Co-organizers: Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the Global Migration Centre, Geneva Graduate Institute
Co-sponsors: Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery and trafficking in persons, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and International Detention Coalition (IDC).
Background
Across all regions, States are increasingly relying on criminal law and security-oriented measures to govern migration and manage borders. While States have the sovereign prerogative to regulate migration, these policies must remain consistent with international human rights and refugee law, as well as with commitments undertaken under the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) and the Global Compact on Refugees.
The growing association between irregular migration and criminality has reinforced narratives portraying migrants and refugees as security threats, often legitimizing the criminalization of irregular entry and stay, the prosecution of acts of solidarity, and the expansion of externalization measures. These approaches can exacerbate migrants’ vulnerability by pushing them towards precarious migration routes and increasing their exposure to smuggling networks, trafficking, arbitrary detention, exploitation and other human rights violations.
These dynamics are particularly visible in the widespread use of immigration detention and in barriers preventing migrants in irregular situations from accessing healthcare, labour protections, legal assistance and effective remedies. At the same time, humanitarian actors, human rights defenders and civil society organizations have increasingly faced legal and administrative restrictions for providing assistance to migrants.
To contribute to these debates, OHCHR has issued a new issue brief entitled Beyond Criminalization: Transforming Migration Governance, examining the human rights consequences of migration criminalization and calling for a shift towards rights-based approaches to migration governance.
Organized on the margins of the 63rd session of the Human Rights Council, this event will provide a platform for dialogue among States, UN agencies, human rights mechanisms, national human rights institutions, civil society organizations and academics on alternatives to criminalization-based migration policies and pathways towards rights-based migration governance.
Format and objectives
The event aims to foster an interdisciplinary discussion on the human rights implications of criminalization-based migration governance and to identify practical alternatives grounded in international human rights and refugee law. Through the presentation of OHCHR's issue brief and contributions from leading experts and practitioners, participants will exchange experiences, good practices and policy recommendations for advancing rights-based migration governance.
Agenda
Moderator:
Vincent Chetail, Professor of International Law and Director of the Global Migration Centre, Geneva Graduate Institute
Opening Remarks:
Representative of Brazil
Presentation of the OHCHR Issue Brief:
Carolina Hernandez, Advisor on Migration and Human Rights, OHCHR
Panelists:
- Dr Katarina Schwarz, UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery and trafficking in persons
- Patrick Eba, Deputy Director, Division of International Protection and Solutions, UNHCR
- Carolina Gottardo, Executive Director, International Detention Coalition (IDC)
- Vladimir Martin, Deputy Ombudsman for the Rights of the Population in Human Mobility, Ombudsperson's Office of Colombia (online)
