Human Rights of Migrants

A/HRC/RES/57/14View PDF

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the Human Rights Council, under agenda item 3Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development, published in 2024.

What other versions does this mandate have?

5 versions · 2008–2024

2024A/HRC/RES/57/14Human rights of migrantsLatestCompare with previous version
2013A/HRC/RES/23/20Human rights of migrantsCompare with previous version
2012A/HRC/RES/20/3Human rights of migrantsCompare with previous version
2010A/HRC/RES/15/16Human rights of migrantsCompare with previous version
2008A/HRC/RES/9/5Human rights of migrants

Versions are identified automatically by matching titles within the same organ (~97% accuracy on a manual audit).

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

1 entity

Extracted automatically from each entity’s budget submission.

What subjects does this mandate have?

8 topics

Accountability Anti-Discrimination Measures Crime Prevention Human Rights Human Rights Monitoring International Obligations Migrants Migration Policy

What does this mandate say?

34 operative paragraphs

Reaffirms the duty of all States to effectively promote, protect and respect the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all migrants, regardless of their migration status, 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;

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;

Condemns unequivocally all violations and abuses of human rights committed against migrants, including those fuelled by negative narratives, misinformation and disinformation, and calls upon all States to ensure accountability and effective remedies in accordance with their obligations under international law;

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 during all stages of migration, inter alia the creation and exacerbation of vulnerabilities, which could result in death, disappearances, exploitation, trafficking in persons, torture, sexual or gender-based violence or any other form of violence, including violence based on religion or belief or violence based on race, or other violations or abuses of human rights;

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, promptly and thoroughly investigate and address violations and abuses of human rights against migrants during all stages of migration caused or exacerbated by the lack or inadequate implementation of preventive measures to protect human rights, 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, 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 obligations;

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 for their protection from all forms of violence, exploitation and abuse;

Urges States to take decisive action to put an end to all forms of discrimination against migrants, including racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, in helping to prevent violations and abuses of human rights against them, and to actively engage with all relevant stakeholders in national and global efforts to counter growing dehumanizing and harmful narratives about migration and migrants, in line with international human rights law, and to shift to human rights-based and evidence-based narratives;

Calls upon States to adopt and implement legislation, policies and programmes that effectively address inequality, structural and societal dynamics and multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination, that hinder the enjoyment of human rights by migrants, in line with international human rights law obligations, ensuring access to justice and remedies for victims, and to promote human-rights based and evidence-based narratives on migration;

Strongly condemns acts, manifestations and expressions of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance against migrants and the stereotypes applied to them, including on the basis of religion or belief, and urges States to apply and, where needed, to strengthen existing laws when hate crimes, xenophobic or intolerant acts, manifestations or expressions against migrants occur, consistent with international human rights obligations, in order to eradicate impunity for those who commit those acts, and to provide effective remedy to the victims;

Calls upon all States to refrain from conducting or sponsoring disinformation or misinformation campaigns, including those online, targeting migrants domestically or transnationally for political or other purposes, and encourages them to condemn such acts;

Urges States to facilitate an environment supportive of countering disinformation and misinformation against migrants, regardless of their migration status, and engage in public awareness and education campaigns through multidimensional and multi-stakeholder responses that are evidence-based and comply with international human rights law, including through enhanced cooperation with international organizations, civil society, including migrants and migrant-led organizations, local governments, the media, the private sector and other stakeholders;

Calls upon States to develop comprehensive public policies, including a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach, placing the rights of migrants at the centre of migration governance, promoting social cohesion and inclusion and working in collaboration with migrants, migrant-led organizations and migrant communities to collect and disseminate data on their positive contribution to sociocultural, civic and economic development and intercultural dialogue, emphasizing our shared humanity and the obligation to respect and protect human rights;

Recommits to strengthening efforts to enhance the availability and flexibility of pathways for safe, orderly and regular migration, taking into consideration the specific needs of persons in vulnerable situations, 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 strengthen measures to protect the human rights of migrant children, especially those unaccompanied, ensuring that the best interests of the child are a primary consideration in their legislation, policies and practices, including on integration, return and family reunification;

Also calls upon States to protect migrants from becoming victims of national and transnational organized crime, including kidnapping, smuggling of migrants, trafficking in persons, child labour, contemporary forms of slavery and forced labour, inter alia by combating human trafficking and 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;

Encourages States to develop, strengthen and implement national laws and to monitor their implementation; to prevent violations and abuses of human rights against migrant workers, including cases of forced and child labour; to promote, respect and fulfil internationally recognized labour rights for all migrant workers, including freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining; to cooperate with relevant stakeholders, including employers, to build partnerships that promote conditions for decent work, prevent abuse and exploitation; and to engage actively with the International Labour Organization and relevant international organizations in this regard;

Also encourages States to provide adequate documentation to enable access to pathways for safe and regular migration as a measure to preserve human dignity, ensure access to basic rights and prevent exploitation and trafficking;

Calls upon States to ensure the rapid and accurate identification and referral of migrants who may be in a situation 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 assistance 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;

Also calls upon States to ensure that all border governance measures, including those employing new and emerging digital technologies, comply with obligations under international human rights law and have adequate safeguards to protect the dignity and safety of migrants, 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, including by strengthening mechanisms to assess individual human rights situations and referring migrants to appropriate services and protection bodies, and encouraging the establishment of monitoring mechanisms, and to adequately train public officials and others who work in those facilities and in border areas to treat migrants respectfully and in accordance with their obligations under international human rights law, and in this regard recalls 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 work of the International Organization for Migration and 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 to migrants going missing;

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

Encourages States to engage actively in the consultation process led by the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and the Committee for the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families in the drafting of a joint general comment/recommendation on the obligations of States parties with regard to public policies for addressing and eradicating xenophobia, and its impact on the rights of migrants, their families and other non-citizens affected by racial discrimination;

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

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, during all stages of migration, including by addressing dehumanizing and harmful narratives about migrants and migration, by providing, inter alia, technical assistance and capacity-building, increasing outreach and awareness-raising, and sharing best practices with States, relevant stakeholders and civil society;

To prepare a study on human rights monitoring in the context of migration, including at international borders, presenting good and promising practices on how to integrate monitoring into migration governance, in consultation with States and other relevant stakeholders, including regional organizations, civil society organizations and national human rights institutions migrants and migrant-led organizations, and to submit the study to the Human Rights Council before its sixtieth session;

To convene a one-day intersessional panel discussion, accessible to persons with disabilities, and with appropriate gender representation, on measures to prevent, counter and address dehumanizing and harmful narratives about migrants and migration, hate speech, xenophobia and related forms of intolerance against migrants, and on avenues to strengthen national, regional and international monitoring and complaint mechanisms to report cases of human rights violations, discrimination and abuse against migrants at international borders, aiming to ensure access to justice, 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 the recommendations resulting from it, and to submit the report to the Human Rights Council at its sixty-second session and to the General Assembly at its eighty-first session;

Decides to remain seized of the matter.

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Who created this mandate?

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What does this mandate say?

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