A/HRC/38/30 experiencing dire conditions. In November 2017, the United States administration announced that it would rescind Temporary Protected Status and that all Haitian migrants previously protected under this programme would have until July 2019 to leave the United States. 63. Given the country’s economic vulnerabilities and the lingering impact of natural disasters, mass deportations, collective expulsion and other forced or coerced returns of people to Haiti are largely unsustainable besides representing a threat to the human rights of Haitian migrants. Without adequate planning, the security and stability of Haiti could be impacted by the large numbers of deportations and spontaneous returns. Currently, most deportees arrive in Haiti without any financial resources and many have been separated from their family members who remain in the country of destination. Most settle in the departments along the Haitian-Dominican border, namely the North-East, the Centre, the South-East and the West Departments. Women and children, who account for 58 per cent of returnees, are particularly vulnerable. Increased traffic through irregular border crossings has led to increased crime rates, exposing women and children to increased risks of sexual and gender-based violence and human trafficking. Furthermore, endemic and exploitative practices, such as the exploitation of children as domestic servants, transactional sexual exploitation of women and children, and various forms of bonded labour affecting men, women and children, remain prevalent across Haiti and the Dominican Republic. 64. Returnees are economically vulnerable and often perceived as economic and social burdens. Due to the lack of resources, the Government of Haiti has limited capacity to provide them with adequate reception, housing, employment, education and health facilities. In 2015, in order to address these issues, the Humanitarian Country Team and the United Nations country team set up a working group with Government entities and civil society organizations. The working group has continued to operate and has developed annual action plans focusing on the protection of returnee migrants, providing coordinated and complementary responses to identified protection issues. The working group has also been advocating for the ratification by Haiti of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. 65. As the risk of mass deportation is growing and expected to continue at a scale that will overwhelm the capacity of Haiti, some human rights-based urgent response is required and could be incorporated as part of a national human rights action plan. VIII. Conclusions 66. The draft national human rights action plan developed in 2014 serves as a strong basis to elaborate a comprehensive national human rights strategy. 67. The prolonged absence of a high-level human rights focal point in the executive branch of the Government represents an obstacle to the development and adoption of a comprehensive and strategic national human rights action plan that would aim at addressing key outstanding concerns raised by international human rights mechanisms over several years. Leadership is essential for the effective and sustainable protection of human rights. 68. The role of the Office of the Ombudsperson remains key to promoting and protecting human rights, including to addressing grievances and human rights violations. The human rights component of the Mission for Justice Support will continue its support for the Office of the Ombudsperson to ensure it has the necessary means to fulfil its mandate. 69. The human rights component of the Mission for Justice Support remains engaged in providing technical assistance to the authorities of Haiti for the development of a national human rights action plan and implementation of recommendations from the United Nations human rights mechanisms. 14