should be turned back as close to Libya as possible.26 In November, the Ministry of Interior of Germany reportedly proposed that rescued migrants be sent to North African States to apply for asylum there.27 However these declarations do not reflect European Union policy which prohibits the return of any individual to a place where she or he is at risk of torture or other serious human rights abuses. The United Nations considers that migrants should not be returned to Libya since it is not a safe country for return. IOM has suspended its returns programs to Libya since August 2014, including for Libyan nationals. UNHCR has urged all States to suspend forcible returns to Libya, including Tripoli, until the security and human rights situation has improved considerably. Given the volatility of the current situation, the fragmentation of control, and the plethora of armed groups, UNHCR considers that, in the current circumstances, the relevance and reasonableness criteria for an internal flight or relocation alternative are unlikely to be met. UNHCR also does not consider that Libya meets the criteria for being designated as a place of safety for the purpose of disembarkation following rescue at sea.28 OHCHR considers migrants to be at high risk of suffering serious human rights violations, including arbitrary detention, in Libya and thus urges States not to return, or facilitate the return of, persons to Libya. In the context of increasing global attention to the plight of migrants, on 19 September 2016, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, which initiated a process of intergovernmental negotiations to conclude with the adoption of a global compact on safe, orderly and regular migration, as well as a global compact on refugees based on a comprehensive refugee response framework by 2018.29 4. International legal framework Libya is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and its first Optional Protocol; the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment; the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination; the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and its Optional Protocol; and the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocols on the 26 See “’Turn them back’ Boris Johnson says migrant boats should be sent straight back to Libya”, Sunday Express, 16 September 2016, www.express.co.uk/news/world/711131/Boris-Johnson-says-migrant-boats-shouldbe-sent-straight-back-to-Libya 27 See “German ministry wants to return asylum seekers to Africa”, Independent, 6 November 2016, www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/german-ministry-refugee-migrants-asylum-seekers-africa-libyatunisia-egypt-australia-a7400681.html 28 See UNHCR Position on Returns to Libya- Update 1, UNHCR, October 2015, http://www.refworld.org/docid/561cd8804.html 29 A/RES/71/1 8