A/64/213 employers who, in order to avoid social security payments or taxes in their countries, hire undocumented workers, termed “illegal” by the immigration authorities. The victim is thus criminalized or otherwise penalized, while the traffickers and the employers take advantage of the lack of legal, social and economic protection for undocumented workers and remain unpunished. 76. The Special Rapporteur recalls the need for a serious and in-depth approach to combat racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, which are having a negative effect on the enjoyment of human rights by migrants. Furthermore, the Special Rapporteur encourages Governments, in particular in countries of transit and destination, to promote greater harmony, tolerance and respect among migrants, asylum-seekers, refugees and the rest of society, with a view to eliminating acts of racism, xenophobia and other forms of related intolerance directed against migrants. 77. The Special Rapporteur also call upon States to consider implementing the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, as well as the outcome document of the Durban Review Conference. The criminalization of irregular migration 78. The Special Rapporteur observes that a number of countries still consider breach of migration law to be a criminal offence (for example in cases of irregular entry, lack of a residence permit, the use of an expired residence authorization or unauthorized re-entry after a deportation and re-entry prohibition decision) and is deeply concerned about the resulting detrimental impact, in particular on children, since in most countries migration laws lack a children’s rights perspective. For this reason, the Special Rapporteur wishes to stress that the criminalization of irregular migration leads to human rights violations, and recalls previous recommendations that he has made on this issue encouraging States to view irregular migration as an administrative rather than a criminal offence, reversing the trend towards greater criminalization. 79. The Special Rapporteur wishes to highlight the fact that the criminalization of undocumented migrants for the offence of being in a country without proper papers makes them vulnerable to potential racist or xenophobic acts in the societies of the countries involved. Society distorts their situation, regarding them as “delinquents”, and is quick to connect them with organized crime, including drug trafficking and robbery. Their undocumented status makes many migrants vulnerable to the point of becoming easy prey for criminal networks. 80. The Special Rapporteur wishes to draw the attention of the General Assembly and international society in general to the danger of such reactions, not only for migrants, but also for migrants’ societies of destination, in which the patterns of individual and group behaviour being established will have a negative impact on their children’s upbringing, as xenophobic models are handed down by adults and discriminatory sectors of society. The Special Rapporteur therefore suggests that States that still punish irregular migration with imprisonment revise and reform their migration laws and decriminalize irregular migration. 18 09-43777