Media Home
UN Web TV
UN Audiovisual Library
UN PhotoUnifeed
GENEVA / MIGRATION
STORY: GENEVA / MIGRATION
TRT: 2.05
SOURCE: OHCHR
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/ NATS
DATELINE: 04 SEPTEMBER 2013, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND / FILE
RECENT 2013, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Wide shot, exterior Palais Wilson
4 SEPTEMBER 2013, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
2. Med shot, meeting room
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights:
“In international discourse, they appear briefly as “development heroes” or “security villains” before being relegated again to the shadows. When they are valued, their worth is measured in terms of the benefit they can bring to others; in the form of remittances back to their communities or through doing the work that is too dangerous and degrading for citizens. They are the most common scapegoats in times of austerity. Their primary value is that they are disposable and cheap. “
4. Cutaway,
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights:
“We should be clear that all migrants are entitled to all human rights; that human rights are not a matter of charity nor are they a reward for obeying immigration rules.”
6. Cutaway,
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights:
“It will mean taking practical measures to prevent and combat xenophobia, such as strengthening law enforcement and criminal justice responses, enabling victims and communities at risk to access justice through accessible complaints mechanisms, and collecting more accurate data on xenophobic crimes. Using a human rights-based approach will enable policy-makers to identify who are the most vulnerable groups within their society.”
8. Cutaway
The United Nations Human Rights Office (OHCHR) called for a review on how irregular migrants are treated.
Speaking today at forum held at OHCHR headquarters in Geneva ahead of an international migration summit which will be held at the General Assembly next October, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said that migrants briefly appeared in the international discourse, “as ‘development heroes’ or ‘security villains’ before being relegated again to the shadows.”
Pillay stressed that all migrants were “entitled to all human rights”, adding that human rights were “not a matter of charity nor are they a reward for obeying immigration rules.”
She also talked about the need to take practical measures such as such as strengthening law enforcement and criminal justice responses among others to prevent and combat xenophobia enabling victims and communities at risk to access justice through accessible complaints mechanisms, and collecting more accurate data on xenophobic crimes.
Pillay said that using a human rights-based approach would enable policy-makers to identify who are the most vulnerable groups within their society.
More than 190 million migrants, including migrant workers, refugees, asylum-seekers, permanent immigrants and others, live and work in a country other than that of their birth or citizenship. They represent almost three per cent of the world's population.
The International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families entered into force on 1 July 2003. The Convention seeks to play a role in preventing and eliminating the exploitation of migrant workers as well as ensuring the protection of their human rights throughout the entire migration process. It provides a set of binding international standards to address the treatment, welfare and human rights of both documented and undocumented migrants, as well as the obligations and responsibilities on the part of sending and receiving States and States of transit. To date, 46 States have ratified the treaty.
Download
There is no media available to download.
