UNITED NATIONS Press Release

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COMMITTEE ON RIGHTS OF MIGRANT WORKERS TO HOLD EIGHTH SESSION IN GENEVA FROM 14 TO 25 APRIL

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11 April 2008

The eighth session of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families will be held at the Palais Wilson in Geneva from 14 to 25 April 2008. During its two-week session, the Committee will review efforts by Syria and Bolivia to implement their obligations under the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.

At its first meeting, which will start at 10 a.m. on Monday, 14 April, the Committee will begin by hearing a solemn declaration by its new member, Myriam Poussi Konsimbo of Burkina Faso, who will serve in her personal capacity, that she will perform her duties and exercise her powers as a member of the Committee honourably, faithfully, impartially and conscientiously. The Committee will also elect a new Bureau from among its members, including a Chairperson, three Vice-Chairpersons and a Rapporteur. The Committee will then adopt its agenda for the session, and hear a statement from a representative of the Secretary-General.

On the afternoon of Monday, 14 April, the Committee will hold a meeting with non-governmental and international organizations, as well as national human rights institutions, in relation to the initial reports of Syria and Bolivia. The Committee will consider the initial report of Syria (CMW/C/SYR/1), on the afternoon of Tuesday, 15 April and continuing on the morning of Wednesday, 16 April. On Wednesday afternoon and the morning of Thursday, 17 April, the initial report of Bolivia (CMW/C/BOL/1) will be examined.

Also during its eighth session, the Committee will hold public meetings on the topics of the human rights index, human rights indicators, and the Global Forum on Migration and Development. In addition, on the morning of Friday, 18 April, the Committee will celebrate the fifth anniversary of the entry into force of the Convention with a round-table discussion on the importance of human rights in the context of today's migration debate. Leading experts from the International Labour Organization, the International Organization for Migration, academia, non-governmental organizations and States will be giving their points of view on this issue and will engage the public in a debate that seeks to reinvigorate the importance of the Convention in the search for solutions to the challenges raised by global migration.

More than 190 million migrants, including migrant workers, refugees, asylum-seekers, permanent immigrants and others, live and work in a country other than that of their birth or citizenship. They represent almost 3 per cent of the world's population.

The International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families entered into force on 1 July 2003. The Convention seeks to play a role in preventing and eliminating the exploitation of migrant workers as well as ensuring the protection of their human rights throughout the entire migration process. It provides a set of binding international standards to address the treatment, welfare and human rights of both documented and undocumented migrants, as well as the obligations and responsibilities on the part of sending and receiving States, as well as States of transit. To date, 37 States have ratified the treaty.

The Committee of 10 Experts was created to monitor how States parties to the Convention abide by their obligations under the treaty. States parties accept the obligation to report to the Committee on the steps they have taken to implement the Convention. States must report initially within a year of its entry into force for the State concerned, and thereafter every five years. So far, the Committee has examined the initial reports of four States parties, Mali, Mexico, Egypt and Ecuador. At its present session, it will examine the initial reports of Syria and Bolivia. Currently, the reports of another five State parties, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Colombia, El Salvador and the Philippines are awaiting examination by the Committee. The reports of 26 other States parties are now overdue.

The International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families

The Convention is applicable to all migrant workers and members of their families without distinction of any kind such as sex, race, colour, language, religion or conviction, political or other opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, nationality, age, economic position, property, marital status, birth or other status. It applies during the entire migration process of migrant workers and members of their families, which comprises preparation for migration, departure, transit and the entire period of stay and remunerated activity in the State of employment as well as return to the State of origin or the State of habitual residence.

Listed among their human rights, the Convention states that migrant workers and members of their families shall be free to leave any State, including their State of origin; migrant workers and members of their families shall have the right at any time to enter and remain in their State of origin; the right to life of migrant workers and members of their families shall be protected by law; no migrant worker or member of his or her family shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; no migrant worker or member of his or her family shall be held in slavery or servitude; and no migrant worker or member of his or her family shall be required to perform forced or compulsory labour. The Convention also prohibits collective expulsion of migrant workers and members of their families. It further establishes that migrant workers shall enjoy treatment not less favourable than that which applies to nationals of the State of employment in respect of remuneration and other conditions of work and terms of employment. Documented or regular migrant workers moreover enjoy the right to form associations and trade unions as well as equality of treatment with the nationals of the State in relation to access to educational, social and health services.

The Convention also imposes a series of obligations on States parties in the interest of promoting "sound, equitable, humane and lawful conditions" for the international migration of workers and members of their families. These requirements include the establishment of policies on migration; the exchange of information with other States parties; the provision of information to employers, workers and their organizations on policies, laws and regulations; and assistance to migrant workers and their families.

Implementation of the Convention

The Convention is monitored by the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, consisting of 10 Experts serving in their personal capacity. The membership of the Committee will rise from 10 to 14 experts when 41 ratifications have been registered.

States parties accept the obligation to report on the steps they have taken to implement the Convention within a year of its entry into force for the State concerned, and thereafter every five years. Under the treaty, a State party may also recognize the competence of the Committee to receive and consider communications from or on behalf of individuals within that State's jurisdiction who claim that their rights under the Convention have been violated. On 18 September 2007, Guatemala became the first State party to recognize the Committee's competence in this respect.

Other International Mechanisms for Protection of Migrants

The Convention reinforces and completes a series of other measures already taken by the United Nations to ensure adequate protection of all migrant workers and their families. The International Labour Organization has been in the forefront of efforts to secure and maintain a fair deal for migrant workers and their families since the 1920s. Also, a Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights (now the Human Rights Council) has been looking since 1999 at ways and means to overcome obstacles to the full and effective protection of the human rights of migrants, including difficulties for the return of those who are "undocumented".

States Parties to the Convention

The Convention was adopted and opened for signature, ratification and accession by the General Assembly in December 1990. To date, it has been ratified or acceded to by the following 37 States: Albania, Algeria, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Belize, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea, Honduras, Kyrgyzstan, Lesotho, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Mexico, Morocco, Nicaragua, Peru, Philippines, Senegal, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, Syria, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, Turkey, Uganda and Uruguay.

Members of the Committee

The members of the Committee are Francisco Alba (Mexico); José S. Brillantes (Philippines); Ana Elizabeth Cubías Medina (El Salvador); Anamaría Dieguez Arévalo (Guatemala); Ahmed Hassan El-Borai (Egypt); Abdelhamid El Jamri (Morocco); Prasad Kariyawasam (Sri Lanka); Myriam Poussi Konsimbo (Burkina Faso); Mehmet