Migrants are rights holders, their human rights should be protected regardless of their contributions to society. This is the central message of report from the Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants’ to Human Rights Council. The report emphasizes the need to transform harmful narratives about migration. These narratives draw on and contribute to dehumanization of migrants and feed human rights violations and abuses. Always a critical issue, the Special Rapporteur notes that disinformation often peaks before national elections.

As part of our work to end lethal disregard for people on the move, the Human Rights and Refugees Programme has collaborated to draft a joint letter calling on the Human Rights Council to undertake a global investigation into deaths, enforced disappearances, torture and other grave human rights violations faced by people in transit across international borders. Joined by 228 organizations (by 25 June), the letter highlights the global pattern of deaths and grave human rights violations in transit.

On Monday 26 June, QUNO’s Laurel Townhead spoke in the in the Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur, calling on the Human Rights Council to respond dehumanisation of migrants leading to deaths and grave human rights violations in transit.

QUNO welcomes the publication of the UN Network’s on Migration’s Roadmap for the International Migration Review Forum. Work towards this Forum is well underway and we have published a paper outlining what the IMRF is. This is our first paper in a planned series on Migration Justice: Delivering on the Promise of the Global Compact for Migration.