Oral Statement during the 44th session of the Human Rights Council on migration and torture

The World organization against torture would like to commend the work of the special rapporteur on the human rights of migrants on the plight of migrants during the last months especially in the current covid19 crisis.

The link between migration and torture still does not receive enough attention. The OMCT would like to highlight the Janus face of torture as both the cause of forced migration and as one of the worst crimes that migrants can face while crossing various African countries in the hope of reaching Europe.

The OMCT has visited Niger last year and has witnessed a major point of passage for thousands of migrants travelling from sub-Saharan Africa towards the Maghreb and Europe, using unsafe and irregular pathways due to a restrictive migration law and policy that were adopted in 2015 with the support of the European Union.

Our delegate has met with migrants who were forced to escape the ongoing violence with their families, and unfortunately ending up as victims of human trafficking, slavery, torture and other ill-treatment at the hands of both State and non-State actors.

We welcome the recent establishment by the Human rights council of a fact-finding mission in Libya as an important step towards ending the impunity in this country. We would like the mission to consider the migration and torture nexus as a priority.

M. President,

We call the Human rights council and the special rapporteur to carry out visits and investigations in the so-called new migration routes in Africa and support our advocacy for a more protective framework that includes rehabilitation services and psychological support for migrants.

Thank you very much