A/HRC/47/30 3. Safeguarding human rights at international borders 43. Migrants arriving at international borders, regardless of how they have travelled, and of whether they are part of larger and/or mixed movements, should have access to their human rights, including individualized, prompt examinations of their circumstances, and referral to competent authorities for a full evaluation of their human rights protection needs, including access to asylum, in an age-sensitive and gender-responsive manner. Under international human rights law, everyone has the right to seek and enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution. 17 The Special Rapporteur underscores that effective access to territory is an essential precondition for exercising the right to seek asylum.18 44. States are required to take all reasonable precautionary steps to protect life and prevent excessive violence, 19 and have committed to cooperate internationally to save lives and prevent migrant deaths and injuries, in accordance with international law.20 The loss of life at international borders has been a tragic consequence of States increasingly relying on militarization, extraterritorial border control and deterrence to attempt to control migration. 21 State neglect leading to deprivation of access to medical assistance, water, food and basic means of survival for migrants may amount to torture and becomes a threat to the right to life. Delays in searching for and rescuing migrants in distress on land and at sea, as well as in designating safe ports for disembarkation, may also amount to torture or ill-treatment and undermine the right to life. 45. States have a duty to prevent and redress unjustifiable use of force in law enforcement, and only to use force where it is absolutely necessary and strictly proportional to the legitimate aim pursued.22 Pushbacks, when carried out violently, or effectively resulting in dire conditions for migrants, may amount to torture or ill-treatment and violations of the right to life. 46. Pushbacks contribute to the perpetuation of dire living conditions, which have been documented as including physical abuse, sexual and gender-based violence and deprivation of the necessities of life. States cannot point to exceptional or disproportionate operational challenges (e.g. the size of migratory movements, or the existence of a public health emergency such as COVID-19) or to other circumstances to justify such actions. 47. States are obliged under the Convention on the Rights of the Child to protect the human rights of children in the context of international migration. This applies to each child within the jurisdiction of the State concerned, including the jurisdiction arising from a State exercising effective control outside its borders. 48. Migrant children, in particular those who are unaccompanied, are at a heightened risk of sexual and gender-based violence by smugglers, traffickers and other actors, and of being sold into labour or forced into survival sex to gain passage, shelter, sustenance or money for their journeys.23 Restrictive migration or asylum policies render migrant and asylum-seeking children, including unaccompanied or separated children, particularly vulnerable to suffering violence and abuse during their migration journey and in countries of destination. 24 The criminalization of irregular border crossing leads to increased risk of children being separated from their parents.25 49. Pushbacks often exacerbate situations of vulnerability, including those based on multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination, such as on the basis of gender, age, race, ethnicity, nationality, migration status, sexual orientation and gender identity, and other factors. States should protect migrants at all stages of the migratory process and guarantee 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, art. 14 (1). Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Ten-Point Plan on Refugee Protection and Mixed Migration, chap. 3, available at www.unhcr.org/50a4c0a89.html. A/HRC/32/39, para. 75. General Assembly resolution 73/195, para. 24. A/72/335, paras. 8–13. See the Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials. A/74/235, para. 21. Ibid., para. 20. Ibid., para. 24. 7