A/HRC/59/49
access to individualized assessment of protection needs, has resulted in and contributed to
migrant disappearances. 59 For instance, Libya cannot be considered a safe port of
disembarkation for migrants rescued in the Mediterranean Sea. 60 Nevertheless, some member
States of the European Union, particularly authorities in Italy and Malta, have strengthened
their cooperation with the Libyan authorities since 2017. 61 This approach has reportedly
contributed to maritime operations of the Libyan coast guard resulting in the return of
migrants to Libya, where they routinely face the risk of disappearance, including enforced
disappearance, among other human rights violations.62
33.
Deportations, including deportation flights, carried out under agreements with third
countries, represent another form of cooperation that increases the risk of migrants being
subjected to disappearance, including enforced disappearance. During the period of
deportation, migrants are often untraceable because their whereabouts are not registered
and/or communicated to relatives and legal representation. Following an agreement between
El Salvador and the United States of America, there have been deportations of this kind
involving the deportation of Salvadoran and Venezuelan nationals to the Centro de
Confinamiento del Terrorismo (known as CECOT) in El Salvador. These actions, which
appear to directly contravene judicial orders against unlawful deportation, 63 amount to
short-term enforced disappearance owing to the concealment of the whereabouts of the
migrants during their transfer, which triggers the responsibility of States ordering the
deprivation of liberty.64
34.
Finally, increased border militarization has led to the excessive use of force by State
actors in the context of border management, which is frequently combined with a failure to
identify those who die in such circumstances. Deaths and disappearances are reportedly
caused by active border patrol tactics, including high-speed motor vehicle pursuits, the use
of aggressive methods to apprehend migrants who are travelling on foot and the use of lethal
force during apprehension attempts.65 On 24 June 2022, approximately 2,000 refugees and
migrants attempted to cross the border between Morocco and the Spanish enclave of Melilla.
When they reached the border post, Moroccan and Spanish police forces allegedly used
excessive force to prevent migrants from entering Spanish territory. As a result, 40 migrants
died and 77 remain missing to date.66
B.
Lack of safe and regular migration pathways
35.
Because of the lack or limited number of safe and regular migration pathways,
migrants are often compelled to take unsafe irregular and often perilous migration routes,
putting them at heightened risk of disappearance, including enforced disappearance. 67
36.
Discriminatory policies that make it difficult for certain nationalities to obtain visas
constitute structural factors that influence the decision of migrants to choose more hazardous
migration routes in order to avoid detection and escape immigration enforcement. Over the
past 25 years, regular and safe migration pathways for individuals from developing countries
and fragile States have been increasingly restricted.68 As regular travel has become more
difficult, migrants have resorted to irregular and more dangerous routes, 69 oftentimes falling
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
A/HRC/WG.6/34/ITA/2, para. 69.
A/HRC/50/31, para. 65.
A/HRC/47/30, para. 73.
OHCHR, Lethal Disregard, pp. v and 9–11.
See communications USA 15/2025 and SLV 1/2025.
CED/C/11, para. 4.
Reineke and Martínez, “Excessive Use of Force and Migrant Death and Disappearance in Southern
Arizona” (2024), p. 247.
See communication ESP 7/2022 and Government replies of 22 February 2023, 15 July, 4 August and
14 October 2022.
See submission by IOM.
See IOM, “A decade of documenting migrant deaths: Data analysis and reflection on deaths during
migration documented by IOM’s Missing Migrants Project, 2014–2023” (2024), p. 23.
Ibid.
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