Human Rights Council intersessional panel: High Commissioner urges rights of migrants in transit are upheld

Mr President,
Excellencies,
Distinguished participants,

The Human Rights Council has mandated this panel to bring much-needed attention to the human rights violations and abuses that are faced by migrants who are in transit, and the challenges they face in accessing justice. These are important human rights concerns, and I thank you for participating in this discussion.

Given my own professional history, let me just note at the outset that given the focus of this session I will not be reflecting on specific protection issues that arise for refugees and asylum seekers and in relation to which UNHCR holds particular responsibilities. But there are obviously interlinkages between migrants and refugees, including the risks to which they are exposed.

Increasingly, the physical and legal barriers in place to deter migration push people to travel irregularly, using dangerous routes and means of transport. And are resulting in appalling, tragic violations and abuses of their rights.

During their journeys, people are intercepted in ways that place them in acute physical danger. They may be pushed back to situations of increased vulnerability, often in clear contravention of international human rights law, including refugee law considerations that would result in access to the international protection that they deserve. They may be denied life-saving assistance, or suffer arbitrary detention in inhumane conditions that in some cases may include violence and gender-based violence.

And far too often, they fall victim to slavery and forced labour – including sexual slavery; kidnapping; or extortion, perpetrated by criminal gangs, partly as a result of failures of protection by the State.

This suffering – and death – of hundreds of thousands of women, men and children is not an inevitability. It is manufactured. It results from systems of migration governance that give greater priority to political point-scoring than to human rights and dignity.

Harmful, dehumanising narratives scapegoat migrants, using them as lightning rods for the public's fears. By putting up barriers to arrival, focusing on deterrence and deliberately marking foreigners as a target for public hatred, demagogues hope to harvest political gain – which is why this kind of rhetoric often increases in electoral periods.

Sharply limited safe and regular migration pathways are coupled with increasingly restrictive and securitized border governance, including systematic pushbacks. These force ordinary people to attempt irregular and increasingly perilous journeys.

Together with measures to criminalize the solidarity and essential services provided by non-governmental organizations, we are seeing a shrinking human rights protection space for migrants in transit placing them at increased risks of death, human rights violations and abuses, and profound trauma.

During their journeys – which could take months or even years and span multiple countries and regions – many live in the shadows, afraid to complain or seek support, denied access to healthcare, decent accommodation, and adequate living conditions.

In this context, justice is far from accessible for many who have suffered human rights violations and abuses, including for families whose loved ones have gone missing or have been killed. And the resulting impunity perpetuates ever growing cycles of violations, abuses and suffering.

It is well past time to correct this situation.

Comprehensive approaches to migration governance must include regular pathways that allow people to travel safely and to access essential services, including healthcare and justice, as well as access to education for children whose schooling is so damagingly interrupted while they are on the move.

Saving lives, and protecting the fundamental human rights of all of our fellow human beings, must be the foremost priority of border officials.

Human rights monitoring at borders must enable the detection, reporting and prevention of violations and contribute to accountability.

I also continue to encourage communication that emphasises the humanity of migrants, and their human rights. Given the conditions they face, we too might make these same choices as they have done. Portraying migrants as criminal or undeserving paves the way for the acceptance of human harm along migration routes. These approaches generate discrimination and exacerbate the risks migrants face.

They are indefensible. They contradict core principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, beginning with our fundamental equality as human beings.

The Council and its mechanisms, including the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants who is joining us today, can play an important role in preventing violations and addressing accountability for the critical protection gaps that migrants face in transit and on arrival.

I encourage Member States to maintain the rights of migrants and refugees at the core of the Council's agenda, and to continue to hold States to account in their implementation of the Global Compact for Migration, including in the context of the Universal Periodic Review.

I'm glad to note that migrants and their families will be sharing their own stories today. Migration is the history of humanity. All of us are the product of migration, and upholding the human rights of people in vulnerable situations – including migrants – is essential to the values we share. Our commitment to human rights is not about signatures on paper – it is about acts. All of us need to stand up, speak out, and demand justice for these and other people whose voices are often silenced.

Thank you.