A/HRC/39/45 Annex Revised deliberation No. 5 on deprivation of liberty of migrants 1. The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention was established in resolution 1991/42 of the Commission on Human Rights. In its resolution 1997/50, the Commission extended and clarified the Working Group’s mandate, and requested that it devote all necessary attention to reports concerning the situation of immigrants and asylum seekers who are allegedly being held in prolonged administrative custody without the possibility of administrative or judicial remedy. 2. In the light of the experience gained from its country visits carried out in that framework, in 1999 the Working Group took the initiative to develop criteria for determining whether the deprivation of liberty of asylum seekers and immigrants might be arbitrary, and to that end adopted its deliberation No. 5.1 3. In 2017, 20 years after it was requested to consider the deprivation of liberty of immigrants and asylum seekers, the Working Group, concerned by the rising prevalence of deprivation of liberty of immigrants and asylum seekers in recent years, recognizing the need to consolidate the developments in its own jurisprudence, taking into account the important developments in international law in this area and having received contributions, inter alia, from relevant United Nations agencies and special procedure mandate holders, has decided to revise and replace its deliberation No. 5 with the present version. 4. The Working Group wishes to emphasize in particular that 2018 marks the seventieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, an instrument that recognizes that every human being is born free and equal in dignity and rights and that every person has the same rights and liberties without distinction based on race, colour, sex, language, religion, political opinion or other, national or social origin, economic position, birth, nationality or any other status. Furthermore, it proclaims that no one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile and that it is the right of every person to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country. The instrument also recognizes the right of every person to seek and enjoy in other countries asylum. 5. The present deliberation aims to consolidate the Working Group’s existing practice regarding the deprivation of liberty of migrants and, as such, is representative of its existing jurisprudence. Revised deliberation No. 5 6. For the purposes of the present deliberation, a “migrant” shall be taken to mean any person who is moving or has moved across an international border away from his or her habitual place of residence, regardless of: (a) the person’s legal status; (b) whether the movement is voluntary or involuntary; (c) the cause of the movement; or (d) the duration of stay. The term shall also be taken to include asylum seekers, refugees and stateless persons. I. The right to personal liberty and the right of migrants not to be detained arbitrarily 7. The right to personal liberty is fundamental and extends to all persons at all times and circumstances, including migrants and asylum seekers, irrespective of their citizenship, nationality or migratory status. 2 Furthermore, as stated in article 13 of the Universal 1 2 E/CN.4/2000/4, annex II. See Human Rights Committee general comment No. 35 (2014) on liberty and security of person, para. 3. 31