Committee on the Rights of Migrant Workers Opens Fortieth Session and Meets with Civil Society Representatives
The Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families this morning opened its fortieth session, hearing an address by the Chief of the Human Rights Treaty Branch, followed by a discussion with representatives of civil society representatives from Mexico, Niger, Jamaica and Ecuador.
The Committee adopted the agenda and programme of work for the session, during which it is scheduled to review the reports of Mexico, Niger and Jamaica regarding their implementation of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families. At the current session, the Committee will also be adopting lists of issues prior to reporting under the simplified reporting procedure for a number of countries, including Ecuador.
Opening the session, Antti Korkeakivi, Chief of the Human Rights Treaty Branch of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said contemporary migration was an increasingly complex phenomenon. Current safe and regular migration pathways failed to respond to migration trends, often pushing migrants towards hazardous and irregular routes, leaving them vulnerable to violence, exploitation, abuse and even death. Alarmingly, at least 8,938 people died on migration routes worldwide in 2024, making it the deadliest year on record
Speakers on Mexico raised issues concerning migrants’ lack of access to the labour market, the deaths and disappearances of migrants, and the detention of child migrants.
Concerning Jamaica, speakers addressed abuses experienced under bilateral labour mobility agreements and the detention of non-nationals.
On Niger, speakers raised concerns regarding the treatment of migrants at the border, the exploitation of migrant workers, and the lack of mechanisms to protect migrant workers.
The speaker on Ecuador spoke on the challenges faced by Venezuelan migrants and the barriers to achieving regular migration status.
The following non-governmental organizations spoke on Mexico: Kids in Need of Defense; RacismoMX and IMUMI; Asylum Access; Fundación para la Justicia; Sin Fronteras IAP y Asylum Access México; IMUMI; Grupo de acción por la No Detención de Personas Refugiadas; El Centro de Derechos Humanos Fray Matías de Córdova A.C; Grupo de Trabajo sobre Política Migratoria; NGO Coalición México por los Derechos de las Personas con Discapacidad – COAMEX; Amnesty International; and Global Detention Project.
Amnesty International and Global Detention Project spoke on Jamaica.
The following non-governmental organizations spoke on Niger: Nigerien Network of Human Rights Defenders, Human Rights Migration Development Network, and Global Detention Project.
The Defensoría del Pueblo de Ecuador spoke on Ecuador.
The webcast of Committee meetings can be found here. All meeting summaries can be found here. Documents and reports related to the Committee’s fortieth session can be found here.
The Committee will next meet at 3 p.m. on Monday, 7 April to begin its consideration of the fourth periodic report of Mexico (CMW/C/MEX/4).
Opening Statement
FATIMATA DIALLO, Committee Chair, congratulated Antti Korkeakivi for being promoted to the new Chief of the Human Rights Treaty Branch of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
ANTTI KORKEAKIVI, Chief of the Human Rights Treaty Branch of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said the Committee this session would consider the reports of Mexico, Niger and Jamaica, and would adopt a list of issues in relation to Tajikistan under the traditional reporting procedure and lists of issues prior to reporting under the simplified reporting procedure for Fiji, Guinea and Ecuador. The Committee would also proceed with a public launch of its general comment no. 6 (2024) next week on the convergent protection of the rights of migrant workers and members of their families through the Convention and the Global Compact for safe, orderly, and regular migration, which was adopted during the thirty-eighth session in June 2024. Mr. Korkeakivi wished the Committee a fruitful launch.
The Global Compact for Migration presented an excellent opportunity for a comprehensive, human rights-based response to the opportunities and challenges that migration posed nowadays. The general comment urged States to ensure that their laws, policies, and practices effectively addressed the root causes of rising migration flows. Mr. Korkeakivi welcomed the Committee’s commitment to collaborative work with other treaty bodies and mechanisms, particularly the joint initiative with the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination to elaborate general comments to advance comprehensive public policies that addressed and eradicated xenophobia and its impact on the rights of migrants and their families.
Contemporary migration was an increasingly complex phenomenon. The High Commissioner valued the importance that the Committee attached to the issue of enforced disappearance in the context of migration, alongside the Committee on Enforced Disappearances and the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants. These three mandates had consistently emphasised the urgent need to enhance efforts aimed at saving lives and protecting the human rights of migrants. Current safe and regular migration pathways failed to respond to migration trends, often pushing migrants towards hazardous and irregular routes, leaving them vulnerable to violence, exploitation, abuse and even death. Alarmingly, at least 8,938 people died on migration routes worldwide in 2024, making it the deadliest year on record
While 60 ratifications provided a solid foundation, increasing the number of ratifications of the Convention remained a top priority for the United Nations High Commissioner. Notably, none of the 27 European Union Member States had signed or ratified the Convention. High Commissioner Türk had reiterated his advocacy efforts during a meeting in December 2024 at the Committee’s thirty-ninth session. He also called for a joint action plan with the International Organization for Migration and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to raise awareness among States that had yet to ratify the Convention.
Mr. Korkeakivi said the liquidity crisis continued to hamper the Committee’s work. The Office was doing its utmost to ensure that the Committee and other treaty bodies could implement their mandates, however, all indications pointed to a continuation of the difficult liquidity situation for the foreseeable future. The treaty body strengthening process reached a key moment with the adoption in December of last year of the biennial resolution on the treaty body system by the General Assembly. However, the biennial resolution did not endorse certain detailed proposals made by the Chairs and corresponding resources to implement them.
On Human Rights Day last year, the Geneva Human Rights Platform, in cooperation with the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, organised an informal meeting of the Chairs and focal points on working methods, exploring the latest developments on the treaty body system. The Office would continue to collaborate with all treaty body experts to strengthen the system. Mr. Korkeakivi wished the Committee a successful session.
Questions and Responses
A Committee Expert welcomed Mr. Korkeakivi to his new position. The Committee was launching general comment 6 relating to the General Compact and was developing another comment relating to xenophobia and discrimination. The liquidity crisis was an ongoing issue. It was important to pass on this concern to the head of the division of the human rights treaty bodies. The Committees were doing their work and now States needed to act.
ANTTI KORKEAKIVI, Chief of the Human Rights Treaty Branch of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, recognised the work carried out by the Committee and other treaty bodies despite the lack of resources.
Statements by Civil Society Organizations
Mexico
In the discussion on Mexico, speakers, among other things, said although Mexico had moved forward in terms of formalising the employment of migrants, there were still structural barriers, including lack of access to migration documents and the labour market. Many companies did not hire migrants due to prejudices and migrants could not open bank accounts due to a lack of documents. Human mobility was hallmarked by racism and xenophobia in Mexico. Racial discrimination persisted in migration, including through hate speech, and there had been a lack of response from the authorities. There had recently been a serious institutional weakening for institutions responsible for migration and disability policies. The State did not have a long-term strategic plan to strengthen the institutions responsible.
Massacres and disappearances of migrants continued to happen in total impunity, and criminal groups continued to bring about disappearances. Comprehensive reparations for damages had not yet reached victims and there had been a lack of progress by Mexican consulates in Salvador and Honduras, making it difficult to access mechanisms for support. The use of the national guard and the army to control the borders was concerning, as it had led to the deaths of migrants.
The deportations from the United States generated greater risks for migrants in Mexico. Arbitrary detention, lack of access to information, and the exclusion of civil society in decision-making were issues. Despite the adoption of important reforms of the Migration Act in 2020 prohibiting the detention of children, observers in Mexico noted that thousands of children were confined in de facto detention centres operated by the National Agency for Family Development that were attached to formal detention centres, putting children on the move at risk. Agriculture migrants were exploited in concerning conditions and developed disabilities due to exposure to unregulated pesticides. It was concerning that the State did not have a strategy to provide healthcare and assistance to these people.
The Mexican Government should take steps to adequately fund the Commission for Assistance to Refugees and the child protection agencies, including Executive Secretaries of SIPINNAS, the Offices for Child Protection and shelters of the Family Development Systems at federal and state levels. The Mexican Government should also increase efforts to ensure no child was returned to their country of origin without a comprehensive plan for the restitution of their rights being provided.
The Committee should ask Mexico how it would ensure that no child migrants would be deprived of liberty? The Committee should urge the Mexican State to streamline proceedings to obtain work permits for asylum seekers and refugees. A register for detained persons should be a priority issue and the framework for families seeking family members should be improved.
Mexico had used immigration detention measures on a large scale, placing hundreds of thousands of at-risk people in detention centres. Concerns persisted about how limits to detention were implemented and the impact of the Supreme Court’s 2023 amparo decision; the Committee was urged to seek greater details about the social services that Mexico provided to people who were released from detention and what plans it had to ensure that released detainees had access to adequate legal procedures.
Jamaica
A speaker said that as countries of origin, Mexico and Jamaica had an obligation to protect their migrant workers from discrimination and labour exploitation by renegotiating bilateral labour mobility agreements that did not allow workers to freely choose and change employers. Jamaica and Mexico had concluded bilateral agreements with Canada governing the terms and employment under the seasonal agricultural worker programme, with around 26,000 Mexican workers and 8,000 Canadian workers participating in the programme in 2024. Research found that Jamaican and Mexican migrants working under the temporary foreign worker programme faced a range of abuses such as wage theft, excessive working hours, unsafe working conditions, and physical and psychological abuse. Mexico and Jamaica should renegotiate their bilateral labour migration agreement with Canada, seeking specific guarantees to ensure that migrant workers in Canda could change employers and jobs freely.
Jamaica was also called on to end the arbitrary arrest and detention of asylum seekers arriving from Haiti or other countries, and to ensure they had access to due process safeguards. The Committee should remind Jamaica of its obligations under the Convention, and ensure that no migrant, refugee, or asylum seeker was detained without legal basis. Jamaica should also provide details of all facilities where non-nationals were detained, and ensure that conditions in these facilities met international standards. Furthermore, Jamaica should end the detention of non-nationals in prison. The Committee should call on Jamaica to cease this practice and to provide information on measures it was taking to reform its immigration enforcement procedures to bring them in line with its international obligations
Niger
Speakers on Niger, among other things, recognised the efforts of Niger in promoting and protecting universal human rights. Efforts by the Niger authorities to respect the rights of migrant workers were welcomed. While Niger had a well-developed judicial arsenal, it faced challenges, including harmonising international treaties with national commitments. The recent ruling related to the entry of foreigners into Niger was a source of concern. Concerns persisted around the treatment of migrants, including violations at border control posts. Several complaints of serious violations of the human rights of migrants had been received at border posts, and there had been massive deportations from Algeria. Several forms of trafficking had been detected, including for prostitution and forced labour. Due to a lack of access to basic services, some migrant women had been forced to turn to prostitution to survive.
The Committee should recommend that Niger put in place a mechanism to protect migrant workers from exploitation, and that Niger amend its legislation to ensure that irregular entry was not prosecuted. Niger should also adopt measures aimed at providing effective reception and care to people who had entered the country. The Committee should recommend that Niger ratify the revised version of the Convention on the Rights of Migrant Workers and the 2011 Convention on Domestic Workers. Niger did not have a national human rights institution; such a body should be established. Training should be provided for the judiciary to ensure migrants could access justice.
Ecuador
The speaker on Ecuador said Ecuador had historically been a country of origin and destination for migrants. Today, the systemic crisis, drug trafficking and organised crime had forced thousands of compatriots to emigrate, mainly to North America, while the country hosted a significant migrant population, mostly Venezuelan.
Although the Ecuadorian regulatory framework promoted the socioeconomic integration of people on the move, structural barriers persisted, especially in access to employment. Between 45 per cent and 60 per cent of Venezuelan migrants had university studies, but only 20 per cent had access to formal work. It was urgent to implement policies that guaranteed decent jobs, access to social security and validation of foreign degrees.
Thirty-one per cent of the migrant population, mainly Venezuelan, remained in an irregular situation. Among the main barriers were the lack of information and requirements that were difficult to meet, such as apostilled criminal records or proof of income, which were inaccessible to those living in poverty. Ecuador should simplify regularisation processes, strengthen information campaigns, and improve consular coordination. It was also key to strengthen the system for registering cases of trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants. Migrants should be considered in the formulation of public policies, recognising their contribution to the development of the country and moving towards universal citizenship.
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