A/HRC/37/34 Key term Definition Migration governance A process in which the combined framework of legal norms and organizational structures regulate and shape how States act in response to international migration, addressing rights and responsibilities and promoting cooperation within and among countries.34 Mixed migration Describes the cross-border movement of people who have a variety of protection profiles, reasons for moving and needs but who move along the same routes, use the same forms of transport or means of travel, and often travel irregularly. 35 There is no official or agreed definition of “mixed migration”. Non-refoulement Under international human rights law, the prohibition of refoulement entails an obligation not to extradite, deport, expel, return or otherwise remove a person, whatever their status, when there are substantial grounds for believing that the individual would be at risk of being subjected to torture or cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment, or other serious human rights violations, in the place to which they are to be transferred or removed, or of further transfer to a third State where there would be a real risk of such violations.36 Human rights mechanisms have underlined that, under international human rights law, the prohibition of refoulement is absolute.37 Under international refugee law “No Contracting State shall expel or return (‘refouler’) a refugee in any manner whatsoever to the frontiers of territories where his life or freedom would be threatened on account of his race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.”38 Protection based on international human rights grounds Legal mechanisms used by States to extend protection and grant status based on international human rights instruments to persons who do not qualify for protection under international refugee law, but whose removal from the territory would be contrary to obligations under international human rights law, including the principle of nonrefoulement.39 Where these domestic legal mechanisms are not in place or have a narrow scope, the prohibition of refoulement under international human rights law continues to apply. 34 35 36 37 38 39 10 OHCHR, Migration and Human Rights: Improving Human Rights-Based Governance of International Migration (2013). See Human Rights Council, Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the Situation of Migrants in Transit, A/HRC/31/35, 27 January 2016, para. 10. See Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, art. 3; and Human Rights Committee, general comment No. 31 (2004) on the nature of the general legal obligation imposed on States parties to the Covenant, para. 12. See A/70/303, paras. 38 and 41; and Human Rights Committee, Israil v. Kazakhstan (CCPR/C/103/D/2024/2011), para 9.4; and Valetov v. Kazakhstan (CCPR/C/110/D/2104/2011). Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, art. 33 (1). See, directly or by analogy, conclusion No. 103 (LVI) on the provision on international protection including through complementary forms of protection, adopted by the UNHCR Executive Committee.