Rabat – Amina Bouayach, President of Morocco’s National Human Rights Council (CNDH), warned on Monday that migrant rights are increasingly under pressure due to global political and economic tension.
Bouayach delivered the comments while chairing a meeting of the African Migration Group in Geneva.
Speaking at the Palais des Nations, Bouayach said growing unilateral policies and the politicization of migration are limiting the rights of migrants, especially in countries of the Global North. Migration is more and more being treated only as a security issue, rather than a human rights matter, she said.
Bouayach also pointed to a wider global context of declining trust in international institutions, rising geopolitical tensions, and reduced international solidarity and resources, all of which are affecting the protection of migrants.
Global reports show a widening gap between legal commitments and reality. According to the International Organization for Migration and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, migrants are more vulnerable to labor exploitation, unsafe living conditions, and limited access to justice, particularly during times of economic or political crisis.
These trends reflect broader challenges, including declining international cooperation, rising nationalism, and the politicization of migration, all of which contribute to the erosion of migrant rights worldwide.
Despite these challenges, Bouayach said national human rights institutions continue to play a key role in defending the rights of people on the move.
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“We aim, through our international advocacy in Geneva and New York, to develop new forms of cooperation that can ensure better protection of migrant rights within Africa,” she said.
The meeting brought together representatives from 23 African countries and is part of the work of the African Network of National Human Rights Institutions, where Morocco leads the working group on migration and migrant rights.
Bouayach also recalled efforts to strengthen cooperation at the international level, including a 2025 agreement signed in Rabat with the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Migrant Workers. The agreement aims to improve coordination, encourage countries to ratify international conventions, and reinforce monitoring and implementation mechanisms.
The Geneva meeting is taking place on the sidelines of the annual conference and General Assembly of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI), which Bouayach currently chairs.
