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

The Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families concluded this afternoon its twenty-sixth session after adopting its concluding observations and recommendations on the reports of Bangladesh and Jamaica, and on the situation in Nigeria, which was reviewed in the absence of a report and a delegation.

The concluding observations and recommendations will be available on the webpage of the session.

Jose Brillantes, Committee Chairperson, briefed the Committee Experts on the meeting with Mexico, in which a number of issues were discussed, including the Committee’s participation in the Global Compact on Migration. Committee Experts stressed that it was important for the Committee to take part in the first consultative meeting which would take place on 7 and 8 May, and also said that the meeting of States which would take place in Mexico soon after would be an opportunity to promote the Convention and the rights of migrant workers. Another possibility for the Committee to promote the Convention was through the Global Forum on Migration in Berlin.

In closing, Mr. Brillantes highlighted the Committee’s accomplishments during the session, which included the adoption of concluding observations on the situation in Bangladesh, Jamaica and Nigeria; and the adoption of a list of issues for Algeria and lists of issues prior to reporting with respect to Egypt, Madagascar and Mozambique.

The Committee adopted a joint statement with the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on addressing disabilities in large scale movements of refugees and migrants. It further held a very fruitful meeting with senior representatives of the International Organization for Migration through the Geneva Academy, as well as with UN Women and representatives of the Steering Committee for the promotion of the ratification of the Convention, including the International Labour Organization, the International Detention Coalition, the Global Detention Project, the Global Migration Centre, the Global Migration Policy Associates, and Terre des Hommes.

The Committee discussed the Global Compact on Migration, met with the Permanent Mission of Mexico in this regard and decided to draft letters to all States parties and to the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Louis Arbour, to ensure that the Convention was mainstreamed into the Compact’s process.

During the session, the Committee held meetings with civil society, international organizations and United Nations bodies, agencies and programmes in advance of the dialogues with Bangladesh, Jamaica and Nigeria; discussed working methods; and made progress in addressing the length of concluding observations.

Lastly, the Committee adopted its report to the General Assembly on its twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth sessions.

The twenty-seventh session of the Committee will be held at the Palais Wilson in Geneva from 4 to 13 September 2017, during which the reports of Ecuador, Indonesia and Mexico will be considered.

For use of the information media; not an official record

CMW17.006E