COMMITTEE ON PROTECTION OF RIGHTS OF MIGRANT WORKERS OPENS EIGHTH SESSION
The Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, which reviews the implementation of the provisions of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families by its 37 States parties, this morning opened its eighth session, swearing in a new member, and hearing an update on the human rights treaty body system by Ibrahim Salama, Chief of the Treaties and Council Branch of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
In opening remarks, Mr. Salama noted that the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants had presented his report to the Council at its seventh session (3-28 March 2008), expressing concerns about the increasing criminalization of migration linked to persistent anti-migrant sentiments, which was often reflected in policies and institutional frameworks designed to manage migration flows. Last week, the Council had started its first Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review, reviewing the national reports of 10 countries, and this week a further six national reports would be examined. He himself had been divided on the issue of what would be the impact of treaty bodies on this new mechanism, but he was cautiously optimistic and encouraged Committee members to listen in to the deliberations and to give feedback to OHCHR.
Mr. Salama noted that the Committee's present session was its first of two weeks' duration. This week it would consider the initial reports of Syria and Bolivia and start discussions on Committee guidelines for periodic treaty-specific reports. On Friday, the Committee would organize a round table on the importance of a human rights-based approach, and in particular on the relevance of the Convention to today's debate on migration. Next week, the Committee would be meeting in closed session, among others to discuss its input into the draft general recommendation by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on migrant women. He hoped that that would serve as a model of treaty body cooperation.
In the ensuing discussion, Committee Experts raised, among other things, the need for OHCHR to redouble efforts to universalize the Convention, which was perceived as having reached a "critical stage" with regard to its credibility and its ability to safeguard globally the rights of migrant workers. The High Commissioner was also asked to promote the total separation of the Universal Periodic Review and treaty body processes, while encouraging them to be mutually reinforcing.
At the beginning of the meeting, the Committee heard a solemn declaration by a new member of the Committee, Myriam Poussi Konsimbo of Burkina Faso, who was elected in her personal capacity at the Third Meeting of States parties to the Convention held in December 2007. She pledged to perform her duties and exercise her powers as a member of the Committee honourably, faithfully, impartially and conscientiously.
At the end of the meeting, the Committee decided to postpone its election of officers until tomorrow, with outgoing Committee Chairperson Prasad Kariyawasam to act as Chairperson ad interim until then. The Committee then adopted its agenda and programme of work.
When the Committee convenes at 3 p.m. this afternoon it will hear from non-governmental and international organizations and national human rights institutions on the reports to be presented by Syria and Bolivia later this week.
Statement
IBRAHIM SALAMA, Chief of the Treaties and Council Branch of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), began by welcoming the Committee's new member, Myriam Poussi Konsimbo of Burkina Faso, to the Committee, and congratulating her on her election. He also congratulated those members of the Committee who had been re-elected in December: Mr. Francisco Alba, Ms. Ana Elizabeth Cubias Medina, Mr. Abdelhamid El Jamri and Mr. Ahmed Hassan El Borai.
Regarding developments in the area of reform of the human rights treaty body system that had taken place since the Committee's last session in November 2007, on 3 May 2008, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities would enter into force, after Ecuador became the twentieth State to ratify the Convention. Within the next months, the Secretary-General would convene the first Conference of States parties, which would elect the members of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, bringing the number of human rights treaty bodies to nine. The creation of that new treaty body illustrated once more the need for continuing harmonization of the treaty body system. In that context, OHCHR was currently planning to convene an organizational session of the Inter-Committee Meeting to highlight areas requiring harmonization. It was also a matter of pleasure that the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women had now been transferred to Geneva, and had adopted revised reporting guidelines for CEDAW-specific documents. The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination had adopted revised reporting guidelines in August 2007, and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights was also well advanced in the revision of its treaty-specific guidelines. In that context, Mr. Salama was looking forward to the outcome of the discussion of the draft guidelines on the presentation of treaty-specific reports that had been prepared by Committee Expert Francisco Alba for the Committee's present session.
On the front of the Human Rights Council, Mr. Salama observed that the Council had held its seventh session from 3 to 28 March 2008. During that session, the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants had presented his report to the Council, followed by an interactive dialogue with Council members. In his report, the Rapporteur had expressed concerns about the increasing criminalization of migration, linked to persistent anti-migrant sentiments, which was often reflected in policies and institutional frameworks designed to manage migration flows.
Last week, the Council had started its first Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review and that session was continuing until the end of this week. Last week, the Working Group had reviewed the national reports of 10 countries, and this week a further six national reports would be examined. For each country, OHCHR had prepared compilations of United Nations information and stakeholders' summaries. The content of the compilation of reports prepared by OHCHR was of particular relevance to the work of treaty bodies, as, in addition to reports by Special Procedures and information from United Nations agencies, it was based on treaty body concluding observations and outcomes of relevance to the State concerned. Mr. Salama had been divided on the issue of what would be the impact of treaty bodies on this new mechanism. He would only make preliminary observations, as the review was just in its second week, but he was cautiously optimistic and encouraged Committee members to listen in to the deliberations and give feedback to OHCHR.
Turning to Committee-specific issues, since its last session, the Philippines had submitted its initial report under the Convention. That meant that the Committee now had five reports pending consideration, Mr. Salama calculated.
The Committee's present session was its first of two weeks' duration, Mr. Salama observed. This week it would consider the initial reports of Syria and Bolivia and start discussions on Committee guidelines for periodic treaty-specific reports. On Friday, the Committee would organize a round table on the importance of a human rights-based approach, and in particular on the relevance of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families to today's debate on migration. That would tie in well with the discussion the Committee would have on the Global Forum on Migration and Development, which would be held in the Philippines in October, and to which it had been asked to contribute.
Next week, the Committee would be meeting in closed session, among others to discuss its input into the draft general recommendation by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on migrant women. Mr. Salama hoped that that would serve as a model of treaty body cooperation. If time permitted, the Committee would also discuss how to follow the Durban review process, which was of great relevance to the Committee's work to the extent that it referred to measures to eliminate discrimination against migrants.
Discussion With Committee Members
PRASAD KARIYAWASAM, outgoing Committee Chairperson, noted that the core conventions were there to promote human rights globally and their enforcement fell squarely on the shoulders of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), which had been designated as the secretariat to support human rights universally. However, despite efforts to encourage universalization of the Convention, the Committee was reaching a critical stage with regard to the credibility and the ability of the Convention regime to safeguard globally the rights of migrant workers. They needed greater efforts with regard to advocacy to make the Convention more broad based. There had been a lull in ratifications, and there should be a more concentrated effort by the High Commissioner's Office, and by the Committee, to obtain at least 10 more ratifications. That would bring the number of ratifications to over 45, and trigger an enlargement of the Committee's membership. Hopefully among those new members should be migrant-receiving countries. They should also be careful that this Convention was equally prominent within the treaty body regime.
On the Universal Periodic Review, while it was a very important mechanism, Mr. Kariyawasam noted that it was an increasingly politicized body that was conducting the review. If for no other reason, the work of the Universal Periodic Review and of treaty bodies should therefore be completely mutually exclusive. The High Commissioner should promote the total separation of those two processes. Nevertheless, there were synergies, and those should be exploited.
IBRAHIM SALAMA, Chief of the Treaties and Council Branch of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), agreed that the nexus of the difficulty in working out the Universal Periodic Review was to ensure that that process and the treaty body system were kept exclusive, and yet mutually reinforcing. One of the immediate benefits of the Universal Periodic Review process for the Committee was that all the States reviewed were encouraged to become parties to the Convention.
Mr. Salama said that he had had the apprehension that the Universal Periodic Review might overlap with and overshadow the treaty bodies. He could now assure the Committee that would not happen. Indeed they were seeing the emergence of new treaty bodies. Moreover, the contemplated complaint mechanism for the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, by way of an Optional Protocol, could be a side door that could be used by the Committee in bringing complaints relating to migrants.
Mr. Kariyawasam was concerned that migrants' rights were now falling between many stools. OHCHR had to develop exclusive programmes and actions for migrants. One agency had to take the lead in promoting a rights based approach to migrant workers. In his view, that should be OHCHR, not the International Labour Organization (ILO), although the ILO did have an important role to play.
Another Expert then drew attention to the recent extraordinary surge in migratory flows, following a number of phenomenon linked to climate change, including a sharp rise in food prices globally. Whereas States were beginning to recognize the need for an international toolbox to deal with migration flows, it was unclear how they were going to go about that.
Mr. Salama suggested that the Durban Review process was a platform for Committee members to lay out what needed to be done in terms of migrants and their rights. It was an opportunity for the Committee to put all of its weight. The Committee had been asked to submit an official document to the Durban Review Conference; that document should be as innovative and as specific as possible.
At the end of the meeting, a number of Experts mentioned events or meetings that had been held in the area of migration since the last session of the Committee. In particular, an Expert drew attention to the joint launch of a Handbook on Effective Labour Migration Policies for the Mediterranean by the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe, the ILO and the International Organization for Migration at a meeting in Rabat in December 2007. The guide targeted decision-makers in the sphere of migration and looked at a number of key areas, including economic and governmental reasons for migration, protection in host countries, labour policies taking into account gender aspects, employment and development. A Russian edition had been launched the previous year. Importantly, these Handbooks referenced the provisions of the Convention.
For use of the information media; not an official record
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