As globalization accelerates, major migration and displacement events have greatly increased the scale of international migration, with roughly 272 million children and adults – a full 3.5 percent of the global population – residing outside the country in which they were born. Among them are both economic migrants and forcibly displaced asylum-seekers and refugees fleeing persecution, war, violence, or natural disaster. Even after reaching their new host countries, migrants commonly encounter threats to their fundamental rights, such as arbitrary detention, as well as significant hurdles to work, education, and family reunification, including discrimination on the basis of their national origin or citizenship.
The WORLD Policy Analysis Center has analyzed rights, laws, and policies in all 193 UN member states to produce globally comparative data relevant to migrants as they seek access to livelihoods outside their country of birth that will allow them to lead safe, healthy, and productive lives.