A/HRC/47/30 access to justice to remedy any discriminatory treatment or human rights violations that they experience. The Special Rapporteur has provided guidance to States on providing effective access to justice for all migrants at every stage of the migration process. 26 Further, the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and the Committee on the Rights of the Child have provided child-sensitive guidance to States on ensuring due process guarantees and access to justice for migrant children.27 4. Search and rescue obligations under international law 50. States have the duty to provide an adequate and effective search and rescue service at sea. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, of 1982, and the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, of 1974, place obligations on the masters of ships to render assistance to persons found at sea in danger of being lost, and to rescue persons in distress if informed of their need of assistance. This obligation exists without regard to the nationality, status or circumstances in which such persons are found. The International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue, of 1979, obliges States parties not only to ensure that assistance is provided to any person in distress at sea, but also to provide for their initial medical or other needs and to deliver them to a place of safety. The International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue prescribes that any search and rescue unit receiving information about a distress incident is to take immediate action if in a position to assist. 51. States are also bound to respect obligations laid down under international human rights law, especially the right to life, and cannot leave passengers adrift in international waters without access to humanitarian assistance and medical support, nor can they lawfully take action to return passengers to situations where they would be at risk of human rights violations. Disembarkation may only take place at a port designated as safe. 52. Pushbacks greatly increase the chance of a maritime disaster resulting in loss of life. Migrant women, girls and boys are at a greater risk of drowning or hypothermia.28 Collective “turnbacks” and “takebacks”, 29 “driftbacks” (abandoning migrants adrift in unseaworthy rafts)30 and “pullbacks” by State actors and proxies are incompatible with search and rescue obligations and may also result in other human rights violations, including refoulement. “Closed port” policies which deny private vessels, including commercial vessels and NGO rescue boats, a safe port after rescue are unlawful under international law. 31 D. Pushback policies and practices 53. States often respond to migration movements by creating and progressively increasing barriers. 32 Pushbacks are often carried out as a measure of deterrence, punishment, or targeting migrants as part of wider strategies. Pushback policies and practices, together with the deployment of physical barriers and advanced surveillance and deterrence equipment at borders, carry life-threatening risks for migrants. Thousands of migrants tragically die every year while trying to cross international land and sea borders; the use of force by border authorities during interception and summary returns has a major impact on migrants’ health and safety in transit. 54. In recent years and during the public consultation for the present report, pushbacks have been reported along most migration routes from all regions of the world experiencing mixed movements of migrants. States’ legitimate interests in governing borders have in some 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 8 A/HRC/35/25, paras. 63–65. See joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families / No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, paras. 14–19. A/72/215, para. 11. Submission by the Refugee Council of Australia. Global Legal Action Network, “Drift-backs and torture on the Aegean”, March 2021, available at www.glanlaw.org/aegean-push-backs. A/73/314, paras. 59–61. A/HRC/35/25, para. 29.