68 DEVELOPMENT
MIGRATION IN A WORLD IN DISARRAY
William Lacy Swing, Director
General, International Organization
for Migration speaking on
Migration in a World in Disarray
- Keynote Speech, Graduate
Institute Geneva Challenge 2015
Monday, October 12, Geneva
We live in an era of
unprecedented human mobility
– a period in which more
people are on the move than ever
before – more than 1 billion in our 7
billion world. Of these, 250 million are
international migrants, and 750 million
are domestic migrants. International
migrants have remained constant
at about 3 percent of the world’s
population for several decades,
but numerically, migrants are more
numerous than ever before. And this
is because the world’s population
quadrupled in the last century – a first
that is unlikely to be repeated.
time, the world’s population is expected to level out
at 9 billion. Migration as such will continue to be a
“mega-trend” of our century…
How then should we respond to or manage the
realities and challenges that are now before us?
A. First, we must recognize these realities and put
them in perspective….In addition, Europe must
avoid institutional paralysis and psychological
blockage in adjusting from being primarily a
continent of origin for several centuries only to
become a continent of destination over the past
few decades….
New migration policies are clearly called for – or
what I describe as a “High Road” Scenario.
Policies have not kept pace with change. A high
road scenario can include many elements, any
combination of which will improve our migration
policies. These policies must have three objectives:
1. Respect the human rights of migrants;
Demographers tell us that this population boom
is likely to continue beyond mid-century at which
2. Address the root causes and drivers of migration;