A/HRC/34/31 food and water, and decent work, as well as xenophobia, violence, gender inequality, the wide-ranging consequences of natural disaster, climate change and environmental degradation, and separation from family. The New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants emphasizes in addition that many people move, indeed, for a combination of these reasons. A vulnerable situation occurring in the context of the circumstances encountered by migrants en route, at borders and at reception 14. People are often compelled to utilize dangerous means of transportation in hazardous conditions and to resort to the use of smugglers and other types of facilitators, which can place them in situations of exploitation, at risk of trafficking in persons and other abuse. Such a journey can be marked by hunger, deprivation of water, a lack of personal security and lack of access to medical care. Many migrants can spend long periods of time in transit countries, often in irregular and precarious conditions, unable to access justice and at risk of a range of human rights violations and abuses. The inadequate and often harsh conditions in which they are received at borders can also violate rights and further exacerbate vulnerabilities. Responses, such as the arbitrary closure of borders, denial of access to asylum procedures, arbitrary push-backs, violence at borders committed by State authorities and other actors (including criminals and civilian militias), inhumane reception conditions, a lack of firewalls, and denial of humanitarian assistance, increase the risks to the health and safety of migrants, in violation of their human rights. A vulnerable situation related to a specific aspect of a person’s identity or circumstance 15. As they move, some people are more at risk of human rights violations than others owing to their persisting unequal treatment and discrimination based on factors including age, gender, ethnicity, nationality, religion, language, sexual orientation or gender identity, or migration status, singly or in combination. Certain people, such as pregnant women, persons in poor health, including those with HIV, persons with disabilities, older persons, or children (including unaccompanied or separated children), are more at risk because of their physical and/or psychological condition. B. Principles and practical guidance 16. There is an international legal framework that specifically protects the rights of all migrants. However, more precise understanding of the human rights standards for migrants in vulnerable situations, as well as of how States (and other stakeholders) can operationalize those standards in practice, is lacking. The principles and guidelines are accordingly an attempt to provide guidance to States and other stakeholders on how to implement obligations and duties to respect, protect and fulfil the rights of migrants who are moving in vulnerable situations, including within large and/or mixed movements. 17. The principles are drawn directly from international human rights law and related standards, including international labour law, refugee law, criminal law, humanitarian law, the law of the sea, customary international law and general principles of law, including in relation to specific groups in such movements, such as children, persons with disabilities, women at risk, older persons, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex individuals. The guidelines elaborate international best practice related to each principle in order to assist States (and other stakeholders) to develop, strengthen, implement and monitor measures to protect migrants in vulnerable situations. The guidelines are derived from international human rights law and other relevant branches of law, authoritative interpretations or recommendations by the international human rights treaty bodies and the 6