The 270 faith-based, non-governmental, and other civil society organizations listed below call on UN Member States to uphold, preserve, strengthen, and celebrate international refugee, human rights, and humanitarian treaties and reject efforts to undo or undermine legal norms.
In recognition of the inalienable human dignity of each person, States built a rules-based system to maintain peace and security and to promote human rights and fundamental freedoms. Multilateral refugee, humanitarian, and human rights treaties are central to the objectives enshrined in the UN charter, and essential to preventing and deterring conduct that harms people and threatens global stability and peace. Adherence to treaties has saved lives, upheld human dignity, and protected millions of people from persecution, torture and other human rights abuses.
Human rights treaties play a vital role in helping people live safely and protected where they are, reducing the conditions that lead to forced migration. The Refugee Convention, its Protocol and other agreements provide a foundation for states to host refugees and provide critical protection, thereby reducing onward displacement. Indeed, the substantial majority—over two-thirds—of refugees are already hosted in neighboring states and nearly three-fourths are hosted in low- and middle-income states.
Treaties and norms that protect people from persecution and other human rights abuses are more necessary than ever. Many of us have witnessed, day in and day out, how international treaties and law save lives and protect people from return to persecution, torture, and other serious human rights abuses. Indeed, the Refugee Convention and its Protocol have protected millions of people from persecution. The sad reality is that today’s global crises and mass displacements often stem from, or are exacerbated by, the failure to adhere to international human rights, refugee and humanitarian conventions and law.
We call on States to:
- Sign and/or deposit instruments of ratification or accession to human rights, refugee, and humanitarian treaties, and encourage other states to do so – including by welcoming those that do so during the UNGA Treaty Event and by marking the upcoming 75th Anniversary of the Refugee Convention through acceding to the Refugee Convention and Protocol and encouraging other states to do so.
- Celebrate and affirm support for such treaties, and explain the ways they benefit people and states.
- Share steps taken to fulfill and honor commitments under treaties – such as enactment of implementing legislation, celebrating treaty commitments, measures taken in response to treaty body recommendations or UPR, or creating a national human rights institution. With respect to the Refugee Convention and its Protocol, share steps taken to strengthen asylum systems, support rights protection capacities, or increase cooperation through expanded resettlement and/or aid that helps enable other countries to host large numbers of refugees.
- Should there be any denunciations, withdrawals, or attempts to reject, “reform,” and/or replace such treaties with frameworks that deny people protection from persecution and human rights abuses, we call on states to express strong disagreement, reiterate support for such treaties, explain their benefits to human lives, peace, and stability, emphasize the negative impacts of actions that undermine such treaties, and urge reversal of such efforts.
Many people now safely living in countries around the world are the children and grandchildren of people who fled persecution and found refuge in other countries. Conversely, before states came together to draft the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, human rights treaties and the Refugee Convention and Protocol, millions were abandoned to suffer horrific fates. Too many continue to suffer due to the failures to uphold human rights and humanitarian norms.
At this critical crossroads, we call on states to work together and with civil society to strengthen—and reject efforts to undermine—the treaties and norms that protect people from persecution and other human rights abuses.
For more information, read the background document.
Signed:
1. Acacia Center for Justice
2. ACT Alliance
3. Act for Peace
4. Advocate Sunil Kumar Manchanda
5. Al Otro Lado
6. Alianza Americas
7. Alliance San Diego
8. American Civil Liberties Union
9. Amnesty International
10. Amnesty International Australia
11. Amormigrant.org
12. ANAR
13. Apatride Network
14. Apoyo a Migrantes Venezolanos, A.C.
15. Arrupe Refugee Center
16. Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network [APRRN]
17. Asociación de Nicaragüenses en México
18. Asociación Pop No’j (Guatemala)
19. ASOCIACIÓN PRO DERECHOS HUMANOS DE ESPAÑA
20. Association for Legal Intervention (Stowarzyszenie Interwencji Prawnej), Poland
21. AsyLex
22. Asylum Seeker Resource Centre
23. Australia Western Sahara Association
24. AVAN Immigrant Services
25. AVSI Foundation ETS
26. Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust
27. Bondeko Refugee Livelihoods Center
28. Border Network for Human Rights (BNHR)
29. Boston University International Human Rights Clinic
30. Burke PLLC
31. CAFOD (Catholic Agency for Overseas Development)
32. Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers
33. Canadian Council for Refugees
34. Canadian Council of Muslim Women (CCMW)
35. Capital Rainbow Refuge
36. Caritas Internationalis
37. Casa Luz da Colina
38. CCI Ottawa
39. CEDAW Rising
40. Center for Constitutional Rights
41. Center for Engagement and Advocacy in the Americas
42. Center for Gender & Refugee Studies
43. Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law
44. Center for Legal Aid Voice in Bulgaria
45. Center for Victims of Torture
46. Center on Gender and Extreme Sentencing
47. Centre for Civil and Political Rights (CCPR-Centre)
48. Centre for Research and Social Development IDEAS
49. Centretown Community Health Centre
50. Centro de Estudios de Derecho, Justicia y Sociedad-Dejusticia (Colombia)
51. Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales (CELS)
52. Centro para la Observación Migratoria y el Desarrollo Social en el Caribe (OBMICA)
53. Church World Service
54. Climate Refugees
55. Climate Rights International
56. Coalición por Venezuela
57. Coalition des Volontaires pour la Paix et le Développement, CVPD
58. Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA)
59. Coalition for the Rights of Refugees and Stateless Persons (CRSP)
60. CODHES COLOMBIA
61. Colegio de Médicos y Cirujanos de Puerto Rico
62. Comite dominicano de derechos humanos
63. Community for Children, Org
64. Community Legal Services of Ottawa (CLSO) | Services juridiques communautaires d’Ottawa (SJCO)
65. COMMUNITY MIGRANT RESOURCE CENTRE
66. Community World Service Asia
67. Companion House Assisting Survivors of Torture and Trauma
68. Conselho Indigenista Missionário CIMI
69. COOPI – Cooperazione Internazionale
70. Council for Global Equality
71. Danish Refugee Council
72. Darwin Asylum Seeker Support and Advocacy Network
73. Desiree Alliance
74. Disability Justice Network of British Columbia (DJNBC)
75. Disability Justice Network of Ontario
76. DISABILITY PEOPLES FORUM UGANDA
77. Drylands Learning And Capacity Building Initiative- DLCI
78. Dutch Council for Refugees
79. East African Centre for Forced Migration and Displacement
80. East Bay Sanctuary Covenant
81. Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR)
82. Empower Youth Trust
83. Encuentros Servicio Jesuita a Migrantes
84. Equality Now
85. European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE)
86. Fe y Alegría Venezuela
87. Fe y Justicia
88. Feminist Task Force
89. Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project
90. Forum of Australian Services for Survivors of Torture and Trauma
91. Foundation for the promotion of rights
92. Franciscans International
93. Francophonie Canadienne Plurielle (FRAP)
94. Freedom Network USA
95. Fundación Crea Tu Espacio
96. Fundación Refugiados Unidos
97. Gargaar Relief and Development Organization (GREDO)
98. Global Birthing Home Foundation
99. Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights
100. Global Detention Project
101. Global Justice Center
102. Global Justice Clinic, Western New England University School of Law
103. Global Refuge
104. Global Strategic Litigation Council
105. Groupe d’Appui au Développement et à la Démocratie (GRADE)
106. Grupo Articulador de Organizaciones Lideradas por Personas Refugiadas y Desplazadas Forzadas en Latinoámerica y el Caribe (GARLOS)
107. Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA
108. Hawai’i Institute for Human Rights
109. Healing Bridges
110. Help Himalayan Youth Foundation Inc
111. HelpAge International
112. Hemispheric Network for Haitian Migrants’ Rights (Rezo Emisferik pou Dwa Migran Ayisyen)
113. HIAS
114. Higgins Brothers Surgicenter for Hope
115. Ho’opae Pono Peace Project
116. HOST International Aotearoa New Zealand
117. House of Welcome
118. Human Rights Cities Alliance
119. Human Rights House Foundation
120. ILGA World
121. Immigrant Defenders Law Center
122. Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project
123. Independent Diplomat
124. Insan Association- Defending Human Rights
125. Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti
126. Institute for the Sustainable Development of Lenca Women in Honduras (IDESMULH)
127. Institute for Women in Migration (IMUMI)
128. Instituto Brasileiro de Direitos Huamanos
129. International Association for Human Rights Advocay in Geneva (IAHRAG)
130. International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC)
131. International Commission of Jurists
132. International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA)
133. International Detention Coalition IDC
134. International Mayan League
135. International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP)
136. International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT)
137. International Service for Human Rights
138. Ipas US
139. Islamic Relief Kenya Office
140. Jesuit Refugee Service
141. Jesuit Social Center (Tokyo)
142. Jewish Activists for Immigration Justice
143. JFCS East Bay
144. Journey Home Community Association
145. Just Detention International
146. Justice for Refugees SA
147. Justice in Motion
148. JusticeMakers Bangladesh in France (JMBF)
149. Kids in Need of Defense (KIND)
150. Kilómetro 0
151. Kinbrace Community Society
152. La Ruta del Clima
153. Last Mile4D
154. Latin America Working Group (LAWG)
155. Latin America/Caribbean Committee – Loretto Community
156. Lawyers for Good Government
157. Le Centre de Réfugiés / The Refugee Centre
158. Lutheran World Federation
159. MADRE
160. Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition
161. Matthew House Ottawa
162. Mazwi Foundation
163. Migrant Working Group (MWG)
164. Migration Institute of Australia
165. Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI)
166. Mosaic Multicultural Connections
167. MPower Change Action Fund
168. National Refugee-led Advisory and Advocacy Group Australia
169. Nationality For All (NFA)
170. New Women Connectors
171. Newcomer Legal Clinic – Lakehead University
172. Norwegian Refugee Council
173. Oasis Legal Services
174. OCASI – Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants
175. Open Doors
176. Overseas Services to Survivors of Torture and Trauma
177. Oxfam
178. Pacific Migration Partners
179. PacificwinPacific
180. Partners In Health
181. Pax Christi International
182. Pax Christi USA
183. People Serving People Foundation
184. Perkumpulan Suaka Untuk Perlindungan Hak Pengungsi (SUAKA)
185. Personal
186. Pittsburgh Human Rights City Alliance
187. Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants – PICUM
188. Portland Central America Solidarity Committee
189. Programa Casa Refugiados
190. Promotoras de Derechos en la Migración
191. Puntland Minority Women Development Organization
192. Quaker United Nations Office
193. Quixote Center
194. Rainbow Railroad
195. Rainbow Refugee Society
196. Red Jesuita con Migrantes Latinoamerica y el Caribe (RJM LAC)
197. Refugee 613
198. Refugee Action
199. Refugee Action Campaign Canberra
200. Refugee Advocacy Lab
201. Refugee Communities Advocacy Network NSW
202. Refugee Communities Association of Australia Inc
203. Refugee Congress
204. Refugee Consortium of Kenya
205. Refugee Council of Australia
206. Refugee Council USA
207. Refugee Legal
208. Refugee Solidarity Network
209. Refugees as Survivors NZ
210. Refugees in Libya
211. Refugees Platform In Egypt-RPE
212. Refugees Seeking Equal Access at the Table (R-SEAT)
213. RefugePoint
214. Resilient40
215. Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights
216. Rohingya Youth Union-RYU
217. Rohingya Youths Support Network (RYSN)
218. Rose Lokissim Association
219. Rural Australians for Refugees
220. Rural Australians for Refugees Southern Highlands
221. Safe Passage International
222. SAISIA – Saskatchewan Association of Immigrants Settlement and Integration Agencies
223. Same Skies
224. Santa Clara Law – International Human Rights Clinic
225. Save the Children International
226. SCALES Community Legal Centre
227. Secours Islamique France (SIF)
228. Secretariat of the Civil Society Action Committee
229. Settlement Services International (SSI)
230. Sin Fronteras IAP
231. Social Change Institute
232. Society of Jesus in Belize
233. Somali Diaspora in Deutschland (SOMDID) e.V.
234. South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario
235. STARTTS
236. Stichting Vluchteling
237. Survivors of Torture and Trauma Assistance and Rehabilitation Service
238. Sydney Multicultural Community Services
239. Synergies Migrations
240. Synergy for Justice
241. Table de concertation des organismes au service des personnes réfugiées et immigrantes
242. Tahirih Justice Center
243. Thailand Migration Reform Consortium (TMR)
244. The Alliance for Diplomacy and Justice
245. The Global Centre for Social Justice and Advocacy Leadership
246. The GOOD Group
247. The Legal Resources Centre
248. The Tasmania Opportunity
249. The Workers Circle
250. U.S. Campaign for Burma
251. U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants
252. Uganda Eyenkya Development Project Group
253. Uniāo Social dos Imigrantes Haitianos (USIH)
254. Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC)
255. US Citizen
256. VECINA
257. VOICE
258. Voices in Dialogue
259. Washington Brazil Office
260. Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA)
261. Western States Center
262. Wind of the Spirit Immigrant Resource Center
263. Women in Migration Network (WIMN)
264. Women’s All Points Bulletin WAPB
265. Women’s Link Worldwide
266. Women’s National Housing and Homelessness Network
267. Women’s Refugee Commission
268. World’s Youth for Climate Justice
269. Zambian Civil Liberties Union (ZCLU)
270. Zamzam Foundation
