Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families Concludes Thirty-Ninth Session after Adopting Findings on Benin, Egypt, Peru and Seychelles

The Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families this afternoon concluded its thirty-ninth session after adopting concluding observations on the reports of Benin, Egypt, Peru and Seychelles on implementation of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families.

The concluding observations will be available on the webpage of the session in the coming days.

Fatimata Diallo, Committee Chair, marking the closing of the session, commended the work done by the Committee and the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination to prepare a joint general comment with guidelines on addressing racial discrimination in the context of migration.  Such discrimination was a pressing challenge in a world where human mobility was increasingly shaping societies and communities.

In the intersessional period, Ms. Diallo reported, the two Committees conducted regional consultations in Asia and the Pacific, Europe, the Americas and Africa, in which stakeholders reflected on xenophobia in national and regional contexts and its negative impacts on human rights and human development policies. During the current session, the Committees established a taskforce to lead development of the general comment and commenced reading of its content. The general comment would contribute to the creation of effective policies that could protect the rights of migrants and eradicate xenophobia globally.

The Chair said that on 18 December 2023, International Migrants Day, the Committee issued a statement calling on States to address climate change, environmental degradation and natural disasters, and to ensure that these phenomena did not undermine the human rights of migrants and their family members.  The Committee recommended that States consider protection or temporary stay arrangements for migrant workers who had been displaced due to climate change.  It also encouraged the treaty bodies to continue to consider the effects of climate change and climate disasters on rights holders and to promote climate change adaption.

During its thirty-ninth session, the Committee formally adopted its general comment six on “The Convergence of the Convention and the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration”.  Ms. Diallo said this important document would be made public during an official ceremony in April 2025.  In the general comment, the Committee urged States to ensure that their laws, policies and practices effectively addressed the root causes of the increase in migration flows.  It remained concerned that discourse on migration focused on a security approach and the curbing of migration, often through strict border control measures.  Crackdowns on migrants, irregular migrants and those crossing or attempting to cross borders contributed to a rise in intolerance and xenophobia.

Ms. Diallo said that the treaty body system had been affected by chronic resource constraints, particularly the current liquidity crisis.  This limited human rights protections and prevented the treaty bodies from fully implementing their mandates in an effective and efficient manner.  The treaty bodies’ resources needed to be strengthened to reflect the increase in ratifications, reports by States parties, individual communications, and requests for urgent action.

In the “Pact for the Future” adopted at the United Nations Summit for the Future in September 2024, Member States requested the Secretary-General to assess the need for adequate and sustainable funding of the United Nations human rights mechanisms so they could respond to the full range of human rights challenges facing the international community.  Ms. Diallo said it was regrettable that the recently adopted General Assembly resolution 68/268 on the treaty bodies did not take into account the recommendations of the treaty body Chairpersons on the predictable eight-year review cycle and the harmonisation of working methods.

During the current session, Ms. Diallo reported, the Committee held a public meeting with civil society organizations and national human rights institutions in relation to the reviews of Benin, Egypt, Peru and Seychelles; adopted a list of issues on Mauritania and lists of issues prior to reporting on Mali, Indonesia and Timor-Leste; assessed the follow-up report of Azerbaijan on the implementation of the Committee’s concluding observations; and held a private meeting with representatives of the International Labour Organization.

On 12 December, Ms. Diallo said, the Committee held, for the first time, a private meeting with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk.  The Committee briefed the High Commissioner on the status of ratification of the Convention and the Committee’s general comments, its contribution to the treaty body strengthening process and to the harmonisation of working methods, as well as the challenges that it was facing.  The High Commissioner called for a public dialogue on ratification of the Convention and the development of a joint action plan with the International Organization for Migration and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to raise awareness among States on the benefits that they could derive from ratification.

In closing remarks, Ms. Diallo extended thanks to all persons who cooperated with the Committee during the session, and to all persons who contributed to making the session successful.

The fortieth session of the Committee is scheduled to be held from 7 to 17 April 2025 in Geneva.

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