Two expert committees from the UN said Friday that states of transit and destination have an obligation to ensure the human rights of Central American migrants, regardless of legal immigration status.

The Committee on the Protection of the Rights of all Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (CMW), along with the Committee on the Rights of the Child, released joint comments expressing concern for Central American migrants traveling by foot through Mexico and toward the US. The migrants are fleeing severe human rights violations in their home countries of Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala.

The committees called on these countries of origin to fully implement their legal obligations to address human rights issues. They also called on the countries of destination and transit, Mexico and the US, to make sure to observe all human rights obligations under the CMW. These include ensuring the right to due process for any migrant regardless of status, respecting the principle of non-refoulement, refraining from arbitrary and collective expulsion, and observing non-detention for migration-related offenses.

Renate Winter, chair of the Child Rights Committee, added that migrant policy concerning children should be guided by the principles of the Committee on the Rights of the Child. These include non-discrimination, the best interests of the child, the right to life, maximum survival and development, and the right to be heard and participate.