A/HRC/35/25 Goal 3. Ensure respect for human rights at border controls, including return, readmission and post-return monitoring, and establish accountability mechanisms Rationale 53. Human rights are not reserved for citizens; they benefit everyone, everywhere. States must promote and protect the rights of all in their territory or within their jurisdiction, without discrimination, regardless of status and circumstances. While States have the power to admit, refuse to admit or return migrants, they equally have an obligation to respect the human rights of migrants in the process. 54. States must increase their search and rescue capacity and refrain from pushbacks at land and sea borders. The militarization of border control creates unnecessary suffering and leads to violations of human rights and humanitarian law at borders. States need to develop procedures, guidelines or systems for ensuring that search and rescue is implemented as a paramount objective, taking into account what should be done with those who are rescued. 55. Upon arriving undocumented in countries of transit or destination, all migrants fall within the category of irregular migrants. Prompt and proper individual screening and assessment procedures are required in order to effectively identify their specific vulnerabilities and determine the legal protection frameworks that meet their needs. The lack of individual assessments and of the possibility for migrants to state their claims, outlining the risks they may face when returned to their countries of origin, creates a potential violation of the international principle of non-refoulement. The Special Rapporteur stresses that the principle is stronger as codified in the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, as absolute and without exception, than that found in refugee law, meaning that persons may not be returned even when they may not otherwise qualify as refugees under the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees or national law and even when national security is involved. Accordingly, non-refoulement under the Convention against Torture must be assessed independently of refugee or asylum status determinations, so as to ensure that the fundamental right to be free from torture or other ill-treatment is respected even in cases in which protection against refoulement under refugee law may not be available. 56. Effectively ensuring the proper protection of the human rights of migrants is not possible in the absence of well-functioning asylum systems and of adequate and appropriate infrastructure for managing large movements of migrants. Despite legal prohibitions, pushbacks and refoulement to countries of origin and third countries with weak rule of law and poor asylum systems have been improperly conducted under the broad auspices of bilateral agreements. States must not return anyone under a readmission agreement without effective oversight by a post-return human rights monitoring mechanism that verifies whether the human rights of returnees are actually respected. 57. The return of migrants who do not meet the required international or national legal standards to remain in their host country must be conducted in safety, with regard to dignity and respect for human rights, on the basis of: (a) the primacy of voluntary returns; (b) cooperation between States of origin and reception; and (c) enhanced reception and reintegration assistance for those who are returned. Children, whether unaccompanied, separated or accompanied by their parents or other caregivers, should only be returned or repatriated when it has been determined to be in their best interest through an appropriate procedure before a competent institution with proper representation of the child. Families should never be separated unless separation is necessary to ensure the best interest of the child. Targets 3.1. 14 Protect the lives and safety of migrants and ensure the rescue of and immediate assistance to all migrants facing risks to life or safety, in accordance with the principles and practical guidance on the protection of the human rights of migrants in vulnerable situations (A/HRC/34/31), by developing and effectively implementing procedures and guidelines