Obiora Okafor, U.N. Independent Expert on Human Rights and International Solidarity addresses the U.N. for the second time, speaks strongly onmigration.
At the 73rd Session of the UN General Assembly Professor Obiora Okafor addresses the United Nations General Assembly for the second time under his mandate as the Independent Expert on Human Rights and International Solidarity. He presents his third report to this particular body with important issues and problems he raised on the enjoyment, or lack thereof, in the global migration context, of human rights-
based international solidarity.
“There is an insufficiency of human rights-based international solidarity which is exacerbating our global migration-related challenges.” Okafor speaks about his findings from studying the intersection of international solidarity with the current human migration challenge. In his address, he describes the positive expressions and good practices of human rights-based international solidarity in the global migration context. He also highlighted key human rights-based international solidarity gaps that states need to improve on. He ended his address by describing the abusive deployment of the concept and practice of international solidarity in the global migration area and concluded with key proposals for stakeholders and actors to consider.
“As I promised in my first report, I plan to increase global understanding of the role of human rights-based international solidarity in addressing some of the key global migration-related concerns and issues of this time.”
Okafor reiterates the unlawfulness under both general international law and international human rights law of the suppression or criminalization of individuals and groups especially human rights activists who show solidarity to migrants. However, the Independent Expert will be discussing this specific issue in another report that he will present to the Human Rights Council in June
2019.
