COMMITTEE ON THE PROTECTION OF THE RIGHTS OF MIGRANT WORKERS OPENS TWENTY-SIXTH SESSION

The Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families this morning opened its twenty-sixth session, hearing from a representative of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and members of the Committee. Civil society members spoke on the situation of migrant workers in Bangladesh, whose report will be reviewed this week. The Committee also heard from non-governmental organizations from Algeria, whose list of issues prior to reporting will be adopted during the session.

In his opening remarks, Adam Abdelmula, Director, Human Rights Council and Treaty Mechanisms Division, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, noted the large-scale movements of migrants and refugees around the world which added to the challenges that States and the United Nations were facing in implementing the Sustainable Development Goals, and stressed the importance of the respect for the principles underlying the international human rights treaty framework, including the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. Mr. Abdelmula affirmed that the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights would contribute to the process of developing the Global Compact on Migration which would set out principles, commitments and the common understanding of international migration in all its dimensions.

Committee Experts stressed the need to ensure the participation and involvement of the Committee in the upcoming international fora and important events with regard to the Global Compact on Migration, and in any deliberations on other most urgent and vulnerable topics that needed the articulation of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.

Civil society organizations from Bangladesh raised concerns about very high recruitment costs of migrant workers to Singapore, which put them in a situation of bonded labour and was at the root of their subsequent disempowerment and rights violations. Bangladesh should regulate recruitment and ensure monitoring and accountability of agencies, provide comprehensive, gender-sensitive, culturally appropriate and country-specific pre-departure training, and ensure that bilateral agreements with host countries were available in the public domain.

Briefing the Committee about the situation of migrant workers in Bangladesh were Welfare Association for the Rights of Bangladeshi Emigrants Development Foundation, Helvetas Swiss Inter-cooperation, Humanitarian Organization for Migration Economics, Transient Workers Count Too, Migrant Forum in Asia, as well as the National Human Rights Commission of Bangladesh through a conference call.

The Committee also heard from Syndicat Nationale Autonome des Personnels de l’Administration Publique in the context of adopting a list of issues prior to reporting on the report of Algeria, which will be considered during the Committee’s twenty-seventh session.

In Algeria, everything was being done to keep migrant workers, particularly those from Sub-Saharan Africa, on the margins of society; this made them vulnerable to exploitation by smugglers. Regular migrant workers could not lodge a complaint on the basis of their status, while the State refused to punish hospitals which discriminated in providing treatment to migrants.

The reports of Jamaica and Nigeria will also be considered by the Committee this week, but there were no civil society representatives speaking on those countries.

The Committee will next meet in public at 3 p.m. this afternoon, to start its consideration of the initial report of Bangladesh (CMW/C/BGD/1).

Opening Statement

ADAM ABDELMULA, Director, Human Rights Council and Treaty Mechanisms Division, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, opening the twenty-sixth session of the Committee, recalled that key elements of the reform agenda presented by the new Secretary-General Antonio Guterres upon his entry into the office, included the United Nations’ support to Member States in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and implementing the objectives of the Paris agreement on climate change. A universal push to implement all 17 Sustainable Development Goals while also beginning the process leading to the two Global Compacts on migrants and refugees would be the priorities of the seventy-first session of the United Nations General Assembly. The large-scale movements of migrants and refugees around the world arising from conflicts, disasters and other push factors added to the challenges that States and the United Nations were facing in implementing the Sustainable Development Goals. In such grave times, the respect for the principles underlying the international human rights treaty framework, including the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, became all the more relevant, especially since at least 10 of the 169 targets included references directly pertaining to international migration and migrant workers.

Turning to the High-Level Meeting on addressing large movements of refugees and migrants, which had taken place on 19 September 2016, Mr. Abdelmula recalled that the adoption of the New York Declaration marked the beginning of a process which would include the negotiations of the Global Compacts to be adopted in 2018. The Declaration included a number of principled commitments, including to fully protect the human rights of all refugees and migrants regardless of their status, and to devise responses to large-movements with full respect of international human rights law. It further took note of the work carried out by the Global Migration Group to develop principles and practical guidance on the protection of the human rights of migrants in vulnerable situations. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights had led the drafting of those principles and guidelines which the High Commissioner for Human Rights had presented in the draft form to the March session of the Human Rights Council. The Office would further contribute to the process of developing the Global Compact on Migration, which would set out principles, commitments and the common understanding of international migration in all its dimensions. On 9 March 2017, the Secretary-General had appointed Ms. Louise Arbour, former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, as his Special Representative for International Migration, to work with Member States as they developed a first-ever Global Compact on safe, orderly and regular migration.

Turning to the developments in the human rights mechanisms, Mr. Abdelmula informed the Committee that, in his global update to the thirty-third session of the Human Rights Council in September 2016, the High Commissioner for Human Rights had shared his concern over the growing refusal of an increasing number of Member States to grant access to the Office or the human rights mechanisms. There was no alternative to working together and committing to collective action to address the many challenges facing the international community, including terrorism, poor governance, corruption, xenophobia and the rise of populist and nativist movements in many parts of the world. The High Commissioner had also noted the growing polarization within the Council and the increasing attempts by States to block or evade human rights scrutiny. The Office had submitted a report on the promotion and protection of the human rights of migrants in the context of large movements at the thirty-third session of the Council, which called on the Global Compact to be firmly based on international human rights law and other relevant normative standards. In his final thematic report to the General Assembly on developing the Global Compact on migration, the outgoing Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, Francois Crepeau, stressed the importance of taking a long-term strategic approach in developing the Global Compact for regular, safe, accessible and affordable mobility policies and practices, which would better place States to respond to the significant demographic, economic, social, political and cultural challenges that were ahead.

Discussion

JOSÉ BRILLANTES, Committee Chairperson, noted that the Committee needed to continue its work and advocacy in the upcoming international fora and important events that were planned, particularly in relation to the Global Compact on Migration. How could the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights promote and support the increased involvement of the Committee in any deliberations on the Global Compact and other most urgent and vulnerable topics that needed articulation on the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families?

Another Expert concurred with the Chairperson on the importance of the participation of the Committee in the dialogue on migration and added that the absence from the discussion would demonstrate a lack of value given to the work of the Committee.

Responding, ADAM ABDELMULA, Director, Human Rights Council and Treaty Mechanisms Division, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said that the concerns raised by the Chair and Experts would be conveyed and reaffirmed that the Office would spare no efforts to ensure that the Committee was included in all fora and platforms that had something to do with the mandate of the Committee.

Committee Experts stressed that the key problem of the Committee was its lack of visibility within the United Nations family, and said that there were certain United Nations activities which did not sufficiently include the Committee. There was a need to support countries to ratify the Convention, in particular receiving countries.

The Secretariat took the floor to say that the number of ratifications stood at 51 and that there was progress compared to the year before. The Secretariat and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights worked very hard to ensure that the position of the Committee was included in the Global Compact and said that thematic sessions would be taking place in New York and Geneva, and that the Secretariat would be following up to ensure the participation of the Committee.

ADAM ABDELMULA, Director, Human Rights Council and Treaty Mechanisms Division, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, emphasized that the entire organization was seized on the issue of migration. It was a regular subject of discussion between the Secretary-General and countries of destination and origin, and he had appointed a high-level person as his Special Rapporteur on international migration. The ratification of the Convention was a slow process, but progress was being made. Kenya for example had agreed to take steps to ratify the Convention, and also to invite Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi to discuss the Convention, which might lead to the ratification by those countries. The Office was also working with the Global Forum on Migration to ensure that the Committee was invited to the July meeting in Berlin.

Adoption of the Agenda

The Committee then adopted its agenda for its twenty-sixth session contained in document CMW/C/26/1.

Informal meeting with non-governmental organizations and national human rights institutions from Bangladesh and Algeria

Welfare Association for the Rights of Bangladeshi Emigrants Development Foundation expressed concern about the inadequate pre-departure training and information of migrant workers in Bangladesh, and urged the country to ensure that each migrant worker received a comprehensive, gender-sensitive, culturally appropriate and country-specific pre-departure briefing. The monitoring and accountability of the recruiting agency was still to be ensured; the agency charged high fees and there was no complaint mechanism for rights violations. Many migrants chose non-banking channels to send their remittances; the Committee should urge Bangladesh to ensure safe and cost-effective remittance sending channels, particularly to remote and rural areas.

Helvetas Swiss Inter-cooperation drew attention to significant human rights violations of migrants abroad and at their return and repatriation to Bangladesh. Women migrants were more vulnerable, as they usually resided in their employers’ homes which made them more vulnerable to sexual violence and abuse, and they were isolated from communities of origin. Bilateral agreements were not made public, and civil society organizations were not involved, while foreign missions in Bangladesh and those of Bangladesh abroad did not extend the necessary cooperation to civil society and legal assistance organizations working on issues of migrant workers.

Humanitarian Organization for Migration Economics drew attention to the violation of the rights of Bangladeshi migrant workers in Singapore and encouraged the Government of Bangladesh to work with Singapore to monitor the payment of recruitment fees which were exorbitant and sometimes amounted to four or five years of pay. Migrant workers in Singapore did not have access to a complaint mechanism, while the Bangladesh foreign mission there so far did not provide meaningful assistance and support.

Transient Workers Count Too raised the question of very high recruitment costs of Bangladeshi migrant workers in Singapore, often amounting to four or five years of pay, which put them in a situation of bonded labour and was at the root of their subsequent disempowerment and right violations. In Bangladesh, recruitment was a largely unregulated activity; migrant workers were recruited through informal agents, did not have contracts, receipts for payments, contact details of their recruitment agents, and thus no basis for any recourse.

Migrant Forum in Asia noted gaps in the monitoring and implementation of existing migration policies in Bangladesh, in particular corruption in the recruitment process, which was among the key reasons of the high cost of migration. Research had shown that of the 525,000 migrant workers sent in 2016 to Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, Singapore and other countries, 19 per cent had been subjected to corruption. The recruitment must be addressed by the Government with full transparency.

Syndicat Nationale Autonome des Personnels de l’Administration Publique of Algeria said that everything was being done to keep migrant workers, particularly those from Sub-Saharan Africa, on the margins of society, which made them vulnerable to exploitation by smugglers. Regular migrant workers could not lodge a complaint on the basis of their status, while the State refused to punish hospitals which discriminated in providing treatment to migrants. Non-governmental organizations working on migrant issues were not given accreditation.

National Human Rights Commission of Bangladesh in a conference call from Dhaka, said that the ratification of the Convention was a success story of the advocacy efforts of the civil society in Bangladesh. It contributed to the improvement of the situation of migrant workers, including through the adoption of policies and laws, such as the overseas employment and migrant act of 2013 and the migrant welfare policy 2016. Bangladesh should further ratify the International Labour Organization Convention 169 and others which were relevant to the rights of migrant workers. Detailed and disaggregated data should be collected and made publicly available. Memorandums of understanding and bilateral agreements with host countries should be made available in the public domain. The cost of migration was high and urgent action was needed to address it, including through regularizing the recruitment process.

Discussion

Committee Experts were very concerned about the exorbitant cost of recruitment in Bangladesh, which put migrant workers in near-slavery conditions, and asked where the costs were absorbed.

Responding, the civil society organizations said that one of the costs was the cost of training, because the country of destination, in this case Singapore, requested certified migrant workers. A number of training centres had been set up in Dhaka, which were veritable money-making facilities, with deplorable conditions, offering very basic skills training, and which charged $ 4,000 (or now even $6,000) for three-month training programmes. The cost of getting a job was the most volatile part, and it affected all workers, new and returning ones; research showed that they were paying $5,000 to 8,000 for a one-year job, which paid that same amount per year.

Another Expert asked whether the gaps in the implementation of the Convention in Bangladesh were due to the lack of institutional capacity or political will, and what would be the three priorities for the period to come. What was the legal categorization of persons from Myanmar, were they refugees or migrants, and which body was in charge of their categorization?

Committee Experts asked about the recruitment process in Algeria for workers from Sub-Saharan Africa and whether they received work contracts. What was the legal status of the Convention in Algeria and how far were the laws harmonized with its provisions? Which were the most flagrant violations of the Convention in Algeria?

In response to questions raised on Bangladesh, civil society representatives said that migrants were seen from an economic perspective, and not from a human rights perspective. It was about the number of workers, and about money. There must be more bilateral agreements, which would be human rights based and involve civil society organizations in both country of origin and destination. The transparency and efficiency of the foreign missions were also important. Another representative stressed that agents had used the lack of regulations and oversight to raise the prices as high as they could; there were 27 steps through which a migrant worker had to go before departure, which meant that the recruitment process itself created opportunity for corruption. Another concrete thing the Government of Bangladesh could do was to harmonize training costs provided in Dhaka to those in Singapore, which were three of four times lower for exactly the same training. Further, a recruitment process must be put in place which did not involve profit-making bodies – it had already been done for migration to the Republic of Korea and there was no reason why it could not be put in place for migration to Singapore as well. And finally, Bangladesh should work with Singapore to break the “kafala” system and break the links between the work permit and employer, thus allowing migrant workers to leave abusive employers.

In response to questions raised on Algeria, the civil society representative stressed that de facto, migrant workers from Sub-Saharan Africa were treated as irregular migrants. Irregular migrant workers were simply rejected and the law must be aligned with the Convention in this regard; they did not have access to justice, not even for sexual violence and abuse, and their complaints were rejected simply because of their migratory status.


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