A/71/285 their way and bring their cases before a court of justice. States must remove barriers to access to justice, ensuring that migrants can effectively — and not simply on paper — access legal remedies for violations of their rights. Facilitating access to justice without fear of detection, detention or deportation would go a long way towards, on the one hand, legitimizing new migration policies by showing that territorial sovereignty and human rights are not incompatible, and, on the other, changing mentalities regarding migration through fighting stereotypes. When migrants actually go to court, courts often listen, and when courts say migrants have rights, citizens often listen. Conversely, States must ensure that labour inspections target exploitative employers rather than exploited migrant workers. 83. States should also implement “firewalls” between immigration enforcement and public services, thereby allowing for access to justice, housing, health care, education, social and labour services for all migrants, whatever their status, without fear of detection, detention and deportation, as recently recommended by the Council of Europe. 9 84. States must also ensure that all migrant workers, irrespecti ve of their skill level, job sector or administrative status, are protected by labour standards, and should facilitate the unionization of all migrant workers, regardless of status, in order to ensure their effective empowerment to defend their own rights. 85. Furthermore, States must improve accountability for violations of the rights of migrants, including by strengthening the capacity of national human rights institutions and ombudspersons. 86. Improving disaggregated data collection and indicators in all areas relevant to migration while ensuring data protection will allow for States to make better informed policy decisions. 87. The Special Rapporteur is concerned about the extensive use of det ention as a border management and deterrence tool against migrants, as it is too often also used to prevent migrants’ access to justice. 88. The Special Rapporteur stresses that, upon arrival, all irregular migrants should have proper individual assessments carried out for all their human rights protection needs, and not only for those who are manifestly refugees and victims of trafficking: children, families with children, pregnant women, persons with disabilities or illnesses and elderly migrants also hav e need of protection. Quick screening processes should not increase the risk of refoulement for those needing protection. 89. After making what are often extremely long, dangerous and arduous journeys, many irregular migrants and asylum seekers are uselessly subjected to immigration detention. Immigration detention can be in contravention of international human rights law. Freedom should be the default position and detention must be reasonable, necessary, proportionate and decided on a case-by-case basis. As irregular migration is not a criminal act, detention based simply on the lack of __________________ 9 16-13509 European Commission against Racism and Intolerance, General Policy Recommendation No. 16, On Safeguarding Irregularly Present Migrants from Discrimination, adopted 16 March 2016. Available from: www.coe.int/t/dghl/monitoring/ecri/activities/GPR/EN/Recommendation_N16/ REC-16-2016-016-ENG.pdf. 17/24