The UN Rapporteur reiterated that “States cannot expel migrants at their discretion”

The United Nations (UN) special rapporteur for the human rights of migrants, Felipe González, condemned that countries are currently taking severe measures against migrants.

González expressed that nations should exhaust all the resources at their disposal, before prosecuting or deporting migrants.

“States cannot expel migrants at their discretion: they must consider asylum applications, humanitarian factors, family ties, the best interests of the child, roots and other aspects, as well as ensure access to justice,” the representative of the UN through a message on its official Twitter account.

His statement was made after the recent deportation of a hundred migrants by Chile, most of them Venezuelans, after President Sebastián Piñera signed Decree 265, which granted permission to the Armed Forces to participate in the work of controlling irregular migration.

Following the news, various human rights organizations and Venezuelan politicians in exile have rejected the measure, claiming that it would violate international treaties for the protection of refugees and vulnerable people from humanitarian crises.