Human Rights of Migrants Prevention and Accountability for Human Rights Violations in Transit

A/HRC/RES/53/24View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the Human Rights Council, under agenda item 3 Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development, published in 2023.

What subjects does this mandate have?

7 subjects

Accountability Crime Prevention Human Rights International Obligations Migrants Migration Policy Technical Cooperation

What’s in this document?

23 operative paragraphs

Reaffirms the duty of all States to effectively promote, protect and respect the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all migrants, without discrimination of any kind, in conformity with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and their obligations under international law, including international human rights law and international refugee law;

Recommits to ensuring full respect for the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all migrants, regardless of their migration status, and urges all States, including countries of origin, transit and destination, to prevent the creation and exacerbation of situations of vulnerability and to respond to the needs of migrants in vulnerable situations;

Calls upon States to ensure that their migration legislation, policies and practices are consistent with international human rights law, and to promote the enjoyment of human rights by all migrants without discrimination of any kind, including by reviewing migration legislation, policies and practices with a view to preventing their possible negative consequences, inter alia the creation and exacerbation of vulnerabilities, which could result in death, disappearances, sexual and gender-based violence or any other form of violence, including violence based on religion or belief or violence based on race, exploitation, trafficking in persons, torture and other human rights violations and abuses in situations of transit;

Also calls upon States to work with national human rights institutions, civil society organizations, migrants and their family members, and other relevant stakeholders to understand, prevent, investigate and address human rights violations and abuses against migrants in transit caused or exacerbated by the lack or inadequate implementation of preventive measures, or by migration policies and practices lacking a human rights-based approach;

Encourages States to establish and strengthen comprehensive legal frameworks that safeguard the human rights of migrants in transit, including measures to prevent pushbacks and collective expulsions, and to provide access to fair and efficient asylum procedures and to other forms of regular stay for migrants in vulnerable situations, in line with international law;

Also encourages States to adopt gender-, disability- and age-responsive approaches for the prevention of or effective responses to human rights violations and abuses against migrants, including migrants in transit, addressing the specific needs of women and girls and persons in situations of vulnerability, especially persons with disabilities, children and older persons, including their protection from all forms of violence, exploitation and abuse;

Stresses the importance of eliminating all forms of discrimination, including racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, stigmatization, stereotyping, hate speech and negative narratives against migrants, in line with international human rights law, in helping to prevent human rights violations and abuses against migrants, including migrants in transit, and calls upon States to adopt and implement legislation, policies and programmes that effectively address these forms of discrimination, ensuring access to justice and remedies for victims, and to promote evidence-based narratives on migration;

Recommits to strengthening efforts to enhance the availability and flexibility of pathways for safe, orderly and regular migration as a means of preventing human rights violations and abuses against migrants in transit and decreasing their reliance on dangerous routes;

Urges States to adopt measures to prevent deaths, disappearances, acts of torture, sexual and gender-based violence and all other forms of violence, including violence based on religion or belief and violence based on race, excessive use of force against migrants, and refoulement, and to ensure that all human rights violations and abuses are subject to independent and transparent investigations and that perpetrators are held accountable;

Also urges States to adopt effective measures to prevent, investigate and punish any form of arbitrary deprivation of liberty of migrants, including migrant children, within the territory and jurisdiction of the State;

Further urges States to put an end to arbitrary arrest and detention, and encourages States to pursue alternatives to detention, noting the measures that have been successfully implemented by some States, and to work towards ending the detention of migrant children;

Calls upon States to protect migrants from becoming victims of national and transnational organized crime, including kidnapping, smuggling of migrants, trafficking in persons, the worst forms of child labour, contemporary forms of slavery and forced labour, inter alia through the implementation of programmes and policies that prevent victimization and provide effective guarantees and protections, as well as access to medical, psychosocial and legal assistance, where appropriate;

Also calls upon States to ensure the rapid and accurate identification and referral of migrants who may be in situations of vulnerability at international borders, to provide assistance and relief to migrants in distress, regardless of their migration status, and to create a safe and enabling environment in which humanitarian actors that provide such attention can operate free from hinderance and insecurity, including to the effect that domestic law and administrative provisions and their application facilitate the work of all actors providing humanitarian assistance to and defending the human rights of migrants in transit, inter alia by avoiding their criminalization and stigmatization, impediments or obstruction to them or restrictions thereon, contrary to international human rights law;

Further calls upon States to adopt concrete measures to prevent the violation of human rights and abuses against migrants while in transit, including in ports and airports, at borders and other transit areas for migration, and to adequately train public officials and others who work in those facilities and in border areas to treat these migrants respectfully and in accordance with their obligations under international human rights law, and in this regard takes note of the publication Human Rights at International Borders: A Trainer’s Guide, jointly published by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Office of Counter-Terrorism;

Encourages States to strengthen cooperation, information exchange and coordination at all levels, including between countries of origin, transit and destination, and with international humanitarian organizations, civil society organizations, and migrants and their families, in order to prevent and investigate human rights violations and abuses against migrants in transit, to find and identify missing migrants and to ensure accountability for victims;

Welcomes the ongoing work of the United Nations Network on Migration on missing migrants and humanitarian assistance in line with the Progress Declaration of the International Migration Review Forum, inter alia the exchange of good practices, including through cross-border cooperation to support families and communities in preventing and responding to the death of migrants or migrants going missing;

Takes note of the report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants,⁴ requests the Special Rapporteur to continue to report on the situation of the human rights of migrants, including those in transit, and encourages States and regional and international organizations to strengthen their collaboration with the Special Rapporteur in advancing the human rights of migrants;

⁴A/HRC/53/26.

Takes note of the recommendations of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders contained in her report to the General Assembly;⁵

⁵A/77/178.

Requests the Office of the High Commissioner:

To maintain its active engagement with the United Nations Network on Migration as a member of its Executive Committee, including by involving all relevant human rights bodies and special procedures, to ensure efficiency in mainstreaming human rights in migration governance;

To continue its work on promoting and protecting the human rights of all migrants, including those in transit, through the provision of, inter alia, technical assistance, capacity-building and the sharing of best practices with States, relevant stakeholders and civil society;

To convene a half-day intersessional panel discussion, accessible to persons with disabilities, on avenues to prevent and address human rights violations and abuses against migrants in transit and to ensure access to justice for victims and family members, including through monitoring at international borders, highlighting best practices and challenges in this regard, to ensure the meaningful participation of migrants and their family members, to prepare a summary report on the panel discussion and to submit the report to the Human Rights Council at its fifty-seventh session and to the General Assembly at its seventy-ninth session;

Decides to remain seized of the matter.

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

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