This article is written by Tanishka Murthy, a WES 2025 student journalist and writer for Die Bärliner Student Blog.
On the second day of the Warwick Economics Summit, Ugochi Daniels, the Deputy Director General(DDG) of the United Nations International Organization for Migration(IOM)/UN Migration Agency, gave an inspiring speech on Migration Magic, the discourse surrounding it in recent years, the problem with terminology used, and how migration is the key towards socio-economic development and global prosperity.
Daniels firmly states that when migration does occur, she and her organization aim to ensure that, “It’s safe, it's regular, it’s dignified and to the mutual benefit for the countries that the migrants come from, the ones they go to, and the migrants themselves.”
After introducing the IOM and its goal as an organization, such as driving solutions to displacements and facilitating regular pathways to labour mobility, she proceeds to tell a story about a little girl, Grace, and her father, Mark who escaped Nigeria during the civil war. She passionately describes how Grace’s father escaped through forests and borders seeking safety and protection. Outlining the family’s struggle to flee their country at the time, she emphasizes that many people go through the process of migrating in pursuit of a future with more hope and opportunity.
In 2023, Daniels mentions that 8500 immigrants died on their journeys and there are around 50 million people every year stuck in modern slavery. They flee their homes expecting to be on a journey to freedom but end up being exploited by traffickers and smugglers. This industry of smuggling and trafficking has built its entire business model on the vulnerability of migrants. A quarter of the individuals who are in modern slavery every year are children, and while this issue has gained more attention in recent years, the numbers only continue to rise, and the traffickers and smugglers continue to make billions on their business.
This is what irregular migration is. Daniels states that many politicians, when speaking against migration, are often referring to irregular migration, even though it is rarely specified as such. Due to the unclear use of terminology, there has been a negative connotation surrounding the word migration, with some migrants that Daniels had interviewed even refusing to be called migrants. They mentioned that, “Migrants are hunted like dogs,” an evident display of the discourse which is prevalent today. While public figures may be establishing a different image of migration, which in most cases refers to irregular migration, regular migration on the other hand, when done properly, has the potential to not only be beneficial to economies but is capable of achieving Migration Magic.
Daniels says, “Migration is overwhelmingly regular,” and that there are 281 million migrants in the world, who make up 3% of the population but 10% of the global GDP. She mentions that there are many cases around the world where the contributions of Migrants to the economy of a country are significantly higher than that of non-migrants, Portugal being given as one example of this. She repeatedly emphasizes that migrants, when able to regularly migrate, are key drivers of economic growth and prosperity for an economy. We learn that migrants are also key to the national accounts of an economy, and in recent years the remittances both officially and unofficially have totaled around 1 trillion dollars, solely from migrants around the world. Migrants are a significant factor in economic growth and stability for the economy, but what makes this fact ever so evident, is that some economies shrunk during the covid-19 pandemic due to the lack of remittances by migrants. The data shows the value of migrants and how many economies are now dependent on their migrant population for stability. Daniels stands strong on this sentiment by mentioning that out of the top 20 immigration countries in the world, 16 of them scored very high on the Human Development Index and none of them scored low. Even by these economic indicators of growth and stability, it is proven that the existence of migrants within an economy is not a burden, but in fact, a blessing.
The question then becomes, if migration is beneficial for the economy, what is required to achieve consistent migration? She states that Migration Magic can be achieved when there is a proper pathway set in place to benefit the countries of origin, destination, transit, as well as the migrants themselves. On top of this, migrants should be able to contribute both economically and socially when they arrive at their destination and be given the same rights as non-migrants in order to achieve this. When this balance is achieved, and we are able to ensure the safe and dignified migration of the people, we will have Migration Magic.
She comes to the end of her talk showing a photo of Grace, the little girl mentioned at the very beginning of her talk, and her father, Mark now. We hear gasps in the audience as they recognise Grace and Mark as herself and her father on the screen. “I am what a good migration outcome looks like. But now the story is all in your hands. It’s personal, it’s global. And now it’s over to you.”
Daniels’ talk was authentic and incredibly moving. As students committed to social science, dreaming of being part of bigger changes within society, we now have the responsibility to use her talk as a starting point for our future actions and work. As Daniels said, “[she is] not just speaking to [us], [she is] investing in [us].” We are without a doubt, the generation that needs to change the reality we see in more ways than one. No country is going to achieve continued socio-economic growth without the contributions that migrants make. Safe and regular migration is the key and pathway towards not only socioeconomic development but global prosperity.
The views and opinions expressed in this article belong solely to the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the Warwick Economics Summit.
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