Migrants working away from their families made significant sacrifices to send money home last year as they did before COVID, UN chief António Guterres said on Wednesday, warning that now is not the time for countries to withdraw their support to these key workers.
Marking International Day of Family Remittances, the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, has released a message appealing for “people everywhere” to support migrants, at a time when remittances – the money migrants send home to support their families – have fallen by more than $100 billion, causing hunger, lost schooling and deteriorating health, for tens of millions of families.
The amount of money migrants send home to their families in developing countries has increased by 51 per cent over the past decade, “lifting millions out poverty,” a new report by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has found.
The study, covering the period between 2007 and 2016, was released ahead of the International Day of Family Remittances, observed annually on 16 June.