A/RES/71/1. Resolution of the United Nations General Assembly, 2016

• Year: 2016
• Resolution Number: A/RES/71/1
• Session: 71st
• Issuer: General Assembly of the United Nation

United Nations

A/RES/71/1

General Assembly

Distr.: General

3 October 2016

Seventy-first session

Agenda items 13 and 117

16-16163 (E)

*1616163*

Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 19 September 2016

[without reference to a Main Committee (A/71/L.1)]

71/1. New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants

The General Assembl y

Adop ts the f ollowin g outc ome d ocument of the h igh-lev el ple nary meeting on

addr essing l arge mov ements of refug ees and migrant s:

New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants

We, t he Hea ds of State and G overnme nt and High Repres entative s, mee ting at

Unit ed Nation s Headqua rters in New Yor k on 19 Sep tember 2 016 to add ress the

ques tion o f larg e mov ements of refugee s and migra nts, have adopted the followi ng

poli tical dec laratio n.

I. Introduction

1. Si nce earliest ti mes, human ity has been on the mo ve. Some peopl e m ove in

sear ch of new eco nomic opport unities and horiz ons. Others move to escape arm ed

confl ict, p overty, food insecuri ty, pers ecution, terro rism, or hu man ri ghts v iolation s

and abuse s. St ill ot hers do so in respon se to the adver se eff ects of climate chan ge,

natu ral di sasters ( some of whi ch ma y be link ed to clima te c hange), or oth er

envi ronmenta l factor s. Many move, indeed, for a co mbinati on of th ese reas ons.

2. We hav e consider ed today how the internation al commun ity should best resp ond

to the growing glo bal phenom enon of lar ge movemen ts of refuge es and mig rants.

3. We are wit nessing in tod ay’s wor ld an unprece dented level o f huma n mobi lity.

More pe ople than eve r b efore live in a cou ntry other tha n t he one in which the y

were bor n. M igrants are pres ent in a ll co untries in the world . Mo st o f th em m ove

witho ut incide nt. In 2015, t heir numbe r surpasse d 244 mi llion, gro wing at a rate

faste r th an the world’s popul ation. Howe ver, there are rough ly 65 milli on forcibly

displ aced p ersons, includ ing ov er 21 million refugee s, 3 mi llion asylum seekers and

over 40 milli on inte rnally d isplaced person s.

4. In adop ting the 2 030 Agenda for Sustai nable Develop ment

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one year ago, we

reco gnized clearl y the posit ive c ontribut ion m ade b y mig rants for i nclusive gro wth

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Resolution 70/1.

A/RES/71/1

New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants

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and sustai nable develop ment. Our world is a better plac e for that contri bution. The

bene fits an d oppo rtunitie s of safe, orderly and regular migrat ion ar e subs tantial and

are ofte n unde restimat ed. Fo rced d isplacem ent an d irreg ular m igration in l arge

move ments, o n the o ther han d, often present comple x chall enges.

5. We reaffir m the purpos es an d prin ciples of t he Cha rter of the Unite d Nat ions.

We reaffir m a lso the Unive rsal Decl aration of Hu man Rights

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and re call the core

inter nationa l h uman right s treaties . We re affirm and wi ll fully prot ect the huma n

right s of all refuge es a nd mi grants, rega rdless of status; all are rights hold ers. Our

respo nse wi ll demo nstrate full respect for internat ional l aw and intern ational human

right s l aw and , w here ap plicable , i nternati onal re fugee l aw and inter nationa l

huma nitarian law.

6. Th ough th eir treat ment is govern ed by s eparate legal fr amework s, refug ees and

migr ants have th e same unive rsal hum an rights an d fundame ntal freed oms. They

also face ma ny com mon cha llenges and hav e simila r vulne rabiliti es, incl uding i n the

cont ext of large mo vement s. “Large mo vements ” may be unde rstood to re flect a

numb er o f con siderati ons, includin g: t he nu mber of people arriv ing, the e conomic ,

soci al and geograp hical c ontext, the ca pacity of a r eceiving State to res pond an d the

impa ct of a move ment t hat is sudden or p rolonged . The term does no t, for exampl e,

cove r re gular flows of mig rants from one cou ntry to anoth er. “L arge movem ents”

may invo lve mixed flow s o f pe ople, whethe r r efugees or migr ants, who move for

diffe rent rea sons bu t who ma y use si milar r outes.

7. La rge movemen ts of refugee s a nd migrants ha ve politica l, economic , s ocial,

deve lopment al, hum anitaria n and huma n r ights r amifica tions, which cro ss all

bord ers. Thes e are glob al pheno mena that c all for gl obal appr oaches an d global

solut ions. No one State can manag e suc h mo vements on its own. Neig hbourin g or

tran sit coun tries, mostly developi ng cou ntries, are d ispropo rtionate ly affec ted. T heir

capa cities have b een severel y stretche d i n many cases , a ffecting th eir own socia l

and econo mic c ohesion and develo pment. In addition , pro tracted refug ee cr ises a re

now co mmonpla ce, with long -term reper cussion s f or those invo lved and for the ir

host cou ntries and commu nities. Gre ater in ternatio nal co operatio n is n eeded to

assis t host countrie s and co mmuniti es.

8. We d eclare our prof ound so lidarit y with, and sup port fo r, the mill ions of

peop le in differe nt parts of the w orld who , for reason s beyond the ir control , are

forc ed to up root the mselves and the ir famil ies from their homes.

9. Re fugees and migr ants in large move ments o ften fa ce a d esperate ord eal.

Many take gr eat ri sks, e mbarkin g on per ilous jour neys, whic h man y may no t

surv ive. Some feel compelle d to emplo y th e serv ices of cr iminal group s, inc luding

smug glers, a nd othe rs may f all pre y to suc h group s or bec ome vic tims of traffick ing.

Even if t hey reac h th eir dest ination, the y fa ce a n un certain rec eption a nd a

prec arious f uture.

10. We a re de termine d to sa ve li ves. Our ch allenge is abo ve al l mor al an d

huma nitarian . Equa lly, we ar e det ermined to fin d long -term and sus tainable

solut ions. We will com bat with all th e mea ns at our dispo sal t he abu ses an d

expl oitation suffere d by cou ntless refugees and mi grants i n vulner able sit uations.

11. We ack nowledg e a share d re sponsib ility to manag e la rge move ments of

refug ees and mi grants in a humane, s ensitive , compas sionate a nd people -centre d

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Resolution 217 A (III).