COMMITTEE ON PROTECTION OF RIGHTS OF MIGRANT WORKERS CONCLUDES FOURTEENTH SESSION

The Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families today concluded its fourteenth session after adopting its concluding observations and recommendations on the second periodic report of Mexico and issuing a statement on the situation of migrant workers in Libya.

In its concluding observations on Mexico, the Committee welcomed the numerous legislative measures the State party had taken to promote and protect the rights of migrant workers such as laws criminalizing human trafficking and legislation to improve conditions in detention centres for migrants. However, the Committee expressed deep concerns about the alarming number of migrant workers who were victims of kidnappings and extortion as well as acts of torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, disappearances and deaths, mainly at the hands of national and trans-national organized crime groups, as well as reports that public officials were often involved in these crimes either through complicity or acquiescence. The Committee made numerous recommendations including strengthening measures to combat crimes against migrants, investigating such crimes and punishing those responsible, including public officials, with adequate penalties.

In closing the session, Abdelhamid El Jamri, Committee Chairperson, summarized the work accomplished by the Committee during the week, which included the completion and adoption of the annual report for 2010, adoption of concluding observations for the second periodic report of Mexico, and adoption of the lists of issues for Argentina, Guatemala and Chile, which were currently being translated and would be sent to the respective missions next week. Based on the Committee’s interaction with civil society, they had also adopted the idea of organizing a day of general discussion in September during their fifteenth session, which would focus on the problems of irregular migrants and they would also explore whether to pursue a general comment on this topic at that time. The Committee had also adopted a new working method, namely that as of the second periodic report they would submit a series of questions to the State party before countries came to present their second report.

Mr. El Jamri said in addition, the Committee issued a press release on migrant workers and members of their families in Libya and discussed the possibility of giving trade unions a similar platform to that of non-governmental organizations so that they could be aware of the rights of migrant workers as well as assist the Committee in its work of promoting and protecting the rights of migrant workers. The Committee felt it was important for trade unions to have a permanent platform in Geneva and perhaps the Committee could facilitate this.

The statement on the situation of migrant workers and members of their families in Libya stated that the Committee was alarmed by the armed conflict and by the violent response to the popular uprising in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya since February 2011, as well as by the disastrous consequences of this situation for the enjoyment by all migrant workers and members of their families of their civil and political as well as economic, social, and cultural rights. The Committee was deeply concerned about the recurrence of violations of the right to life, acts of violence, including sexual violence, as well as acts of discrimination and arbitrary detentions victimizing migrant workers and members of their families in Libya, in particular migrants from sub-Saharan Africa.

The Committee was equally concerned about the difficulties encountered by migrant workers and members of their families trying to leave Libya, either to return to their countries of origin or to seek protection from the violations and threats facing them by claiming asylum in third countries. In this context, the Committee was concerned about the dangerous interception of migrants at sea and at inland borders. The Committee urged all belligerent parties involved in the armed conflict in Libya, including the Libyan authorities, to comply with their obligations under international human rights law and, in particular, with the provisions of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, by strictly ensuring respect for the rights to life and to freedom of movement of migrants and by facilitating the peaceful departure of those who wish to leave the country. The Committee invited the international community to provide assistance, especially economic and technical, to migrant workers and members of their families affected by the situation in Libya.

In addition to considering the report of Mexico, the Committee held meetings with representatives of non-governmental organizations, national human rights institutions and UN organizations.

The next session of the Committee will be held from 12 to 23 September 2011.


Concluding Observations

Mexico

The Committee noted with appreciation Mexico’s statement that it continues to consider immigration as a priority issue in its policy agenda and its active involvement in promoting the Convention at the regional and international levels. The Committee also welcomed the fact that the State party had recognized the competence of the Committee to receive and consider individual communications under Article 77 of the Convention, as recommended by the Committee in 2006.

The Committee was pleased to note the numerous legislative, public policy and institutional-strengthening actions taken by the State party to promote and protect the rights of migrant workers, including: the adoption of the Law to Prevent and Punish Trafficking in Persons and the General Law on access of women to a life free of violence, the criminalization of human trafficking as a crime under the Federal Penal Code, the establishment of the Special Prosecutor for Crimes of Violence against Women and Trafficking in Persons, the enactment of the National Programme to Prevent and Punish Trafficking in Persons, and the adoption by the National Migration Institute of protocols for the detection, identification and care of foreign victims of crime and the possibility of granting legal residence visas for victims and witnesses of crime. The Committee also noted the set of measures taken to improve the conditions in migration centres, including reducing overcrowding and the time spent in detention facilities, as well as the facilitation to greater access to medical care and communication with the outside world. The Committee also noted the various programmes established by the State to assist Mexican migrants abroad, and the measures taken to facilitate the reintegration of migrant workers returning to Mexico, such as online portal e-Migrants, the humane repatriation programme, and the Voluntary Repatriation Programme.

The Committee also welcomed the ratification by the State party of the Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol in 2007, the Second Optional Protocol to the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in 2007, and the Convention on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance in 2008.

Despite the positive aspects noted, the Committee expressed its deep concern at the alarming number of undocumented migrant workers from the southern border who had been victims of kidnappings and extortion as well as acts of torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, disappearances and deaths, mainly at the hands of national and trans-national organized crime groups. The Committee was further concerned by reports that public authorities were involved in these human rights violations, or they were carried out with the complicity or acquiescence and/or connivance of federal, state and municipal officials. The Committee was further concerned that violence against migrants had been extended beyond the border areas to the main transit routes for the migrant population. The Committee noted the various actions taken by the authorities to address the phenomenon of abduction of migrants. However, it was concerned about the prevailing impunity for these crimes, especially in cases such as the kidnapping and murder of 72 Central and South American migrants in August 2010 in Tamaulipas, and the kidnapping of 40 migrant workers in the state of Oaxaca in December 2010.

The Committee was also concerned that some operations to verify immigration status were carried out in situations that endangered the life and personal integrity of migrants in transit, either at night or in places where those who evaded immigration controls were at the mercy of groups or criminal gangs. The Committee was also concerned about reports of excessive use of force by officers carrying out the verification and immigration enforcement, which had resulted in migrants being injured. The Committee noted that standards were being developed to ensure the quality and integrity of officials of the National Migration Institute and other agencies. However, the Committee remained concerned that there was no systematic data on incidents of abuse and mistreatment committed against migrant workers by public officials and that only a small number of cases of mistreatment and abuse had led to disciplinary action or criminal prosecution against the officials involved. The Committee also remained concerned that the alleged cooperation of authorities in these operations was not authorized by the General Population Act and its regulations.

The Committee remained concerned about the poor conditions of some migrant internment centres, where there were still cases of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, a lack of medical care and limited outside contact. The Committee was particularly concerned about situations in which undocumented migrant workers who claimed to have suffered torture and abuse in some cases had to coexist with the perpetrators of these violations. The Committee also expressed concern about the increasing number of unaccompanied minors who had been deported and the extreme vulnerability of these children, some of whom had been subjected to mistreatment, abuse, and sexual and labour exploitation according to allegations.

Among its recommendations, the Committee encouraged the State party to increase its efforts to prevent the abduction of undocumented migrant workers and other violations of human rights they faced, ensure that these acts were investigated seriously and diligently and punish those responsible for these crimes with appropriate penalties reflecting the seriousness of the crime. The Committee also recommended that victims and/or their families receive adequate reparations. In the event that State officials were involved in these actions, the Committee recommended that in addition to criminal sanctions, they also follow the appropriate disciplinary procedure. The State party should take concrete measures to clarify the cases mentioned above, including those in which public officials appeared to be involved.

The Committee also recommended that the State party, and specifically the National Migration Institute, ensure that: a) immigration verification and monitoring were carried out with respect for the right to personal integrity of those being verified; b) the personnel who were carrying out the verification and monitoring were trained in the norms and regulations regarding the use of force; and c) that only authorities who were expressly empowered to do so carried out such verification and monitoring. The Committee encouraged Mexico to investigate these incidents involving the excessive and abusive use of force by authorities, and punish those responsible.

Regarding conditions in immigration detention centres, the Committee recommended that Mexico continue to take appropriate measures to improve the conditions of detention in immigration detention centres and places of securing migrants in accordance with international standards and investigate allegations of abuse and degrading treatment committed by public officials and punish those responsible.

The Committee encouraged the State party to continue its efforts to give adequate attention to the situation of unaccompanied migrant minors, with respect to the principles of the best interests of the child, and it particularly recommended the State party: to strengthen the training provided to officials who worked or came into contact with unaccompanied migrant minors; to ensure that the detention of children and young migrants is carried out according to law and was used only as a last resort and for the shortest time possible; to strengthen the implementation of procedures for early identification of children and adolescents who had been victims of crime; to ensure that unaccompanied migrant minors who were victims of crime received adequate protection and specialized care, adapted according to the particular needs of each case to ensure that the repatriation and/or deportation of unaccompanied minors to the States of origin took place only in those cases where it was in the best interest of the child and after determining that conditions were safe and practical to return to the State of origin; and to strengthen cooperation with civil society and international organizations on the subject.

Statement on the Situation of Migrant Workers in Libya

“The Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families, acting under its mandate to monitor the implementation of the Convention, is alarmed by the armed conflict and by the violent response to the popular uprising in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya since February 2011, as well as by the disastrous consequences of this situation for the enjoyment by all migrant workers and members of their families of their civil and political as well as economic, social, and cultural rights.

The Committee is deeply concerned about the recurrence of violations of the right to life, acts of violence, including sexual violence, as well as acts of discrimination and arbitrary detentions victimizing migrant workers and members of their families in Libya, in particular migrants from sub-Saharan Africa.

The Committee is equally concerned about the difficulties encountered by migrant workers and members of their families trying to leave Libya, either to return to their countries of origin or to seek protection from the violations and threats facing them by claiming asylum in third countries. In this context, the Committee is concerned about the dangerous interception of migrants at sea and at inland borders.

The Committee is especially saddened by the recent drowning of more than two hundred persons drowned off the southern coast of Italy, including Eritreans, Ivoirians and Somalis, many of whom women and children, who departed from Libya by boat in an attempt to reach the Italian island of Lampedusa.

The Committee is particularly concerned about the humanitarian situation of thousands of migrant workers and members of their families who are without shelter or stay in overcrowded transit centres and lack access to basic amenities such as drinking water, adequate food and basic health services.

The Committee urges all belligerent parties involved in the armed conflict in Libya, including the Libyan authorities, to comply with their obligations under international human rights law and, in particular, with the provisions of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, by strictly ensuring respect for the rights to life and to freedom of movement of migrants and by facilitating the peaceful departure of those who wish to leave the country.

While welcoming the efforts undertaken by a number of countries, including countries of origin, to enable the safe and orderly return of migrants from Libya, the Committee invites the international community to provide assistance, especially economic and technical, to migrant workers and members of their families affected by the situation in Libya. It calls on the States concerned, including neighbouring countries, to take all necessary measures to ensure that all migrant workers and members of their families having fled Libya, whether in transit or asylum seekers, are treated with respect for their human dignity and in conformity with international human rights standards and
international humanitarian law.

The Committee calls on the Secretary General of the United Nations, in cooperation with the competent organs, including the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the International Labour Organization (ILO), as well as regional organizations, to mobilize all available resources and to take all appropriate and necessary steps to put an end to the violations and ensure respect for the human rights of all migrant workers and members of their families staying in Libya or fleeing the country.

Libya acceded to the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families on 18 June 2004.”


Members of the Committee

The members of the Committee are Francisco Alba (Mexico); José S. Brillantes (Philippines); Francisco Carrion Mena (Ecuador); Ana Elizabeth Cubias Medina (El Salvador); Fatoumata Abdourhamana Dicko (Mali); Ahmed Hassan El-Borai (Egypt); Abdelhamid El Jamri (Morocco); Miguel Angel Ibarra Gonzalez (Guatemala); Prasad Kariyawasam (Sri Lanka); Andrea Miller-Stennett (Jamaica); Myriam Poussi Konsimbo (Burkina Faso); Mehmet Sevim (Turkey); Azad Taghizadet (Azerbaijan); and Ahmadou Tall (Senegal).

Abdelhamid El Jamri is the Committee Chairperson; José Brillantes, Ana Elizabeth Cubias Medina, and Azad Taghizadet are the Vice-Chairpersons; and Ahmed Hassan El-Borai is Committee Rapporteur.


For use of the information media; not an official record

CMW11/004E