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UN Report on Torture in the Context of Migration

In the media 28 September 2017

The UN Fund for Victims of Torture has released its report on the Third Annual Expert Workshop ‘Torture in the Context of Migration’ which Room to Heal attended in April 2017, featured on our blog here.
You can read the report in full here. And you can watch a short clip of the conference here.
More people are currently on the move than at any time in recent history. These large movements are increasingly complex and perilous and migrants are increasingly subjected to violence at borders and upon arrival in the host country.
‘The Expert Workshop on “Torture Victims in the Context of Migration: Identification, Redress and Rehabilitation” called for upholding the rights of people on the move. Frontline human rights defenders, working with the financial support of the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture, highlighted better policy standards and pointed to the techniques and good practices that can support rights-based early identification, redress and rehabilitation for torture survivors in the context of migration. Their wisdom is invaluable and their call must be heeded for a robust demonstration of rights-based compassion in the context of migration.”
– Kate Gilmore, Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, Geneva, May 2017
The practice of torture in migration must be acknowledged and requires the urgent design and implementation of tailored responses. We shared perspectives, challenges, best practices and discussed the need to strengthen social and community support and underlined that the concept of rehabilitation is not limited to medical and psychological care. The contribution from Room to Heal, of the fact that individuals can begin heal through a sense of belonging to a community was picked up by many present and resulted in much discussion of the importance of shifting ideas of rehabilitation from a “service-beneficiary model to a membership model.”
“In a system rooted in injustice and the exploitation of migrants, it renews my hope in humanity to witness the incredible capacity of those who – out of the deepest ain and struggle – are able to flourish and find strength, love and dignity in life.”
Ana Elena Barrios, Fray Matías de Córdova Human Rights Centre, Mexico

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