June saw several activities around the UN on the topic of international migration, including at the Human Rights Council’s 35th session and during the consultation phase for the ‘global compact on safe, orderly and regular migration.’

Human Rights Council

At the 35th session of the Human Rights Council, two resolutions were passed related to migration. Firstly, we welcome the Mexican-led resolution, ‘Protection of the human rights of migrants: the global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration’. Whilst we were hoping for stronger language in certain areas, the resolution provides a helpful contribution to the process towards developing a global compact, particularly mandating a report from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights with a global compact focus. The resolution also contains important references to the criminalization of irregular migrants and to the protection of migrants in vulnerable situations.

We also welcome the resolution on climate change and migration passed at this session, again focused on how the Council can contribute towards the global compact on migration, as well as work underway on these issues under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. We look forward to the intersessional panel mandated by the resolution, along with reports to future sessions of the Council.

This session was the last for current Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, François Crépeau as he reached the end of his mandate. During the session, an interactive dialogue was held where he discussed final report with States, on a 2035 agenda for facilitating human mobility. QUNO extends its thanks to François Crépeau for his significant contribution towards migrants rights over the past 6 years and looks forward to working with his newly appointed successor, Felipe Gonzales Morales.

Global Compact Consultations

The third thematic session of the consultations for the Global Compact for safe, orderly and regular migration was held on the 19th and 20th June in Geneva. This session focussed on ‘international cooperation and governance of migration in all its dimensions, including at borders, on transit, entry return, readmission, integration and reintegration.’

The topics covered in this session are some of the most problematic for the current protection of migrants’ human rights. We were concerned during the session about a lack of human rights and people-centred approach in the statements from many States, particularly around their policies on return and readmission of migrants and towards irregular migrants.

QUNO co-hosted a side event, together with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Mexican, Swiss, Portuguese and Philippine Missions on ‘Human rights perspectives on the governance of migration at borders and in the context of returns.’ The discussion was wide ranging, and in particular sought to highlight that the global compact’s content on borders and returns should be human rights based and compliant with existing international legal standards. The event featured the following speakers:

• Craig Mokhiber, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (Moderator)
• Erasmo Lara Cabrera, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mexico
• Francois Crepeau, Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants
• Mariane Quintao, International Detention Coalition Youth Ambassador
• Jonas Bergmann, Global Public Policy Institute
• Driss El Yazami, Chair of the National Human Rights Council, Morocco 

​​The discussion was wide ranging, and in particular sought to highlight that the global compact’s content on borders and returns should be human rights based and compliant with existing international legal standards. 

For more information about our work on migration issues, see the relevant section of our website.

This paper presents examples of implementation, monitoring and accountability mechanisms under six multilateral agreements that we believe can be learnt from in considering how to achieve an effective global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration. The examples draw on a range of international agreements from different areas of policy and range from long-standing UN mechanisms to very recent agreements for which the specific means of implementation are still under negotiation. This paper hopes to assist stakeholders in considering some of the potential options for effective implementation of this new international agreement.

This paper is part of QUNO’s paper series, “Towards a Human Rights Based Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration,” a set of contributions to the global compact on migration process. To access these papers, please see this section of our website.

On 31st May 2017, the Child Rights Connect Working Group on Children of Incarcerated Parents held a briefing and discussion with the Committee on the Rights of the Child, focussing on the rights of children of incarcerated parents.

Laurel Townhead (QUNO) and Rachel Brett (COPE member) provided an introduction, highlighting work done so far by the Committee, particularly since the Day of General Discussion in 2011. They noted that despite significant advances in understanding on this issue, implementation remains patchy and more can be done by the Committee to ensure protection of these children’s rights.

Their introductions were followed by a discussion with members of the Committee, many of whom have a long-standing commitment to this issue. The main points raised in the discussion were:

• The need for child rights perspectives to be taken up in cases involving separation of children from their arrested or incarcerated parent, particularly by the European Court of Human Rights.
• Consideration of how best to protect the rights of children detained with their mothers and ensuring that their best interests are met, including in the Latin American context.
• Alternatives to imprisonment such as home detention.
• Good practice from South Africa based on a Constitutional Court ruling setting out a test for taking the best interests of the child into account when sentencing their primary carer.
• Protection of children and ensuring childcare arrangements are in place in situations of arrest of a parent.
• The lack of services available in many countries for children affected by parental imprisonment, particularly health and social services.
• Good practice examples in protecting these children’s rights, such as the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Italian Ministry of Justice, the children’s ombudsman and the main NGO working on this issue in Italy.
• The importance of continuing to raise this in reviews and in Concluding Observations and work done with regional networks to provide the Committee with information about the situation in countries as they report.
• The interest and possibility of a General Comment by the Committee on this issue.

For more information please see the following documents shared with the Committee members:

• A short briefing by the QUNO on the Committee’s work to date on this issue.
• A longer briefing paper Committee’s work on children of incarcerated parents. L. Townhead ‘Briefing Paper: Children of Incarcerated Parents International Standards and Guidance’, (2015) Quaker United Nations Office.
• The Italian Memorandum of Understanding.
• Child Rights Connect Working Group on Children of Incarcerated Parents’ recommendations for States based on Italian good practice.

QUNO's third paper on the process towards developing a Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration will focus on mechanisms for implementation, monitoring and accountability in international agreements. Here we publish some initial reflections based on work to date analysing different implementation, monitoring and accountability mechanisms from various UN treaties and agreements. A full paper will follow shortly.

Our interim reflections highlight elements found in other international agreements that we believe can be learnt from in considering how best to build effective implementation, monitoring and accountability mechanisms into the Global Compact on Safe Orderly and Regular Migration. We share them at this stage for consideration ahead of the first thematic consultation towards the Compact, which will take place on 8th and 9th May 2017.

As part of QUNO's ongoing efforts to link human rights and sustaining peace at the UN level, Diane Hendrick spoke at an informal policy dialogue preceding the Glion Human Rights dialogue 2017 (Glion IV). This dialogue was co-hosted by the Permanent Mission of Morocco to the UNOG and the Universal Rights Group (URG) on 27 April 2017.

The Human Rights Council has a prevention mandate (as set by paragraph 5f of GA resolution 60/251) and the discussions sought to see where this fits within the UN’s broader prevention efforts. The new UN Secretary-General has repeatedly called on the UN to strengthen its prevention capacity, and undertaken reforms that make this a good moment to push for more effective linking of human rights and sustaining peace throughout the UN institutions.

Diane presented some ideas generated from previous expert consultations on this topic at the meeting and co-hosted with the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES). She highlighted the opportunities for developing the role of human rights within the Peacebuilding Commission. Ideas and views generated during the dialogues were fed into a high-level informal retreat in Glion during May 2017.

QUNO is closely following the process for negotiating a Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration. This process part of the UN’s response to the large numbers of people on the move around the world. The Global Compact was mandated by the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, a high-level statement adopted by States on 19th September and is due to be adopted in September 2018.

Following the adoption on 6 April of General Assembly resolution 71/280 on the modalities for developing a Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, QUNO has prepared a short paper on expectations of the process.  This contains the steps which we believe are needed to support the adoption of a human rights based Global Compact (as called for in the New York Declaration and the modalities resolution). 

QUNO’s previous paper on the Compact, on input to the modalities resolution, is here.

QUNO’s Representative for Human Rights and Refugees, Laurel Townhead, has written an article on childhood statelessness of children of prisoners, for a new World Report on Statelessness.

The World Report on Statelessness, launched by the Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion, is the most comprehensive resource on the global situation of stateless people. The second World Statelessness Report (2017) has a specific focus on children, exploring the urgency of and opportunities for addressing childhood statelessness. QUNO’s article focusses on the risks of childhood statelessness for children of prisoners, particularly for children born to foreign national women in prison.

For more information about the report and about statelessness around the world, see the two report websites: http://worldsstateless.org/ and http://children.worldsstateless.org/.

The full report can be accessed here (the article can be found on page 385). 

QUNO organized a panel event, "The Rights of Children of Incarcerated Parents: Replicating good practice from Italy," that took place at the UN on 1 February 2017. The event was hosted by the Permanent Missions to the UN of Italy and Argentina, and the Child Rights Connect Working Group on Children of Incarcerated Parents. 

The Italian NGO Bambinisenzasbarre signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Justice and the National Ombudswoman for Childhood and Adolescence, aimed at the fulfilment of the rights of children of incarcerated parents throughout the country. Steps are being taken to replicate this good practice in other countries. The event highlighted how this Memorandum and the partnership behind it work in practice, how this is being replicated in Argentina and lessons for replication in other States seeking to protect the rights of these children. 

Further information is available in the invitation flyer below.