IACHR and United Nations Experts: States Must Protect the Rights of Persons in Human Mobility

September 18, 2025

Washington, DC—The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), the undersigned special procedures mandate holders*, and the experts from the Platform of Independent Experts on the Rights of Refugees (PIERR)** express concern regarding the recent adoption of certain bilateral agreements between countries with the objective of deporting, expelling, and/or transferring persons in the context of human mobility to other countries that are neither their country of origin nor their habitual residence; and which may be contrary to non-derogable international human rights obligations.

According to the information available, the content of these bilateral agreements allows one of the signatory States to detain and expel migrants under its jurisdiction and remove them to the territory of the other signatory State; and authorize the transfer of asylum seekers to third countries so that their applications are processed there and not in the country where they were prior to their transfer. These measures may restrict the right to liberty which, in accordance with human rights standards, must be limited only as a last resort; and may imply detention conditions that do not comply with international standards, including, in some cases, cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment. The right to family life and the rights of children and adolescents may also be negatively affected.

The IACHR and the experts note with concern that this type of agreements contemplate procedures that are mainly forced, and are characterized by a high degree of State discretion, in the face of which the affected persons have a minimal, if not null, margin to exercise their rights, including access to courts for the review of such procedures and of their asylum applications, or to be able to organize their own departure when they do not have the right to remain.

While recognizing the sovereignty of States to enter into international agreements, as well as their authority to establish migration policies and to determine who may enter, transit, leave, and remain in their territory; at the same time, it is recalled that all policies, laws, and practices on migration must be applied with full respect for international law, including the non-derogable principle of non-discrimination; and must guarantee the human rights of persons in human mobility, which are rights and freedoms that derive from and safeguard human dignity. In this regard, it is recalled that concerns regarding national security or terrorism cannot justify the violation of human rights.

In this regard, both the IACHR and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights have affirmed that bilateral agreements entered into by States, including commercial matters, must comply with the obligations arising from conventional and customary international human rights law, which guarantees rights in favor of individuals and do not depend entirely on reciprocity between States. In this way, States must refrain from signing agreements that undermine their obligations in this area.

Therefore, when deportations, expulsions, and/or transfers take place within the framework of a bilateral agreement, both the States that deport, expel, and/or transfer persons in contexts of human mobility as well as those that receive them, maintain obligations deriving from international and inter-American treaties to which they have adhered. Thus, both signatory States maintain their responsibility regarding the principle of non-refoulement, in accordance with Article 22.8 of the American Convention on Human Rights, Article 3 of the International Convention against Torture, and Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, among others. This is of special relevance in cases where sufficient elements of information exist to reasonably conclude that deportation, expulsion, and/or transfer would place the person at direct or indirect risk of refoulement, including chain refoulement; or that violations of the rights to life, liberty, or integrity of such persons would be committed, since they would be subjected to torture, cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, or enforced disappearance, or arbitrary detention; and in the face of flagrant denial of justice.

Likewise, both signatory States to the bilateral agreements must protect and guarantee human rights, and in particular observe the right to due process, the right of persons not to be arbitrarily detained, and to humane and dignified conditions of detention, once the persons are under their jurisdiction and control.

As a general rule, this type of procedures must contemplate procedures carried out through mechanisms that ensure an individual analysis of each person's situation, and respect the absolute prohibition of forced returns of population or of collective expulsions to other countries. The absence of a reasonable and objective examination of each individual case means that deportation and/or collective expulsion is inherently arbitrary and must be prohibited.

The IACHR, the United Nations special procedures, and the experts from PIERR additionally recall that States must ensure due legal process in deportation, expulsion, and/or transfer procedures to every person, regardless of their migratory status. To this end, they must ensure that their domestic legislation provides simple and effective remedies that allow them to adequately defend their rights against any type of State act that may affect them, including access to legal representation, notification of individual reasons and disclosure of evidence, independent review of decisions, the right to judicial review, and the right to effective remedies.

Finally, the undersigned international and regional protection mechanisms stress that all State practices must be aligned with the commitments undertaken in international and inter-American human rights treaties, laws, and standards. No bilateral agreement on deportation, expulsion, and/or transfer of persons exempts States from complying with these obligations nor justifies practices incompatible with such duties. The mere existence of domestic norms or the ratification of specific agreements does not guarantee effective protection, especially when practices contrary to these have been documented.

In this regard, they call upon all States of the region to guarantee migration policies with a human rights approach, particularly with respect to compliance with non-derogable obligations, ensuring non-discrimination, the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, the right not to be arbitrarily detained, respect for due process, the obligation of non-refoulement, and the right to human dignity, in consistency with the democratic principles and values enshrined in inter-American and international human rights instruments.

*United Nations special procedures:

• Ben Saul, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism;
• Margaret Satterthwaite, Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers.

Special Rapporteurs/Independent Experts/Working Groups are independent human rights experts appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council. Together, these experts are referred to as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. While the UN Human Rights office acts as the secretariat for Special Procedures, the experts serve in their individual capacity and are independent from any government or organization, including OHCHR and the UN. Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the UN or OHCHR.

Country-specific observations and recommendations by the UN human rights mechanisms, including the special procedures, the treaty bodies and the Universal Periodic Review, can be found on the Universal Human Rights Index https://uhri.ohchr.org/en/

** Siobhán Mullally, PIERR Chair and UN Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children; Gehad Madi, UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants; Matthew Gillett, (Vice-Chair on Communications), UN Working Group on arbitrary detention; Jorge Contesse, Member, UN Committee against torture; Selma Sassi-Safer, Commissioner and Special Rapporteur on refugees, asylum seekers, internally displaced persons and migrants in Africa of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights; Andrea Pochak, Commissioner and Rapporteur on Human Mobility of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

ABOUT THE PIERR

The PIERR is composed of the United Nations Special Rapporteurs on the human rights of migrants and on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, the Working Group on arbitrary detention, the UN Committee against torture, the Special Rapporteur on refugees, asylum seekers, internally displaced persons and migrants in Africa of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, the Rapporteurship on Human Mobility of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture.

The Platform is supported by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency.

The IACHR is a principal and autonomous organ of the Organization of American States (OAS), whose mandate derives from the OAS Charter and the American Convention on Human Rights. The Inter-American Commission has a mandate to promote the observance of human rights in the region and to act as a consultative body to the OAS in this area. The IACHR is composed of seven independent members who are elected by the OAS General Assembly in their personal capacity and do not represent their countries of origin or residence.

No. 190/25

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