18 December 2013 -  Why do people risk their lives and the lives of their families, over and over, every hour of every day when the best that awaits them is a frosty welcome? The answer is simple: Desperation. They fear staying in a land where they face persecution, or where their family starves. That desperation makes the risk of death a gamble they believe worth taking.  Migration is as old as humanity but we need to start thinking about it in new, smarter ways.  On this International Day we focus on the well-being and safety of migrants, IOM calls for strengthening of existing policies or develop new ones to protect human rights of those who leave home to seek better opportunities.