Migrants’ Rights

3.2% of the world’s population are international migrants. This figure includes refugees fleeing persecution or fear of persecution, persons displaced by environmental factors, those who leave their country of origin to seek employment and retired persons from Northern countries in search of sunshine. The percentage has remained stable for years, yet the reasons for migration - voluntary or forced - have become increasingly complex and the countries of destination more diverse.
Given the attraction of emerging economies (Brazil, India, China) and oil-producing countries such as the Gulf states and several African countries, the majority of migration takes place towards the Southern hemisphere (south-south or north-south), or from one country in the North to another. Despite this, states in the Northern hemisphere remain obsessed by a fear of "invasion" by poor migrants from the Global South. As a result of ever-increasing controls on migration, the vulnerability of migrant persons to violations of their human rights is exacerbated. While the United States continues to "protect" itself by an illusory wall, Europe strengthens controls at its external borders, with the help of Frontex, forcing exiles to take ever more dangerous routes which often lead to death, gradually transforming the Mediterranean sea into a vast cemetery. These policies prioritise economic and security interests over respect for human rights. Meanwhile, the responses provided by international institutions remain widely inadequate.

The protection of the rights of migrant persons is one of FIDH’s priorities.
 Through its network of members and partners in countries of departure, transit and arrival, FIDH documents violations of the human rights of migrant persons throughout their journeys and calls on national authorities to adopt legal and political reforms. FIDH participates in the campaign for the universal ratification of the Convention on the protection of the rights of all migrant workers and members of their families;
 FIDH fights against impunity of perpetrators of violations of the human rights of migrant persons, including through strategic litigation;
 FIDH denounces the failure of European migration policy and calls on the EU to overhaul its approach in order to protect human rights.

Read more

Videos