A/HRC/35/25
I. Introduction
1.
The present report, which is submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution
26/19, briefly outlines the activities of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of
migrants during the period from 20 April 2016 to 11 April 2017. The thematic section is
dedicated to the development of a 2035 agenda for facilitating human mobility.
II. Activities carried out by the Special Rapporteur
A.
Participation in consultations and conferences
2.
The Special Rapporteur participated as a panellist in the high-level plenary meeting
on addressing large movements of refugees and migrants, held in New York on
19 September 2016. He took part in various events at the high-level plenary meeting,
including one entitled “Migration and development: a roadmap to a global compact”,
organized by the World Bank Group; a round table on working together to end child
immigration detention, organized by the Inter-Agency Working Group to End Child
Immigration Detention; a side event organized by the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on human rights protection in the context of
large movements of migrants and refugees; and the private sector forum on migration and
refugees, organized by Concordia in partnership with the Global Policy Initiative of
Columbia University, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and with the support of the Open Society
Foundations and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.
3.
The Special Rapporteur, in collaboration with the respective national human rights
institutions, organized workshops on access to justice for migrants in Senegal, on 5 and
6 December 2016, and in Morocco, on 8 and 9 December 2016.
4.
On 31 March 2017, the Special Rapporteur organized a consultation in Geneva with
civil society organizations and United Nations agencies to review the outcome of the highlevel plenary meeting and discuss ways to engage with the two-year process that will result
in the adoption of a global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration in 2018.
B.
Country visits
5.
The Special Rapporteur conducted a visit to Angola from 3 to 10 May 2016. He
recommends that Angola develop a comprehensive national migration and mobility strategy
and bilateral and multilateral mobility agreements with neighbouring countries in order to
protect and promote the human rights of all migrants in the country.
6.
The Special Rapporteur also conducted a follow-up visit to Greece from 12 to
16 May 2016. He recognizes the progress made on the adoption of laws and policies aimed
at managing migration and border management. In the light of the fact that Greece is the
custodian of an external European Union border, the Special Rapporteur recommends that
the Government of Greece and the European Union institutions develop durable human
rights-based solutions for migrants and asylum seekers in Greece, including with regard to
the important issue of border management, and adopt strategic long-term migration and
mobility policies in accordance with international human rights law.
7.
The Special Rapporteur conducted a visit to Australia from 1 to 18 November 2016.
He observed that some of the migration policies of Australia have increasingly eroded the
human rights of migrants, in contravention of the country’s international human rights and
humanitarian obligations. The Special Rapporteur recommends that Australia develop and
implement a human rights-based approach to migration and border management, ensuring
that the rights of migrants, including undocumented migrants, are always given priority.
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