Asylum and Migration
In this section
Introduction
UNHCR recognizes that people under its mandate are directly affected by migration policies and processes, particularly when they engage in mixed movements and therefore strives to engage with migration issues and processes. It does so by seeking to ensure that migration-management policies and practices take into account the particular protection needs of refugees, asylum-seekers and stateless persons by assisting States and partners to meet asylum and migration-management challenges in a protection-sensitive manner, by preventing and addressing trafficking, aggravated smuggling and other risks affecting persons under UNHCR mandates in irregular journeys, including along sea routes, and by contributing to the strengthening of migration governance systems.
Legal Instruments
General Instruments
UN General Assembly
- Global Compact on Refugees, 17 December 2018
- Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, 19 December 2018
- New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, 19 September 2016
Thematic Instruments
- Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 P029 , UN General Assembly, 11 June 2014
- Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, Supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, UN General Assembly,15 November 2000
- Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, Supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime, UN General Assembly, 15 November 2000
- International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families, UN General Assembly, 18 December 1990
- United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), UN General Assembly, 10 December 1982
- International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue (SAR), IMO, 22 April 1979
- International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), IMO, 1 November 1974
- Amendments to SAR, IMO, 20 May 2004
- Amendments to SOLAS, IMO, 20 May 2004
Executive and Standing Committee Documents
ExCom Conclusions (thematic compilations)
- Asylum-Seekers at Sea/Rescue at Sea/Interception at Sea (2011)
- Irregular Movement of Refugees and Asylum-Seekers from a Country in which they had Already Found Protection (2011)
- Migration (2011)
- Return of Persons Found not to be in Need of International Protection (2011 )
- Smuggling and Trafficking (2011)
Standing Committee Documents
Policy Documents
General
- Serving and Protecting Together: IOM/UNHCR Framework of Engagement, 2022
- Joint Letter from IOM and UNHCR on the Collaboration Between the two Organizations, 2019
- 'Migrants in vulnerable situations' UNHCR's perspective, 2017
- Persons in need of international protection, 2017
- 'Refugees' and 'Migrants' - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), 2016
- Refugee protection and Mixed Migration: A 10 Point Plan of Action, 2007
- Refugee Protection and Durable Solutions in the Context of International Migration, 2007
Trafficking
Guidelines on International Protection
- No. 1: Guidelines on International Protection, Gender-Related Persecution Within the Context of Article 1A(2) of the 1951 Convention and/or its 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, 2002
- No. 7: Guidelines on International Protection, The Application of Article 1A(2) of the 1951 Convention and/or 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees to Victims of Trafficking and Persons At Risk of Being Trafficked, 2006
- No. 8: Guidelines on International Protection, Child Asylum Claims under Articles 1(A)2 and 1(F) of the 1951 Convention and/or 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees, 2009
- No. 12: Guidelines on International Protection, on claims for refugee status related to situations of armed conflict and violence under Article 1A(2) of the 1951 Convention and/or 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees and the regional refugee definitions, 2012
Other
- IOM-UNHCR Framework document on developing standard operating procedures to facilitate the identification and protection of victims of trafficking, June 2020
- An Introductory Guide to Anti-Trafficking Action in Internal Displacement Contexts, November 2020
- Prevent. Combat. Protect: Human Trafficking (Joint UN Commentary on the EU Directive on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims - A Human Rights Based Approach), November 2011
- Trafficking Principles & Commentary on the Recommended Principles and Guidelines on Human Rights and Human Trafficking, OHCHR, November 2010
- Guidance Note on Refugee Claims Relating to Victims of Organized Gangs, March 2010
- Refugee Protection and Human Trafficking. Selected Legal Reference Materials, December 2008
Protection at sea
- Legal considerations on the roles and responsibilities of States in relation to rescue at sea, non-refoulement, and access to asylum, 2022
- General legal considerations: search-and-rescue operations involving refugees and migrants at sea, 2017
- Rescue at sea: A guide to principles and practice as applied to migrants and refugees, 2015
- Rescue at Sea, Stowaways and Maritime Interception: Selected Reference Materials, 2011
- Refugees and Asylum-Seekers in Distress at Sea - How Best to Respond? Expert Meeting in Djibouti, 8-10 November 2011
- Protection Policy Paper: Maritime interception operations and the processing of international protection claims: legal standards and policy considerations with respect to extraterritorial processing, 2010
Onward movements of asylum seekers and refugees
- Guidance on Responding to Irregular Onward Movement of Refugees and Asylum-Seekers, 2019
- Guidance Note on bilateral and/or multilateral transfer arrangements of asylum-seekers, 2013
Return of persons found not to be in need of international protection
Other
Case Law
Trafficking
ECtHR, V.C.L. and A.N. v. The United Kingdom, App nos 77587/12 and 74603/12, 16 February 2021
ECtHR, S.M. v. Croatia, Grand Chamber, App. No 60561/14, 25 June 2020
ECtHR, Chowdury and Others v Greece, App no 21884/15, 30 March 2017
ECtHR, J. and others v. Austria, App no 58216/12, 17 January 2017
ECtHR, L. E. v Greece, App no 71545/12, 21 January 2016
ECtHR, M. and Others v. Italy and Bulgaria, App no 40020/03, 31 July 2012
ECtHR, Rantsev v. Cyprus and Russia, App no 25965/04, 10 October 2010
ECtHR, Siliadin v. France, App no 73316/01, 26 July 2005
Protection at sea
ECtHR J.A. and Others v. Italy, 30 March 2023
CJEU Joined cases C14/21 and C15/21 Sea Watch, 2022
ECtHR Safi and Others v Greece No 5418/15, 2022
CJEU C 36/20 PPU, V.L. v Spain, 2020
ECtHR S.S. and Others v. Italy, 2019 (Judgment pending, UNHCR Submission)
ECtHR Kebe and Others v. Ukraine, 2017
ECtHR Khlaifia and Others v. Italy, 2016
ECtHR Sharifi and Others v. Italy and Greece, 2014
ECtHR Hirsi Jamaa and Others v. Italy, 23 February 2012
Return of persons found to be not in need of international protection
CJEU C825/21 UP v Centre public d’action sociale de Liège, 2022
CJEU X v. Staatssecretaris van Justitie en Veiligheid C69/21, 2022
ECtHR M.N. and others v. Belgium, Application no. 3599/18, 5 May 2020
CJEU MP v Secretary of State for the Home Department (C-353/16), 2018
ECtHR N. v United Kingdom no. 26565/05, 27 April 2018
CJEU C. K., H. F., A. S. v. Republika Slovenija (C-578/16 PPU), 2017
ECtHR Paposhvili v. Belgium, Application no. 41738/10,13 December 2016
ECtHR A.S. v. Switzerland, Application no. 39350/13, 30 June 2015
CJEU Centre public d’action sociale d’Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve v. Moussa Abdida C-562/13, 2014
CJEU Mohamed M’Bodj v. État belge (C-542/13), 2014
CJEU C-245/11 K v Bundesasylamt, 2012
ECtHR Yoh-Ekale Mwanje v. Belgium, Application No. 10486/10, 20 December 2011
ECtHR D. v. The United Kingdom, Application No. 30240/96, 2 May 1997
In Focus: 10-Point Plan in Action
The 10-Point Plan in Action
The Refugee Protection and Mixed Movements: 10-Point Plan in Action provides examples of how different stakeholders have made use of the 10-Point Plan of Action as a strategic tool to inform the development of immigration and asylum systems and to improve their operational responses. It includes an extensive collection of recent operational practices, protection-sensitive tools and strategies to assist States and others in developing and implementing protection-sensitive responses that take into account the needs of refugees and migrants travelling within mixed flows as well as sovereignty considerations and the concerns of states.
December 2016 Update
Historical / background documents
Refugee Protection and Mixed Migration: The 10-Point Plan in action, February 2011
Refugee Protection and Mixed Migration: A 10-Point Plan of Action, Rev.1, 17 January 2007