UN chief condemns dehumanization of migrants for political gain

Secretary General Antonio Guterres addresses the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025, at UN headquarters. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)

Migrants are being “dehumanized” and “pushed into danger” around the world “to score political points, with devastating human consequences,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Friday, adding that they’re “not criminals.”

“Instead of responding with cooperation, the global reaction has too often been driven by fear, division and rank opportunism,” Guterres told an informal meeting of the General Assembly on migration.

Guterres did not point to a specific country, instead noting this harm occurs “across continents.”

Guterres also presented his latest biennial report on migration to member states Friday, which found an estimated 3.7 percent of the global population were migrants in 2024.

That amounts to an estimated 304 million people worldwide -- with children accounting for up to 42 million of them.

“Safe and regular pathways are becoming ever more restrictive -- especially for families and low-wage workers who face the steepest barriers,” Guterres said.

But migrants don’t disappear when countries block legal pathways.

Instead they are “pushed into danger, exploitation and the hands of smugglers,” Guterres said.

“It is a moral outrage that thousands of men, women and children die or go missing every year because no safe alternative exists.”

“Migration is a story as old as humanity: a story of courage, resilience and mutual benefits. Our task is to ensure that it never becomes a story of death and despair.”