A/HRC/47/30 1. The prohibition of collective expulsions 40. Collective expulsions are prohibited as a principle of general international law. 10 Article 22 (1) of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families prescribes that migrant workers and members of their families shall not be subject to measures of collective expulsion and that each case of expulsion shall be examined and decided individually. The Human Rights Committee has stressed that article 13 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights “would not be satisfied with laws or decisions providing for collective or mass expulsions”. 11 The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has recommended States to “ensure that non-citizens are not subject to collective expulsion”. 12 The prohibition of collective expulsion has also been recognized in regional conventions. 13 The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has provided specific guidance on the personal scope of the prohibition of collective expulsion, including on the obligation of States to conduct a reasonable and objective examination of each person’s individual case to assess all relevant circumstances that may militate against expulsion.14 2. The principle of non-refoulement 41. Non-refoulement is a fundamental principle of international human rights and refugee law prohibiting all forms of removal and transfer of any individual, regardless of their status, when there are substantial grounds for believing that the individual would be at risk of irreparable harm, such as death, torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, persecution, enforced disappearance or other serious human rights violations, in the place to which they are to be transferred or removed, or of further transfer to a third State where there would be a real risk of such violations (chain refoulement). The principle of nonrefoulement under international human rights law is characterized by its absolute nature without any exception, applying to all persons, including all migrants, at all times, irrespective of their citizenship, nationality, statelessness, migration status, gender, sexual orientation and gender identity.15 42. The principle of non-refoulement has been interpreted to apply to a wide range of risks of irreparable harm, and should be applied to prevent the return of persons in cases of risk of serious human rights violations, such as risks to the rights to life, integrity or freedom of the person, and of torture and ill-treatment.16 In certain circumstances, the individual assessment of risk of irreparable harm includes, among other elements, access to or the level of enjoyment of economic and social rights. 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 6 See the intervener brief filed by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to the European Court of Human Rights, in N.D. and N.T. v. Spain (applications Nos. 8675/15 and 8697/15), paras. 7–11. See the Committee’s general comment No. 15 (1986), para. 10. See the Committee’s general recommendation No. 30 (2004), para. 26. The American Convention on Human Rights, art. 22 (9); the Arab Charter on Human Rights (2004), art. 26 (2); the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, art. 19 (1); and the Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of the Commonwealth of Independent States, art. 25 (4) provide for the prohibition of collective expulsions. The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, art. 12 (5), prohibits mass expulsions aimed at national, racial, ethnic or religious groups. See the intervener brief filed by the High Commissioner for Human Rights to the European Court of Human Rights, in N.D. and N.T. v Spain (applications Nos. 8675/15 and 8697/15), paras. 13–40. Under international human rights law, the prohibition of refoulement is explicitly included in the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (art. 3) and the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (art. 16). Art. 33 of the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (the 1951 Convention) prohibits the return of refugees and asylum applicants to countries where they would risk persecution. For further discussion of non-refoulement, see A/HRC/37/50, paras. 36–42. OHCHR, “The principle of non-refoulement under international human rights law”, available at www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Migration/GlobalCompactMigration/ThePrinciplenonrefoulementUnderInternationalHumanRightsLaw.pdf.