Human mobility and human rights in the COVID-19 pandemic:
Principles of protection for migrants, refugees, and other displaced persons
Developed under the auspices of:
1. Equal treatment and non-discrimination
State policies responding to COVID-19 must guarantee equal and non-discriminatory treatment
of all persons, irrespective of their immigration and citizenship status or the fact of their
displacement.
2. Right to health
States must respect the right to health of migrants, refugees, and other displaced persons,
including by ensuring that the provision of essential medicines, prevention, and treatment are
provided in a non-discriminatory manner.
3. State obligations to combat stigma, racism and xenophobia
States should ensure that neither their actions nor the actions of others stigmatize or incite violence
against persons on account of their actual or perceived health status, in particular when such
stigmatization is linked to nationality or immigration status.
4. Restrictions on movement between States
States are required to ensure that restrictions on mobility adopted in response to COVID-19
respect the rights of all persons to leave any State and to re-enter their home States.
5. Restrictions on movements within States
In responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, States must respect the liberty of movement of all
persons within their territory.
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