International migration and protection of the human rights of all migrants

International migration
Chapter
F

Region countries have Instruments on F. International migration

Policies and instruments

Migrant people within the region are integral to a significant 21st-century social process. One of the most pressing issues is the lack of protection for many of them during their journeys, integration, and return, increasingly within the context of forced mobility. Recognizing that migration is a potentially beneficial process for countries, communities, families and individuals, it is imperative that the institutions, legal frameworks, and public policies about migration governance adhere to a rights-based approach.

The international human rights framework establishes standards and obligations, while agreements at various levels set shared principles. Moreover, the participation of civil society confers legitimacy upon these governance efforts. The specific chapter of the Cairo Programme of Action, adopted in 1994, the agreements of the Second High-Level Dialogue on International Migration and Development in 2013, and particularly the Pact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration of 2018, constitute an architecture aligned with the Montevideo Consensus on Population and Development, as they emphasize the need for protection and affirmative strategies by the international community. The various regional and subregional initiatives and integration forums serve as a platform for developing and monitoring certain measures. Furthermore, the extensive experience and commitments made at the Regional Conference on Migration and the South American Conference on Migration underscore the political support given to this issue. The United Nations agencies, funds and programmes, along with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), have specific mandates that should be considered among the mechanisms for monitoring the measures.

Priority Measures

  • F.66 - International migration

    66
    Ensure that international migration issues, including migration regularization policies are fully incorporated into global, regional and national post-2015 development agendas and strategies.
  • F.67 - Assistance and protection to migrants

    67
    Provide assistance and protection to migrants regardless of their migration status, especially vulnerable groups, with full respect for their rights and in accordance with the provisions of the International Convention on the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families and those of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, highlighting the need to afford them comprehensive attention in countries of transit and destination.
  • F.68 - Global and regional strategies for the protection of the rights of migrants

    68
    Prepare comprehensive global and regional strategies to prevent infringement of the human rights of migrants, as well as to take advantage of the benefits and face the challenges arising from migration, including those relating to remittances and skilled migration in high-demand sectors, as well as the differential participation of men and women and the transnationalization of care.
  • F.72 - Decriminalize migration

    72
    Protect decisively the human rights of all migrants, avoiding any form of criminalization of migration, and guarantee migrants access to basic social services in education and health, including sexual health and reproductive health, where appropriate, regardless of their migration status, with special attention to highly vulnerable groups, including unaccompanied minors, displaced persons in an irregular situation, women who are victims of violence, victims of trafficking, returnees and forcibly displaced asylum-seekers.
  • F.73 - Intergovernmental cooperation mechanisms for the rights of migrants

    73
    Give priority, in each country, to strengthening coordination channels between sectors and between countries, to reinforcing intergovernmental cooperation mechanisms in order to guarantee the exercise of the human rights of all migrants, regardless of their migration status, from a gender-based perspective.

Instruments