Human Rights of Migrants - Press Conference (19 October 2018)

Press Conference by Mr. Felipe González Morales, Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants.
Commenting on the migrants’ caravan heading to the United States border, the Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants, Felipe González Morales, today (19 Oct) said, “security concerns should not overshadow the human rights commitments that the US, as any other government, has according to international law.”
González Morales said the United States has to “take seriously the requests for asylum that some of them may have” and “humanitarian considerations should also be taken into account, including the fact that many of these people may be escaping from serious risks to their lives.”
He said both Mexico and the United States “must seriously consider the applications for refugee status from those who request it. Humanitarian considerations should also be taken into account, including family ties that they might have.”
The Special Rapporteur, who presented his latest report to the General Assembly, said “it is very important that the states around the world give the example of not using this as a political tool for an election or the like.”
In the case of Italy, he added that it was “for a long time a country of origin.”
He said “there are many persons in Latin America who are from Italian origin, and they were well received in many of those countries. At some point a situation might be the other way. I mean, those who are countries of destination today, were countries of origin yesterday, and may be of origin again tomorrow.”
A caravan of about 3,000 people fleeing violence and poverty, the vast majority of them Hondurans, arrived at the Guatemalan border with Mexico with the intention of crossing this country and heading to the United States.