Upholding Not Undermining International Law Civil Society Open Letter to States
22 September 2025
Upholding Not Undermining International Law Civil Society Open Letter to States
22 September 2025
In advance of this week’s UN General Assembly High-level meeting, speeches by Heads of State and Government and reported efforts to enlist UN Member States in an attempt to undo international legal protections for refugees, 271 civil society organisations released an open letter to UN Member States calling on them to uphold, preserve, strengthen, and celebrate international refugee, human rights, and humanitarian treaties—and to reject efforts to undo or undermine legal norms.
The organisations signing the open letter span the globe and include human rights organisations, faith-based groups, humanitarian, and refugee assistance organisations from every region of the world.
The letter was organised by Human Rights First and ICVA, along with other dedicated humanitarian, human rights organisations, refugee assistance and faith-based organisations.
Upholding Not Undermining International Law
Civil Society Open Letter to States
The undersigned faith-based, non-governmental, and other civil society organisations call on UN Member States to uphold, preserve, strengthen, and celebrate international refugee, human rights, and humanitarian treaties and reject efforts to undo or undermine legal norms.
In recognition of the inalienable human dignity of each person, States built a rules-based system to maintain peace and security and to promote human rights and fundamental freedoms. Multilateral refugee, humanitarian, and human rights treaties are central to the objectives enshrined in the UN charter, and essential to preventing and deterring conduct that harms people and threatens global stability and peace. Adherence to treaties has saved lives, upheld human dignity, and protected millions of people from persecution, torture and other human rights abuses.
Human rights treaties play a vital role in helping people live safely and protected where they are, reducing the conditions that lead to forced migration. The Refugee Convention, its Protocol and other agreements provide a foundation for states to host refugees and provide critical protection, thereby reducing onward displacement. Indeed, the substantial majority—over two-thirds—of refugees are already hosted in neighboring states and nearly three-fourths are hosted in low- and middle-income states.
Treaties and norms that protect people from persecution and other human rights abuses are more necessary than ever. Many of us have witnessed, day in and day out, how international treaties and law save lives and protect people from return to persecution, torture, and other serious human rights abuses. Indeed, the Refugee Convention and its Protocol have protected millions of people from persecution. The sad reality is that today’s global crises and mass displacements often stem from, or are exacerbated by, the failure to adhere to international human rights, refugee and humanitarian conventions and law.
We call on States to:
- Sign and/or deposit instruments of ratification or accession to human rights, refugee, and humanitarian treaties, and encourage other states to do so – including by welcoming those that do so during the UNGA Treaty Event and by marking the upcoming 75th Anniversary of the Refugee Convention through acceding to the Refugee Convention and Protocol and encouraging other states to do so.
- Celebrate and affirm support for such treaties, and explain the ways they benefit people and states.
- Share steps taken to fulfill and honor commitments under treaties – such as enactment of implementing legislation, celebrating treaty commitments, measures taken in response to treaty body recommendations or UPR, or creating a national human rights institution. With respect to the Refugee Convention and its Protocol, share steps taken to strengthen asylum systems, support rights protection capacities, or increase cooperation through expanded resettlement and/or aid that helps enable other countries to host large numbers of refugees.
- Should there be any denunciations, withdrawals, or attempts to reject, “reform,” and/or replace such treaties with frameworks that deny people protection from persecution and human rights abuses, we call on states to express strong disagreement, reiterate support for such treaties, explain their benefits to human lives, peace, and stability, emphasize the negative impacts of actions that undermine such treaties, and urge reversal of such efforts.
Many people now safely living in countries around the world are the children and grandchildren of people who fled persecution and found refuge in other countries. Conversely, before states came together to draft the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, human rights treaties and the Refugee Convention and Protocol, millions were abandoned to suffer horrific fates. Too many continue to suffer due to the failures to uphold human rights and humanitarian norms.
At this critical crossroads, we call on states to work together and with civil society to strengthen—and reject efforts to undermine—the treaties and norms that protect people from persecution and other human rights abuses.
Signed:
Upholding Not Undermining International Law
Civil Society Open Letter to States (September 2025)
The 267 faith-based, non-governmental, and other civil society organizations listed below call on UN Member States to uphold, preserve, strengthen, and celebrate international refugee, human rights, and humanitarian treaties and reject efforts to undo or undermine legal norms.
In recognition of the inalienable human dignity of each person, States built a rules-based system to maintain peace and security and to promote human rights and fundamental freedoms. Multilateral refugee, humanitarian, and human rights treaties are central to the objectives enshrined in the UN charter, and essential to preventing and deterring conduct that harms people and threatens global stability and peace. Adherence to treaties has saved lives, upheld human dignity, and protected millions of people from persecution, torture and other human rights abuses.
Human rights treaties play a vital role in helping people live safely and protected where they are, reducing the conditions that lead to forced migration. The Refugee Convention, its Protocol and other agreements provide a foundation for states to host refugees and provide critical protection, thereby reducing onward displacement. Indeed, the substantial majority—over two-thirds—of refugees are already hosted in neighboring states and nearly three-fourths are hosted in low- and middle-income states.
Treaties and norms that protect people from persecution and other human rights abuses are more necessary than ever. Many of us have witnessed, day in and day out, how international treaties and law save lives and protect people from return to persecution, torture, and other serious human rights abuses. Indeed, the Refugee Convention and its Protocol have protected millions of people from persecution. The sad reality is that today’s global crises and mass displacements often stem from, or are exacerbated by, the failure to adhere to international human rights, refugee and humanitarian conventions and law.
We call on States to:
- Sign and/or deposit instruments of ratification or accession to human rights, refugee, and humanitarian treaties, and encourage other states to do so – including by welcoming those that do so during the UNGA Treaty Event and by marking the upcoming 75th Anniversary of the Refugee Convention through acceding to the Refugee Convention and Protocol and encouraging other states to do so.
- Celebrate and affirm support for such treaties, and explain the ways they benefit people and states.
- Share steps taken to fulfill and honor commitments under treaties – such as enactment of implementing legislation, celebrating treaty commitments, measures taken in response to treaty body recommendations or UPR, or creating a national human rights institution. With respect to the Refugee Convention and its Protocol, share steps taken to strengthen asylum systems, support rights protection capacities, or increase cooperation through expanded resettlement and/or aid that helps enable other countries to host large numbers of refugees.
- Should there be any denunciations, withdrawals, or attempts to reject, “reform,” and/or replace such treaties with frameworks that deny people protection from persecution and human rights abuses, we call on states to express strong disagreement, reiterate support for such treaties, explain their benefits to human lives, peace, and stability, emphasize the negative impacts of actions that undermine such treaties, and urge reversal of such efforts.
Many people now safely living in countries around the world are the children and grandchildren of people who fled persecution and found refuge in other countries. Conversely, before states came together to draft the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, human rights treaties and the Refugee Convention and Protocol, millions were abandoned to suffer horrific fates. Too many continue to suffer due to the failures to uphold human rights and humanitarian norms.
At this critical crossroads, we call on states to work together and with civil society to strengthen—and reject efforts to undermine—the treaties and norms that protect people from persecution and other human rights abuses.
Signed:
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1. 11.11.11 2. Acacia Center for Justice 3. ACT Alliance 4. Act for Peace 5. Advocate Sunil Kumar Manchanda 6. Al Otro Lado 7. Alianza Americas 8. Alliance San Diego 9. American Civil Liberties Union 10. Amnesty International 11. Amormigrant.org 12. ANAR 13. Apatride Network 14. Apoyo a Migrantes Venezolanos, A.C. 15. Arrupe Refugee Center 16. Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network [APRRN] 17. Asociación de Nicaragüenses en México 18. Asociación Pop No’j (Guatemala) 19. ASOCIACIÓN PRO DERECHOS HUMANOS DE ESPAÑA 20. Association for Legal Intervention (Stowarzyszenie Interwencji Prawnej), Poland 21. AsyLex 22. Asylum Seeker Resource Centre 23. Australia Western Sahara Association 24. AVAN Immigrant Services 25. AVSI Foundation ETS 26. Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust 27. Bondeko Refugee Livelihoods Center 28. Border Network for Human Rights (BNHR) 29. Boston University International Human Rights Clinic 30. Burke PLLC 31. CAFOD (Catholic Agency for Overseas Development) 32. Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers 33. Canadian Council for Refugees 34. Canadian Council of Muslim Women (CCMW) 35. Capital Rainbow Refuge 36. Caritas Internationalis 37. Casa Luz da Colina 38. CCI Ottawa 39. CEDAW Rising 40. Center for Constitutional Rights 41. Center for Engagement and Advocacy in the Americas 42. Center for Gender & Refugee Studies 43. Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law 44. Center for Legal Aid Voice in Bulgaria 45. Center for Victims of Torture 46. Center on Gender and Extreme Sentencing 47. Centre for Civil and Political Rights (CCPR-Centre) 48. Centre for Research and Social Development IDEAS 49. Centretown Community Health Centre 50. Centro de Estudios de Derecho, Justicia y Sociedad-Dejusticia (Colombia) 51. Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales (CELS) 52. Centro para la Observación Migratoria y el Desarrollo Social en el Caribe (OBMICA) 53. Church World Service 54. Climate Refugees 55. Climate Rights International 56. Coalición por Venezuela 57. Coalition des Volontaires pour la Paix et le Développement, CVPD 58. Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA) 59. Coalition for the Rights of Refugees and Stateless Persons (CRSP) 60. CODHES COLOMBIA 61. Colegio de Médicos y Cirujanos de Puerto Rico 62. Comite dominicano de derechos humanos 63. Community for Children, Org 64. Community Legal Services of Ottawa (CLSO) | Services juridiques communautaires d’Ottawa (SJCO) 65. COMMUNITY MIGRANT RESOURCE CENTRE 66. Community World Service Asia 67. Companion House Assisting Survivors of Torture and Trauma 68. Conselho Indigenista Missionário CIMI 69. COOPI – Cooperazione Internazionale 70. Council for Global Equality 71. Danish Refugee Council 72. Darwin Asylum Seeker Support and Advocacy Network 73. Desiree Alliance 74. Disability Justice Network of British Columbia (DJNBC) 75. Disability Justice Network of Ontario 76. DISABILITY PEOPLES FORUM UGANDA 77. Drylands Learning And Capacity Building Initiative- DLCI 78. Dutch Council for Refugees 79. East African Centre for Forced Migration and Displacement 80. East Bay Sanctuary Covenant 81. Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) 82. Empower Youth Trust 83. Encuentros Servicio Jesuita a Migrantes 84. Equality Now 85. European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) 86. Fe y Alegría Venezuela 87. Fe y Justicia 88. Feminist Task Force 89. Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project 90. Forum of Australian Services for Survivors of Torture and Trauma 91. Foundation for the promotion of rights 92. Franciscans International 93. Francophonie Canadienne Plurielle (FRAP) 94. Freedom Network USA 95. Fundación Crea Tu Espacio 96. Fundación Refugiados Unidos 97. Gargaar Relief and Development Organization (GREDO) 98. Global Birthing Home Foundation 99.Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights 100. Global Detention Project 101. Global Justice Center 102. Global Justice Clinic, Western New England University School of Law 103. Global Refuge 104. Global Strategic Litigation Council 105. Groupe d’Appui au Développement et à la Démocratie (GRADE) 106. Grupo Articulador de Organizaciones Lideradas por Personas Refugiadas y Desplazadas Forzadas en Latinoámerica y el Caribe (GARLOS) 107. Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA 108. Hawai’i Institute for Human Rights 109. Healing Bridges 110. Help Himalayan Youth Foundation Inc 111. HelpAge International 112. Hemispheric Network for Haitian Migrants’ Rights (Rezo Emisferik pou Dwa Migran Ayisyen) 113. HIAS 114. Higgins Brothers Surgicenter for Hope 115. Ho’opae Pono Peace Project 116. HOST International Aotearoa New Zealand 117. House of Welcome 118. Human Rights Cities Alliance 119. Human Rights House Foundation 120. ILGA World 121. Immigrant Defenders Law Center 122. Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project 123. Independent Diplomat 124. Insan Association- Defending Human Rights 125. Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti 126. Institute for the Sustainable Development of Lenca Women in Honduras (IDESMULH) 127. Institute for Women in Migration (IMUMI) 128. Instituto Brasileiro de Direitos Huamanos 129. International Association for Human Rights Advocay in Geneva (IAHRAG) 130. International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC) 131. International Commission of Jurists 132. International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA) 133. International Detention Coalition IDC 134. International Mayan League 135. International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP) 136. International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT) 137. International Service for Human Rights 138. Intersos 139. Ipas US 140. Islamic Relief Kenya Office 141. Jesuit Refugee Service 142. Jesuit Social Center (Tokyo) 143. Jewish Activists for Immigration Justice 144. JFCS East Bay 145. Journey Home Community Association 146. Just Detention International 147. Justice for Refugees SA 148. Justice in Motion 149. JusticeMakers Bangladesh in France (JMBF) 150. Kids in Need of Defense (KIND) 151. Kilómetro 0 152. Kinbrace Community Society 153. La Ruta del Clima 154. Last Mile4D 155. Latin America Working Group (LAWG) 156. Latin America/Caribbean Committee – Loretto Community 157. Lawyers for Good Government 158. Le Centre de Réfugiés / The Refugee Centre 159. Lutheran World Federation 160. MADRE 161. Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition 162. Matthew House Ottawa 163. Mazwi Foundation 164. Migrant Working Group (MWG) 165. Migration Institute of Australia 166. Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) 167. Mosaic Multicultural Connections 168. MPower Change Action Fund 169. National Refugee-led Advisory and Advocacy Group Australia 170. Nationality For All (NFA) 171. New Women Connectors 172. Newcomer Legal Clinic – Lakehead University 173. Norwegian Refugee Council 174. Oasis Legal Services 175. OCASI – Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants 176. Open Doors 177. Overseas Services to Survivors of Torture and Trauma 178. Oxfam 179. Pacific Migration Partners 180. PacificwinPacific 181. Partners In Health 182. Pax Christi International 183. Pax Christi USA 184. People Serving People Foundation 185. Perkumpulan Suaka Untuk Perlindungan Hak Pengungsi (SUAKA) 186. Personal 187. Pittsburgh Human Rights City Alliance 188. Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants – PICUM 189. Portland Central America Solidarity Committee 190. Programa Casa Refugiados 191. Promotoras de Derechos en la Migración 192. Puntland Minority Women Development Organization 193. Quaker United Nations Office 194. Quixote Center 195. Rainbow Railroad 196. Rainbow Refugee Society 197. Red Jesuita con Migrantes Latinoamerica y el Caribe (RJM LAC) 198. Refugee 613 199. Refugee Action 200. Refugee Action Campaign Canberra 201. Refugee Advocacy Lab 202. Refugee Communities Advocacy Network NSW 203. Refugee Communities Association of Australia Inc 204. Refugee Congress 205. Refugee Consortium of Kenya 206. Refugee Council of Australia 207. Refugee Council USA 208. Refugee Legal 209. Refugee Solidarity Network 210. Refugees as Survivors NZ 211. Refugees in Libya 212. Refugees Platform In Egypt-RPE 213. Refugees Seeking Equal Access at the Table (R-SEAT) 214. RefugePoint 215. Resilient40 216. Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights 217. Rohingya Youth Union-RYU 218. Rohingya Youths Support Network (RYSN) 219. Rose Lokissim Association 220. Rural Australians for Refugees 221. Rural Australians for Refugees Southern Highlands 222. Safe Passage International 223. SAISIA – Saskatchewan Association of Immigrants Settlement and Integration Agencies 224. Same Skies 225. Santa Clara Law – International Human Rights Clinic 226. Save the Children International 227. SCALES Community Legal Centre 228. Secours Islamique France (SIF) 229. Secretariat of the Civil Society Action Committee 230. Settlement Services International (SSI) 231. Sin Fronteras IAP 232. Social Change Institute 233. Society of Jesus in Belize 234. Somali Diaspora in Deutschland (SOMDID) e.V. 235. South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario 236. STARTTS 237. Stichting Vluchteling 238. Survivors of Torture and Trauma Assistance and Rehabilitation Service 239. Sydney Multicultural Community Services 240. Synergies Migrations 241. Synergy for Justice 242. Table de concertation des organismes au service des personnes réfugiées et immigrantes 243. Tahirih Justice Center 244. Thailand Migration Reform Consortium (TMR) 245. The Alliance for Diplomacy and Justice 246. The Global Centre for Social Justice and Advocacy Leadership 247. The GOOD Group 248. The Legal Resources Centre 249. The Tasmania Opportunity 250. The Workers Circle 251. U.S. Campaign for Burma 252. U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants 253. Uganda Eyenkya Development Project Group 254. Uniāo Social dos Imigrantes Haitianos (USIH) 255. Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC) 256. US Citizen 257. VECINA 258. VOICE 259. Voices in Dialogue 260. Washington Brazil Office 261. Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) 262. Western States Center 263. Wind of the Spirit Immigrant Resource Center 264. Women in Migration Network (WIMN) 265. Women’s All Points Bulletin WAPB 266. Women’s Link Worldwide 267. Women’s National Housing and Homelessness Network 268. Women’s Refugee Commission 269. World’s Youth for Climate Justice 270. Zambian Civil Liberties Union (ZCLU) 271. Zamzam Foundation |
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