International Day of Migrants is observed on December 18 every year. The day is observed to call the international community to come together and remember the refugees and migrants who have lost their lives or have disappeared while trying to reach safe harbour after arduous journeys across seas and deserts. Throughout human history, migration has been a courageous expression of the individual’s will to overcome adversity and to live a better life.

In a message posted on the United Nations website, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said: “2015 will be remembered as a year of human suffering and migrant tragedies.” He added that in total, more than 5,000 women, men and children had lost their lives this year “in search of protection and a better life”.

Unprecedented numbers of refugees have travelled to Europe in 2015. By mid-November, more than 800,000 had reached Italy and Greece, with smaller numbers arriving in Spain and Malta, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW).

According to the UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, 84 percent of refugees have come to Europe from Syria, Afghanistan, Eritrea, Somalia, and Iraq.  The group said on Friday that the record for forced displacement is likely to break records in 2015.

The International Labour Organisation (ILO), meanwhile, celebrated the 40th anniversary of a convention to protect migrants from abusive conditions and promote the equality of opportunity, adopted in 1975.