A/HRC/37/51 56. Criminalization of defenders of people on the move reinforces the social stigma that people on the move and their allies face. One defender in Italy noted that “criminalizing solidarity threatens to promote, in public opinion and among political forces, an indifferent attitude towards migrants and refugees, or even overtly racist and nationalist positions.” It seeks to delegitimize the work of defenders and threatens their activities by discouraging private donors and volunteers. In such a hostile environment, it is important that funders recognize the challenges that defenders face, and adopt flexible and appropriate funding mechanisms. Often as part of policies directed at deterring people on the move, States have cut government funding for civil society working with people on the move, most notably organizations working against racism and xenophobia and legal centres supporting people on the move in claiming their rights. 57. In some locations, the stigma associated with people on the move has been actively countered by interventions from locally respected institutions, including religious figures and organizations. Religious leaders around the world have condemned the rise in xenophobia and urged followers to provide assistance to people on the move without prejudice, regardless of their cultural, religious and ethnic backgrounds. Local religious leaders have welcomed people on the move and publically demonstrated support of their journeys to safety. A striking example of this is along the southern border of Mexico, where the assistance provided by the Catholic Church to migrants both responds to their humanitarian needs and mitigates the marginalization and stigma faced by the recipients of their assistance. In Australia, the “Let them stay” campaign represented a coalition that drew upon the broad-based community membership and local facilities of religious organizations. 58. As irregular and vulnerable migrants are not part of the local polity, by and large they have no voice in the political arena, and rarely dare to protest. In the face of the increasingly strident anti-immigration sentiment in political discourse, it is often the judiciary that can best protect migrants’ rights. Access to justice becomes a key factor in imposing sanctions for human rights violations and reducing migrants’ vulnerability. C. Involvement of non-State actors 59. As with the rest of society, people on the move interact with private individuals and companies in a range of domains, from housing to employment, through to banking. These interactions can result in abuse, breaches of contract and exploitation, which further heighten the vulnerability of people on the move. International migration is in every sense a difficult undertaking; as a result, many people on the move often rely on smugglers to cross borders. Even regular migrant workers are often required to obtain visas through Statesanctioned private recruiters. People on the move often face challenges in seeking remedies to such mistreatment, particularly when the availability of the remedies is tied to having regular immigration status or a lengthy period of time to obtain it. 60. Defenders of people on the move may also face risks and exploitation as a result of the involvement of organized crime, for example, in the transportation of people on the move. The Mafia and other criminal networks have become involved in the exploitation of groups of people on the move, while defenders seeking to expose their criminal activities are left without adequate protection, especially when they themselves are people on the move. In Mexico, people on the move face violence, extortion and trafficking from criminal gangs: “Few make it to the border without having suffered any human rights abuse; many go missing on the way, never to be found again.”8 In Italy, people on the move who seek to resist human trafficking can be subject to horrendous abuse.9 Traffickers have threatened and killed defenders seeking to expose their activities; victims of trafficking who do seek to expose or prosecute their traffickers face lengthy periods of detention in safe houses, 8 9 Amnesty International, “Mexico’s gruesome war against migrants”, 21 August 2015. Lorenzo Tondo and Annie Kelly, “Raped, beaten, exploited: the 21st-century slavery propping up Sicilian farming”, Guardian, 12 March 2017. 15