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

The Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families concluded this afternoon its twenty-ninth session after adopting the concluding observations and recommendations on the reports of Mozambique and Madagascar.

Ahmadou Tall, Committee Chairperson, in his concluding remarks, recalled that during the session, Alvaro Botero Navarro of Colombia had been elected as Committee Rapporteur by acclamation, and that the Committee had approved the appointment of Lazhar Soulem of Algeria as a member of the Committee, to replace, for the remainder of her term, Committee Expert Khedidja Ladjel who had recently passed away.

In addition to reviewing the implementation of the Convention in the two countries on the agenda – Mozambique and Madagascar, the Committee had adopted lists of issues on Bosnia and Herzegovina and on Colombia, and a list of issues prior to reporting on Azerbaijan and Venezuela. It had met with representatives of the International Organization for Migration, the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, and the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders. During the meeting with the migration adviser, the Committee had addressed the Global Compact for Migration process of the and the modalities of a possible collaboration with the United Nations Migration Network. The activities of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in the field of migration had been discussed with several of its representatives.

The Committee had adopted common harmonized procedure for follow-up to concluding observations, decisions and findings, as contained in annex II to the Report of the 30^th Annual Meeting of Chairpersons of Human Rights Treaty Bodies held in New York from 28 May to 1 June. During the meeting with States and other partners on 5 September, which had brought together more than 50 participants including representatives from 33 permanent missions, as well as from United Nations agencies and civil society, the Committee had discussed its different activities; following the meeting, letters had been sent to participating States inviting them to sign or ratify the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, had they not yet done so.

Further, the Committee had adopted a "concept note" for the new general comment N°5 on the right to liberty of migrants and the protection against arbitrary detention, and had endorsed the Joint statement to mark the 20^th anniversary of the United Nations, issued by the Chairs of human rights treaty bodies and the Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders. The Committee had also adopted a Joint Statement for the development of a regional response to the massive arrival of Venezuelans to the Americas of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and committees, organs and special procedures of the United Nations, as well as a joint press release with the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the same subject. The work on reprisals continued, and the Committee had followed up with one permanent mission in Geneva, the Chair concluded.

The twenty-ninth session of the Committee was held from 3 to 12 September 2018 at the Palais Wilson in Geneva. The related documentation, including the concluding observations on the two country reports, can be found on the session’s webpage.


The thirtieth session of the Committee will take place from 1 to 12 April 2019 in Geneva, during which the Committee will review the reports of Albania, Guatemala, Libya and Tajikistan.


For use of the information media; not an official record

CMW18/11E