Introduction Nr. 6

The movement of people has always been an intrinsic phenomenon to the historical, social and economic evolution of our planet. A phenomenon that, due to the increase in both physical and information mobility experienced by the world in recent decades, has acquired a global dimension.

This constant flow of population occurs essentially between countries of the so-called Global South, where a total of 372 million people were on the move, whether refugees and displaced people (91 million) or migrants (281 million), do so between countries in their national or regional geographical environment. Only 15% of people in need of international protection are in countries of the Global North, a percentage that rises to 65% in the case of the migrant population. As an example of the relative dimension, in 2021, the migrant population in the European Union was 37 million, or 8.3% of the total population.