The world today celebrates the International Migrants Day, the date which was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2000, because the Convention on the protection of the rights of migrant workers and members of their families was established on that day in 1990. According to the United Nations there are about 230 million migrants in the world today. This date this year is of great significance because the world is facing the greatest migrant crisis since World War II. During 2015, a large number of migrants, about 3,600 lost their lives mostly in the Mediterranean Sea in an attempt to reach the European Union countries. Also during this year, more than 600,000 migrants passed through Serbia. Our country is proven to be a good and human host. The Government of the Republic of Serbia made sure that all migrants who passed through Serbia are registered, provided with temporary accommodation in camps, clothes, food, water, medicines. HRH Crown Princess Katherine wholeheartedly helped in providing humanitarian aid.
Crown Princess Katherine message for International Migrants Day:
“Our country and our people, unfortunately, know only too well what refugee hardship is. In the past, we often faced this adversity. Nobody in the world wants to be exiled from their homes or be forced to leave them. Each wound on the refugee’s soul is large and almost never heals. That is why we understand the pain and suffering of the refugees from the Middle East, who passed through our country this year. We have shown that we are a people of a great soul and a big heart. I am proud of that fact. All countries in the world have the sovereign right to manage their borders, but they are obliged to fulfill their international obligations, so that all people, regardless of nationality or legal status, can enjoy basic human rights” – said Crown Princess Katherine.