A/HRC/44/42 democratic rule of law principles and societal trust and cohesion. 52 Laws and practices aimed at restricting the civil society organization sector generally will impede any such organization from providing services to migrants. Likewise, laws and practices targeting civil society organizations that work with migrants may have the effect of shutting down space for other humanitarian or human rights groups. 82. Moreover, the wave of crackdowns on civil society organizations that work with migrants has risen at the same time that Governments increasingly abnegate their responsibilities to provide humanitarian assistance to migrants. 53 Commonly, the Governments that are restricting civil society organizations from providing services to migrants are the same ones that are taking punitive, hostile and security-oriented approaches towards migrants, especially migrants who are undocumented or in irregular situations. Thus, migrants, including asylum seekers, are left without any assistance in often overly complicated legal proceedings or in increasingly risky transit situations. 83. This crackdown on civil society organizations that work with migrants, particularly combined with States scaling back their services, has had a profound effect on the safety and rights of migrants, endangering their rights to life, to seek asylum, information and humanitarian assistance, to other basic services such as legal assistance, housing and education, and to enjoy protection from human traffickers and smugglers. Civil society organizations also report that they hesitate to engage in what they now view as risky operations such as providing humanitarian services to migrants on the border, for fear of being accused of smuggling-related crimes. Death rates of migrants at sea increased ninefold between 2015, when the crackdown began on such organizations providing search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean, and 2018.54 Migrants, especially those being held in detention camps and centres, have great difficulty accessing robust legal services, sometimes resulting in erroneous fast-tracked deportations. Civil society organizations in many countries are forced to provide fewer humanitarian services to vulnerable migrants, which increases the danger and trauma of their transit and stay. Certain barriers have made it more difficult for civil society organizations to provide full information to migrants, which in turn decreases migrants’ ability to make informed decisions about their lives. The reduced access such organizations have to migrants in detention means that they are less able to assist migrants with their health, communication or other needs. Indeed, the reduction of human rights monitors at many detention centres and at borders results in violations against migrants going unreported and unaddressed. This leads to an environment where officials working with migrants may be emboldened to mistreat them with impunity. 84. The lack of trust that migrants and civil society organizations that work with them may have for officials as a result of these crackdowns can affect services provided to migrants in indirect ways. For instance, in one country, it is reported that many migrants prefer to sleep outdoors rather than in shelters given that local authorities are obliged to report migrants in an irregular situation. 55 In another country, concerns about such organizations’ potential obligations to share data with government officials about migrant clients may result in less data collection, which has consequences for funding and for monitoring their work. 85. Moreover, where civil society organizations step back from provision of services to migrants because of fear of the legal consequences or harassment, criminal groups and traffickers step in. This subjects migrants to an increased risk of torture, slavery and other severe human rights violations56 and increases the criminal element within a State’s borders. Overall, the reduction in humanitarian and human rights services available to migrants and 52 53 54 55 56 16 European Parliament, Fit for Purpose?, p. 10; Vosyliūtė and Conte, “Crackdown on NGOs and volunteers helping refugees and other migrants: policy option brief”, p. 23. Ferstman, “Using criminal law to restrict the work of NGOs supporting refugees and other migrants in the Council of Europe Member States”; Lina Vosyliūtė, “Is ‘saving lives at sea’ still a priority for the EU?”, Heinrich Böll Stiftung, 19 April 2018. Vosyliūtė, “Is ‘saving lives at sea’ still a priority for the EU?”. See also https://data2.unhcr.org/en/situations/mediterranean (last accessed 2 February 2020). European Parliament, Fit for Purpose?, p. 94. Ibid., p. 95.