A/80/205 return. 79 Urgent concerns have been raised regarding mass deportation or “repatriation” with no individual risk assessments for religious or belief minorities. 80 E. Targeting of asylum-seekers, refugees and migrants 46. State and non-State actors regularly target asylum-seekers, refugees and migrants through hate speech and violence. Sharp political polarization and the promotion of fear and hatred against people on the move to gain political “mileage” is, regrettably, commonplace. Inputs received for the present report have added to the record of such violations received under the mandate since it was established. The inputs have included cases of alleged extrajudicial killings and torture of migrants on the basis of witchcraft allegations arising from the peaceful practice of their religious beliefs. 81 47. A sense of belonging and freedom from discrimination on the basis of religion or belief cannot be assumed when both migrants and host communities share a common religion or belief, since expressions may differ significantly. In addition, minorities within religion or belief communities, whether with sectarian differences or relating to other intersectional characteristics, find themselves vulnerable to discrimination and may thus avoid mainstream support services. 82 Those who are readily identifiable as belonging to a particular religion or belief, for example women because of their headdresses or men because of their beards, may be particularly vulnerable. 48. The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights has tackled cases of large-scale killings and forcible displacement by government-backed militias of Indigenous tribes that were mostly Muslims. 83 Numerous violations of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights were found, although the Commission did not discuss the religious element of this ethnic cleansing. 49. The Karaahmed v. Bulgaria case concerned an incident where some 100–150 leaders, members and supporters of a Bulgarian political party clashed with Muslim worshippers, including both Bulgarian nationals and immigrants, while they were gathered for Friday prayer. Violation of freedom of religion or belief was found, due to the failure of the domestic authorities “to strike a proper balance in the steps they took to ensure the effective and peaceful exercise rights of the demonstrators and the rights of the applicant and the other worshippers to pray together, as well as their subsequent failure properly to respond to those events”. 84 50. Vaguely formulated laws are often used to frame asylum -seekers, refugees and migrants as spies, foreign agents or criminals, with no regard for the only legitimate limitations to the manifestation of freedom of religion or belief as referred to in article 18 (3) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights , or due process. 51. Asylum-seekers may also be targeted in their host countries by members of their community or their nationality of origin; such attacks may be facilitated by the spread __________________ 79 80 81 82 83 84 25-11829 See communication BGD 5/2023. See communication PAK 11/2023. See also www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/07/unexperts-alarmed-resumption-us-deportations-third-countries-warn and communication USA 14/2025. See www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/religion/cfis/cfi -ga80/subm-freedomreligion-belief-cso-14-joint-submission-libya-anti-tortur-rture.pdf. According to consultation participants. See www.africanlii.org/akn/aa-au/judgment/achpr/2009/100/eng@2009-05-27. See https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng#{%22itemid%22:[%22001-152382%22]}, para. 111. 13/23