Permanent Mission to the United Nations | General statement by Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay after adoption by the Third Committee of draft resolution A/C.3/72/L.43/Rev1 titled “Protection of migrants"

Intervention by the Permanent Mission of Brazil to the United Nations

November 20

Mr. Chairman,

I have the honor to deliver this statement on behalf of Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and my own country Brazil, all cosponsors of this draft resolution.

We would like to express our sincere appreciation for the delegation of Mexico for their tireless efforts in facilitating the draft resolution on protection of migrants. We understand the difficult task involved in accommodating different positions on the issue.

We would like to take this occasion to reiterate our support to all language in this resolution that calls for the full respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms of all migrants, regardless of their migratory status.

We express serious concern over the fact that some of the commitments of the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants were not properly reflected in the draft resolution L.43, due to the opposition of some delegations. In particular, we would like to have seen the commitment to consider reviewing policies that criminalize cross-border movements being captured in OP4(a).

Furthermore, as we have expressed on the occasion of the adoption of the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, our countries strongly stand behind the principle that detention for the purpose of assessing migration status is never in the best interests of the child, as stated by the Committee of the Rights of the Child. We recall the commitment of Member States, in the New York Declaration, to work towards ending this practice and welcome its inclusion in paragraph 4(b) of the resolution.

As we prepare to embark in the negotiations of the Global Compact on Safe, Regular and Orderly Migration in 2018, our countries would like to emphasize that the principle of non-criminalization of irregular migration, bearing in mind the need to promote and protect the human rights and fundamental freedom of all, should be a keystone of our common understanding on the matter. I thank you.