COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF MIGRANT WORKERS CLOSES ITS TWENTY-SEVENTH SESSION

The Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families concluded this afternoon its twenty-seventh session after adopting its concluding observations and recommendations on the reports of Ecuador, Indonesia and Mexico. The Committee also adopted two joint general comments with the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the human rights of children in the context of international migration.

Jose Brillantes, Committee Chairperson, thanked the Committee Experts and the numerous partners for the very successful session, during which it had held constructive dialogues and adopted concluding observations on the reports of Ecuador, Indonesia and Mexico. The Committee had also adopted lists of issues for Albania and Tajikistan and lists of issues prior to reporting for Guatemala and Libya.

The Committee had held meetings with civil society, international organizations and United Nations bodies, agencies and programmes in advance of the dialogues with the three State parties, including with two non-governmental organizations from Ecuador, three non-governmental organizations from Indonesia, and five non-governmental organizations and the national human rights institution from Mexico.

The Committee had adopted two joint general comments, the general comment N°3 of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and the general comment N°21 of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, on the human rights of children in the context of international migration. In this context, Mr. Brillantes recognized the efforts of the Working Group and the contribution of a number of partners including the United Nations Children’s Fund, International Organization for Migration, Terre des Hommes, International Detention Coalition, Save the Children, The Oak Foundation, Cross-Regional Centre for Refugees and Migrants of Beirut, the Global Migration Centre of the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, and the Ibero-American University from Mexico City.

The Committee had met with the special procedures and had been briefed on the priorities of the new Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, including on the new study on return and reintegration and on access to justice for migrants.

The Committee had received updates on the Global Compact for Migration process, the preparations for the Secretary-General’s report and the zero draft compact, and the recent activities on migration by the Human Rights Council, including its request to the High Commissioner for Human Rights to prepare a compendium of policies and practices on safe, orderly and regular migration. It had been informed of the principles and guidelines on migrants in situations of vulnerability which would be presented to the Human Rights Council, and it reviewed and approved the inputs for the Secretary-General’s report on the Global Compact for Migration.

Committee Experts Jasminka Dzumhur, Maria Landazuri de Mora and Can Ünver had been appointed to the Expert Working Group set up by the United Nations Women to address the human rights of women in the Global Compact for Migration.

As for its twenty-eighth session, the Committee had decided to hold a half-day general discussion, with a focus on human rights of migrants in particular women and children, and so further collaborate with the United Nations Women, the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women; launch a joint general comment to focus on ratification; and discuss xenophobia.

Further, the Committee had decided that its Chairperson would address the Third Committee on 20 October 2017 and meet with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General Louise Arbour to ensure that the Convention was mainstreamed into the Global Compact for Migration process, and that its ratification was given a priority. Following the dialogue with the Third Committee, a joint press statement with the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants would be issued. Another joint press statement would be issued on 18 December, the International Migrants Day, and which would include a strong call for the ratification of the Convention. On 26 and 27 October 2017, Mr. Brillantes would attend a meeting on follow up to treaty bodies recommendations at the Geneva Academy.

Finally, the Chair saluted Salome Castellanos Delgado, Fatoumata Abdourhamane Dicko and Pablo Ceriani Cernadas, the outgoing Committee Experts and thanked them for their total dedication and commitment.

This would be the last session for the Committee Chair José Brillantes as well.

Orest Nowosad, Chief of the Groups in Focus Section, Human Rights Treaties Division of
the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, in his concluding remarks, noted that the work of the Committee was achieving ever greater amplitude and prominence in the deliberations around the world. The Committee successfully engaged many organizations, including those not traditionally dealing with the issue of migrant workers and it worked with the special procedures mechanisms, which were the testaments of the centrality of its work. Mr. Nowosad commended the adoption of the joint general comments with the Committee on the Rights of the Child which he said was an embodiment of the General Assembly resolution 68/268 and its call for a greater cooperation among the various human rights mechanisms. It was important to increase the outreach to the States and continue to call for greater ratification and the greater visibility of the Convention, including in the Global Compact for Migration. Finally, Mr. Nowosad paid tribute to Mr. Brillantes’ leadership and wished him and other outgoing Committee Experts well.

The twenty-seventh session of the Committee was held from 4 to 13 September 2017 at the Palais Wilson in Geneva. The related documentation, including the concluding observations on Ecuador, Indonesia and Mexico can be found on the session’s webpage. Draft version of the joint general comments can be accessed here, and the final version will shortly be available here.

The twenty-eighth session of the Committee will take place from 9 to 20 April 2018 at the Palais Wilson in Geneva, during which the Committee will review the reports of Algeria, Guyana, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.



For use of the information media; not an official record

CMW/17/12E