A/HRC/59/49 prey to smugglers and/or human trafficking networks. 70 For instance, in 2023, visa restrictions that prevent individuals from the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Brazil and Ecuador from flying directly to Mexico resulted in a significant increase in the number of migrants crossing the Darién Gap, many of whom are reported missing.71 37. Without pathways for admission, migrants are forced onto ever more dangerous migration routes, exposing them into life-threatening geographical locations. Reportedly, the conditions of removal of individuals by Algerian authorities at the border of Niger expose migrants to an increased risk of disappearing in the desert as the nearest town is far from the drop-off site.72 38. Drowning is a major factor in migrant disappearance,73 with migrant women, girls and boys at a greater risk of drowning or of hypothermia. 74 Migrants travelling from African countries across the central Mediterranean Sea route are reported to use dangerous, makeshift boats and to embark despite poor weather conditions. In a number of instances, lacking water, food and adequate navigational equipment, boatloads of migrants have run into distress and disappearance at sea.75 39. The ever-increasing number of migrants going missing in extreme geographical locations also result from the increasing impact of climate change. Rising temperatures and severe hazards, including heat waves and flooding, along with a lack of secure housing, are leading to an increase in migrant deaths and disappearances.76 C. Stigmatization and discrimination 40. Migrants, notably those in irregular situations, are disproportionately vulnerable to stigmatization and discrimination, and often have limited or no access to human rights or basic services.77 Some migrants face discrimination during the migration process on the basis of migratory or socioeconomic status or other personal characteristics, such as religion, race, colour, ethnic or national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation or gender identity, depriving them of access to already challenging regular legal pathways to migration. Ethnic, racial or other profiling of migrants further results in the disproportionate use of both criminal and administrative detention.78 41. For example, organizations have documented concerns with the mandatory use of the “Customs and Border Protection (CBP) One” application for people seeing international protection in the United States, in particular that Black asylum-seekers have been unable to upload photographs in the app, which is required to confirm appointments, resulting in them being unable to register themselves.79 42. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer migrants and migrants from other sexual and gender minorities face distinct and frequently higher risks of being subjected to disappearance or are being forced to migrate due to threats of being disappeared. 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 10 See A/HRC/59/69/Add.1 and A/HRC/59/69/Add.2 (forthcoming). See https://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2023/09/darien-gap-risky-path-search-safer-life. See https://www.ohchr.org/en/2018/05/press-briefing-note-algeria-and-libya; and https://www.iom.int/news/un-migration-agency-greatly-concerned-reports-migrants-stranded-algerianiger-border. IOM, “A decade of documenting migrant deaths”, pp. 13–16; and A/HRC/47/30, para. 52. Ibid. OHCHR, Lethal Disregard, p. 9. A/HRC/38/21, paras. 15–16; and https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Issues/Migration/OHCHR_slow_onset_of_Clim ate_Change_ENweb.pdf, para. 112. A/79/590, para. 26. A/65/222, paras. 31–34; and A/HRC/36/39/Add.2, para. 53. See https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/05/cbp-one-mobile-application-violates-the-rightsof-people-seeking-asylum-in-the-united-states/, pp. 35–65.