Refugees and migrants face dangerous and violent conditions on routes across East and West Africa towards the Mediterranean Coast, according to a report released on Friday by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The office issued an appeal to border authorities in Africa to implement more protections for these vulnerable migrants.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Mixed Migration Centre (MMC) in tandem with the UNHCR investigated the protection risks and “extreme forms of violence and exploitation” being faced by refugees over a three-year period. The report found that these vulnerable migrants traveling by land face risks including sexual gender-based violence, physical violence, kidnapping for ransom, organ removal, arbitrary detention, bribery and extortion, robbery, trafficking, collective expulsions and refoulement.
The report detailed that “deteriorating situation[s]” in some African countries are leading migrants to make journeys toward the Mediterranean Sea. Such deteriorating situations include conflicts in the Sahel and Sudan, human rights abuses in the refugees’ and migrants’ origin countries, climate change and “protracted emergencies in the East and Horn of Africa.”
Director of the MCC Bram Frouws said:
Just last week, we heard that 5,000 people died on the Atlantic route to the Canary Islands in the first five months of this year – that’s an increase of 700 per cent compared to the same period last year … We also know even though we don’t have fully accurate numbers, and indeed it is an underestimation that countless others die on the land routes, up to the Mediterranean coast, possibly even more than at sea.
The report attributed these risks to an insufficient response by states. The organizations acknowledged that there is some effort by the international community to mitigate the risks faced by migrants but that this response is inadequate. The report suggested that the insufficient response may be “affected by corruption” in some cases or “by lack of judicial cooperation” in others.
The organizations added that sanctions can potentially be used to address the concerns, drawing examples from Libya and Sudan, who have sanctioned persons found to be engaging in trafficking and abuses against refugees. Additionally, the report found that there are gaps in protection where the Central Mediterranean route is concerned.
The report concluded that “concrete, routes-based protection responses” are needed by the international community to “save lives and reduce suffering, as well as a push to address the root causes of displacement and drivers of irregular movements.” The organizations called for “positive action on peacebuilding, respect for human rights, governance, inequality, climate change and social cohesion, as well as the creation of safe pathways for migrants and refugees.”
International human rights law creates obligations on states to protect human rights, including in the context of migration. Such obligations cover anyone within the state’s jurisdiction, not just its own citizens. International law therefore puts obligations on states to “protect migrants from violence and abuse from smugglers” and grant them full access to justice, “including redress and remedies if they experience human rights violations.”
Torture or inhumane treatment is prohibited under Article 2(2) of the Convention against Torture and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Refugees and migrants are also protected from refoulment under Article 33(1) of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and Article 3 of the Convention against Torture.
