are not criminals. They are victims.

The real criminals are those who prey on human vulnerability.

The real criminals are ruthless smuggling and trafficking networks.

They profit from despair, exploit the absence of safe alternatives, and thrive when cooperation fails.

They must be pursued, prosecuted and brought to justice. 

Excellencies,

The report before you today makes one truth unmistakably clear: 

Migration is not a crisis. 

The crisis is the failure to manage it together.                    

The Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration is built on the understanding that no country can manage migration alone.

Not countries of origin, transit, or destination. 

And not in a world confronting the accelerating impacts of climate change, demographic shifts, or economic transformation.

Since the adoption of the Global Compact, many Member States have taken important steps:

Expanding regular pathways. Strengthening labour mobility initiatives. Improving search‑and‑rescue. Enhancing data systems. And supporting safer return and reintegration. 

Cities and local authorities have shown leadership and courage – often on the frontlines with limited resources. 

Workers’ organizations, diaspora communities, and civil society have brought ideas, expertise, and solutions.

And the United Nations system has come together, through the UN Network on Migration, to provide coordinated support. 

But around the world, progress is uneven – and far below what today’s realities demand.

Those realities demand migration governance that is rights‑based, gender‑responsive and child‑sensitive.

And they demand migration governance that respects national sovereignty but also is rooted in human dignity – across labour markets, health systems, education, social protection and disaster response.

To be effective, our work must be oriented around two fronts.

First, expanding and simplifying clear pathways of regular migration.

Second, ensuring development cooperation that meaningfully invests in education, skills, and decent job creation in countries of origin.

We must now translate vision into accelerated action for safe, orderly and regular migration.

By strengthening cooperation to save lives and strengthen communities.

By cracking down on smuggling and trafficking networks, and making fair and ethical recruitment the norm – ending recruitment fees and protecting domestic and care workers, most of whom are women. 

By scaling-up rights-based alternatives for all and ending child immigration detention. 

By integrating climate action and human mobility – protecting those most exposed. 

By using technology ethically and responsibly. 

By recognizing qualifications, matching the skills of migrants with labour market needs, and reducing remittance costs – unlocking shared prosperity for countries of origin and destination alike. 

By confronting toxic narratives with evidence, truth, and humanity.

And by investing in social cohesion – embracing diversity as a source of richness, not a threat. 

Excellencies,

The upcoming International Migration Review Forum must help the world further move from discussion to decisive, measurable action – across routes and regions. 

Humane, cooperative migration governance is not only possible – it is essential to a stable, peaceful and prosperous world.

Migration is a story as old as humanity: a story of courage, resilience, and mutual benefits. 

Our task is to ensure that it never becomes a story of death and despair.

Let us choose cooperation over chaos, and dignity over discrimination.

Let us make the Global Compact real – in every region, on every route, for every migrant.

Thank you.