Defining A Human Rights Framework

Each year, thousands of migrants and refugees lose their lives or are missing at international borders:1 those crossing the Mediterranean, those lost in the Sahara, those dying from thirst in the Chihuahuan and Sonoran deserts between Mexico and the US, or the Rohingya in flight from Myanmar.2 They are casualties of dangerous journeys, extreme weather, unseaworthy boats, and unscrupulous smugglers. They are also an ‘unintended consequence’3 of migration policies to control borders, and criminalise irregular movement. The names of most of the missing and dead are not known, their families are not traced, and where bodies are found, many are buried in unmarked graves. Relatives, often in other countries and continents, do not know if a missing family member – a parent, spouse, brother, sister or child – is alive or dead. These deaths are an exception to the general humanitarian rule that the dead ought to be recorded, identified, and buried with respect, and that their families are entitled to know the fate of the missing.4 It has been unclear how international legal principles ought to be applied to these tragedies.