Speaking before the General Assembly's Third Committee, which reviews the work accomplished by the UN's independent human rights experts, Francisco Carrion Mena, Chairperson of the UN Committee on the Rights of Migrant Workers and their Families (CMW), warned that some Member States "mistakenly consider border areas as exempt from human rights obligations. States' legitimate interests in securing their borders and exercising immigration control cannot override their obligation to respect, protect and fulfil the human rights of all persons in all areas under their jurisdiction, regardless of their migration status," Mr. Carrion Mena said as he presented his annual report to the Committee.

The CMW Chairperson lamented the growing number of lives lost at sea and on land as a result of insufficient channels of migration, suggesting that States could better their efforts in ensuring migrants a safer avenue of passage.

In particular, he cited the 300 immigrants who died when their boat sank off the coast of Lampedusa, Italy, last year while also recalling that “just last month 500 migrants, including 100 children, drowned in the middle of the Mediterranean when smugglers rammed their boat.”

According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the Mediterranean has become an extremely perilous crossing point for the thousands of migrants who seek a better life in Europe. IOM figures, in fact, have documented more than 3,000 deaths in the Mediterranean from January to September 2014 while reporting 230 deaths along the US-Mexican border for the same period.

Read more: UN News, 24/10/14