Kindness beyond boundaries

Harmful and dehumanising narratives on migration have been used to stoke fear, division and exclusion. In worrying trends, such narratives have also targeted and vilified people who stand up for migrants’ and refugees’ human rights. This has led to penalization, criminalization and other forms of obstruction of their work and stifling their voices. 

This harms the human rights of people on the move and of people defending their human rights in equal measure. Moreover, it risks chipping at the foundations of our societies and our humanitarian and democratic values. 

UN Human Rights knows that a different narrative on migration is possible. That people want human rights and the values that underpin them to be a lived reality. 

Helping someone – sharing food, water, shelter with them, saving their lives, speaking out for them when they cannot, and providing any other assistance – is what we want to celebrate. As these acts of solidarity and kindness are ultimately an expression of what makes us human and holds our societies together.

About the illustrator

These hope-based illustrations were created by Magda Castría, a feminist illustrator and graphic designer from Argentina. She produces editorial, animation, motion graphics and digital media projects focused on defending human rights. Castría is devoted to spreading hope to make the world a better place for all species that inhabit it.