Measures for Prevention of the Smuggling of Aliens

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 101 Crime prevention and criminal justice, published in 1997.

What subjects does this mandate have?

13 subjects

Criminal Law Freedom of Movement Human Rights Illegal Immigration Immigration Law Immigration Policy Information Exchange International Migration Migrant Workers Non-Citizens Refugee Law Smuggling Travel Documents

What’s in this document?

13 operative paragraphs

Condemns the practice of smuggling aliens in violation of international and national law or other agreements between States and without regard for the safety, well-being and human rights of the migrants;

Commends those States which have cooperated to combat alien smuggling and to respond to specific incidents in which smuggled aliens have needed to be dealt with according to international standards and the domestic laws and procedures of the States concerned and returned safely to appropriate destinations;

Urges States to take appropriate steps to frustrate the objectives and activities of smugglers of aliens and thus to protect would-be migrants from exploitation and loss of life, inter alia, by amending criminal laws, if necessary, to encompass the smuggling of aliens and by establishing or improving procedures to permit the ready discovery of false travel documents supplied by smugglers;

Requests States to cooperate in order to prevent the illegal transport by smugglers of third-country nationals through their territory;

Also requests States to cooperate bilaterally and on a multilateral basis to prevent the use of fraudulent documents, to continue to improve the requirements for registration of vessels and to implement relevant international agreements;

Further requests States to cooperate in the interest of safety of life at sea, to increase their efforts to prevent the smuggling of aliens on ships and to ensure, in accordance with their national legislation, that prompt and effective action is taken against the smuggling of aliens by sea;

Calls upon States to enhance bilateral and multilateral cooperation in the fight against criminal organizations responsible for the smuggling of aliens;

Calls upon Member States and the relevant specialized agencies and international organizations to take into account socio-economic factors and to cooperate at the bilateral and multilateral levels in addressing all aspects of the problem of smuggling of aliens;

Reaffirms the importance of existing international conventions in preventing the economic exploitation and loss of life that can result from alien smuggling, and calls upon all States to exchange information, to consider ratifying or acceding to those conventions if they have not done so and fully to implement and enforce such conventions;

Emphasizes that international efforts to prevent the smuggling of aliens should not inhibit legal migration or freedom of travel or undercut the protection provided by international law to refugees;

Reaffirms the need to observe fully international and national law in dealing with the smuggling of aliens, including the provision of humane treatment and strict observance of all human rights of migrants;

Requests the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice to consider giving attention to the question of the smuggling of aliens at its sixth session, to be held in 1997, in order to encourage international cooperation to address this problem within the framework of its mandate;

Requests the Secretary-General to transmit the text of the present resolution to all Member States and to the relevant specialized agencies and intergovernmental organizations.

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

Table of contents