Committee on the Rights of Migrant Workers Closes Thirty-Fourth Session after Adopting Concluding Observations on Reports of Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde and Paraguay
The Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families this afternoon closed its thirty-fourth session after adopting concluding observations on the reports of Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde and Paraguay.
The concluding observations will be available on the webpage of the session in the coming days.
Edgar Corzo Sosa, Committee Chair, said that migrants had been on the front line of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the positive contributions that migrants brought to societies, many issues remained, including xenophobia and discrimination. The human rights of migrants had been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, affecting them in relation to vital issues such as their health, the education of their children and their general survival.
During the session, the Committee had engaged in constructive dialogues with delegations from Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde and Paraguay. It had considered lists of issues prior to reporting for Peru and Kyrgyzstan, and the list of issues for Uruguay in relation to their second periodic report. The Committee had assessed follow-up reports and adopted evaluations concerning Mauritania and Sri Lanka.
The Committee had also been briefed by Felipe González Morales, the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, on collaboration with the Committee, including under the COVID-19 pandemic.
Also during the session, the Committee had discussed strategies to promote and disseminate the findings of general comment no. 5 on migrants’ right to liberty, freedom from detention and their intersection with other human rights. The Committee encouraged members and champion States of the Convention to conduct awareness-raising campaigns, including workshops and seminars on the Convention and the general comment.
The Coordinator of the Working Group on the Convention and the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration, Mohamed Charef, also presented an outline for a draft general comment no. 6 on the convergence between the Convention and the Global Compact for Migration. A meeting was anticipated to be convened in Agadir, Morocco, in May 2022 to move forward on the drafting process of the general comment. The Committee had decided to organise a day of general discussion in its September session on the draft general comment No. 6.
Mr. Corzo Sosa said the Committee had started consultations with the Chairs of other treaty bodies on the possibility of working jointly on general comments or thematic studies on enforced disappearances, women migrant workers, racial discrimination, hate speeches, xenophobia and related intolerance against migrants.
At the beginning of the session, the Committee elected a new bureau. Mr. Corzo Sosa was elected as Chairperson; Fatima Diallo, Jasminka Dzumhur, and Azad Taghi-Zada as Vice-Chairs; and Pablo Garcia Saenz as Rapporteur.
In concluding, Mr. Corzo Sosa hoped to see all members in Geneva in-person during the thirty-fifth session in September 2022. He said the Committee has decided on the list of States parties to be reviewed during the session and these as well as the dates would be published on the Committee's website in the coming days.
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