New Resources Available: IACHR Issues Recommendations on Military Participation in Migration Processes

At the end of its 179th period of sessions, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) spoke for the first time about the growing militarization of borders in Latin America and emphasized the obligation of States to prioritize a rights-based approach with regard to migration and asylum seekers.

At the end of March, 24 organizations from 8 South American countries presented before the IACHR numerous and deeply concerning situations resulting from border closures brought about by the global health crisis.

Mass deportations, the militarization of border crossings, family separation, and the impossibility of accessing refugee status were among the human-rights violations affecting migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers reported during the general hearing. Following that presentation, the IACHR issued its first recommendations to States regarding the participation of military forces in migration processes at borders. It urged them to adopt policies "aimed at respecting and guaranteeing the human rights of migrants, refugees, and persons with protection needs," that respect family unity and the principle of non-refoulement. It highlighted a series of measures adopted by States that must cease immediately because they constitute a threat to migrants and refugees:

1) externalizing migration control;

2) deploying armed forces, military police, and other security bodies with a military profile and training to perform border migration-management tasks;

3) increasing the use of migration detention and deportation or expulsion procedures that do not ensure due process guarantees;

and 4) limiting access to State territories and to migration, asylum, or international-protection procedures, especially by using the pandemic and response measures as justification, which also affects the return migration of nationals.

In this regard, the regional organization recognized that the participation of armed forces in migration control could run counter to States' obligation to protect and guarantee the human rights of migrants and refugees and contradicts Inter-American standards and principles. It also increases the vulnerability of this population by forcing it to seek even more remote and unsafe routes in order to move and gain access to the territory of other States.

HEALTH

"The Commission reiterates that States must avoid the use of detention strategies and other migration measures that increase the risks of contamination, the spread of the pandemic, and the vulnerability of persons in situations of human mobility. Such measures include collective deportations or expulsions, or any form of return carried out without proper coordination and verification of the corresponding health conditions, while guaranteeing conditions so that these persons and their families can safeguard their right to health without any discrimination. Consequently, States must focus on their protection work and duty of prevention, in a coordinated manner, to mitigate the factors of displacement and the risks of rights violations."

The link below contains the full IACHR text.

http://www.oas.org/es/CIDH/jsForm/?File=/es/cidh/prensa/comunicados/2021/082.asp