New York Declaration for Refugees, Migrants

Advocate Fali S Nariman told the Supreme Court on Tuesday that the Centre’s decision to deport all Rohingya refugees from India was absurd, as the Narendra Modi government in 2014 had reiterated an earlier notification outlining the rights of refugees while answering a question in the Lok Sabha, according to Live Law.

ariman, appearing for the main petitioner Mohammad Salimullah, also read out the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, dated October 3, 2016, which India has signed. He said that though India is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention, it has signed several other international conventions which prohibit involuntary deportation of refugees.

On September 19, 2016, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a set of commitments to enhance the protection of refugees and migrants. These commitments are known as the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants. The New York Declaration reaffirms the importance of the international refugee regime and represents a commitment by Member States to strengthen and enhance mechanisms to protect people on the move.

It paves the way for the adoption of two new global compacts in 2018: a global compact on refugees and a global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration. In adopting the New York Declaration, Member States: expressed profound solidarity with those who are forced to flee; reaffirmed their obligations to fully respect the human rights of refugees and migrants; agreed that protecting refugees and the countries that shelter them are shared international responsibilities and must be borne more equitably and predictably; pledged robust support to those countries affected by large movements of refugees and migrants; agreed upon the core elements of a Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework; and agreed to work towards the adoption of a global compact on refugees and a global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration.

The New York Declaration sets out the key elements of a Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (in Annex I) to be applied to large-scale movements of refugees and protracted refugee situations. The four key objectives of the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework are to: Ease pressures on host countries; Enhance refugee self-reliance; Expand third-country solutions; and Support conditions in countries of origin for return in safety and dignity.