Geneva — Migration is one of the most polarizing public policy issues of our time. As the subject continues to dominate news cycles and public policy debates, misinformation on migration and migrants has become widespread, making it harder to separate facts from fiction.

IOM, the UN Migration Agency, launched the World Migration Report 2018 one year ago. Since then, the report has played a significant role in providing much-needed information and analysis on various migration issues. With nearly 200,000 downloads in the last 12 months, the report has not only become the most downloaded IOM publication of all time, but has also been key to debunking many myths associated with migration.  

Available in English, French, Spanish, Chinese and Arabic, WMR 2018 has garnered extensive global coverage. A wide range of media outlets such as The Guardian, The Times of India, Radio Canada, El Espectador in Colombia and Australia’s Special Broadcasting Service, among others, have covered or cited the publication, underscoring the ever-growing need for evidence-based information on migration.

But the report’s reach is not limited to the media. Leading think tanks and international institutions such as the Council on Foreign Relations and the World Economic Forum have also engaged with its contents. It has also attracted significant attention from policy makers, migration practitioners, academics, students and the general public. Various themes covered in WMR 2018 such as media and migration, migration statistics, migration journeys, irregular migration and migration governance have proven highly pertinent at a time when the need to cut through inaccurate or ‘fake news’ on migration has never been more urgent.

WMR 2018 is “a great starting point to try and understand population movements from a balanced point of view,” said Ronald Skeldon, Professor of Human Geography at Maastricht University. He added that the report is a first port of call for many people working on migration.

Similar sentiments were echoed by Jaqueline Bhabha, Professor at Harvard University, who recently highlighted the significance of WMR 2018 to her teaching; she spoke of several chapters of the report as “perfect” for introducing her students to new topics.

The extensive use of WMR 2018 in the academic environment was further highlighted by Binod Khadria, Professor of Economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, who said he often recommends the report to his doctoral students working on migration-related topics. Part I of the report, which provides an overview of current migration dynamics, has become invaluable to students and researchers as a source of reliable migration data and information on both global and regional migration trends.  

WMR 2018 remains the most sought-after publication produced by IOM; the Organization is committed to continuing to publish WMRs that are timely, relevant and of the highest quality to further contribute to more evidence-based analysis and policy debates on the most salient migration issues of our time.

The next World Migration Report, WMR 2020, is scheduled for release at end of 2019. It is again a collaboration between IOM experts, academics, and migration practitioners.  

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For more information please contact Marie McAuliffe at IOM HQ, Tel: +41 22 717 9371, Email: mmcauliffe@iom.int