A/72/173 9. The Special Rapporteur takes note of the positive development of migration and mobility being discussed within the framework of the United Nations, which has resulted in the inclusion of migration-related targets in the Sustainable Development Goals, and the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, in which States reaffirmed their commitments to the protection of the human rights of migrants and to the establishment of a global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration. The Special Rapporteur stresses the importance of ensuring that the commitment of States to the protection of the human rights of migrants 1 is upheld and translated into the adoption of the global compact. 10. The Special Rapporteur suggests that the global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration should include provisions on the development of a 2035 agenda for facilitating human mobility under the framework of the United Nations, in parallel with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (General Assembly resolution 70/1). 11. The golden thread of such an approach would primarily be to address targets 10.7 and 8.8 of the Sustainable Development Goals through a rights -based, age- and gender-sensitive plan. 12. The Special Rapporteur envisions an agenda that, building on target 10.7, outlines how human mobility can be facilitated effectively and underlines the importance of taking a long-term strategic approach to developing more accessible, regular, safe and affordable mobility policies and practices that will place States in a better position to respond to the significant demographic, economic, social, political and cultural challenges that lie ahead. 13. Given that the global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration will be submitted for adoption in 2018, the agenda could be launched in 2020 following a two-year preparatory process. The agenda would encompass a modest but achievable number of universal goals aimed at protecting the human rights of migrants and facilitating mobility in the subsequent 15 years, with precise targets and indicators, realistic timelines and benchmarks and effective accountability mechanisms. B. Migration: perceptions versus reality 14. The Special Rapporteur wishes to recall the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, in which States recognized that, in accordance with the obligations of States under international law, migrants must have comprehensive policy support, assistance and protection and that their human rights must be fully respected. 15. Under international law, States have the duty to protect migrants at all stages of the migratory process and to provide them with access to justice to remedy any discriminatory treatment or human rights violations that they experience. All migrants should be recognized and treated with respect and dignity as equal rights holders, regardless of their migratory status in relation to the sovereign territory in which they find themselves. 16. The Special Rapporteur proposes a fundamental shift in the way that migration is perceived and framed. Migration governance is not a matter of closing off borders and keeping people out, but one of regulating mobility by opening regular, safe, __________________ 1 17-12223 All references to migrants throughout the present report should be read as “migrants, regardless of their status or circumstances”. 5/26