COMMITTEE ON THE PROTECTION OF THE RIGHTS OF MIGRANT WORKERS CONSIDERS THE INITIAL REPORT OF HONDURAS

The Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families today concluded its consideration of the initial report of Honduras on its implementation of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.

Introducing the report, Ramon Fernando Carranza Discua, Assistant Secretary of State, Department of Labour and Social Protection of Honduras, said that Honduras had achieved significant progress in improving the real protection of the rights of all migrants, which was evidenced by the setting up of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in the country. The Alliance for Prosperity for the Northern Triangle and the National Economic Development Plan 2020 aimed to tackle the root causes of migration, while consular services and protection were strengthened in order to improve the protection of Honduran migrants abroad. The protection of the rights of regular and irregular migrants was regulated by the Law on Migration and Aliens, which was consistent with the provisions of the Convention. In recent years, there had been an increase in the number of irregular migrants transiting through the country, from 168 in 2010 to 20,611 in 2015, mainly from Haiti, Cuba and a number of African countries. Humanitarian support, advice and protection to migrants in Honduras, both regular and irregular, were provided through the National Migration Institute.

In the discussion that followed, Committee Experts recognized the complexity of challenges and issues in Honduras, their regional dimension and the need for regional solutions. They were very concerned about the situation of migrant children, noting that 60 to 70 per cent were estimated to have migrated in order to escape violence at home, and yet, the protocols favoured the option of their return and reintegration, which, given the poverty and insecurity at home might not always be in the best interest of the child. What was the impact of the task force set in 2014 to address the crisis of unaccompanied minors on the move? Experts took note of the push factors of migration, including discrimination against certain groups such as Afro-descendants, gang violence, or conflicts over land, and asked how those causes of migration were built into responses to migration. Other issues raised in the discussion included the protection of Honduran migrants abroad, efforts to address the cases of disappeared migrants and ensure access to justice for families, the protection of irregular migrants in Honduras, measures and strategies to fight the activities of the maras (gangs), and the system in place to protect children and other migrants from trafficking.

In concluding remarks, Pablo Ceriani Cernadas, Committee Co-Rapporteur for Honduras, recognized the complex issues and the great challenges in the country and in the region, and said that through its concluding observations, the Committee would make a contribution to finding best responses.

Also in concluding remarks, Khedidja Ladjel, Co-Rapporteur for Honduras, reiterated that the greatest cause of concern was the situation of migrant children and urged Honduras to focus on the underlying factors of the movement of people and look for regional solutions.

Mr. Carranza Discua, in his closing remarks, stressed that migration should not be seen as a problem, but as a way to the development of both the country of origin and the country of destination. The commitment and coordination between various actors in society was needed to overcome the challenges, build equality, eradicate poverty, and return to peace and security.

The delegation of Honduras included representatives of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Human Rights, Justice, Interior and Decentralization, the National Migration Institute, and the Permanent Mission of Honduras to the United Nations Office at Geneva.

The concluding observations and recommendations on the report of Honduras will be made public on Wednesday, 7 September 2016 and will be available here.

Live webcast of the Committee’s public meetings is available at http://webtv.un.org/

The Committee will next meet in public at 3 p.m. today, 30 August, to begin its consideration of the initial report of Niger (CMW/C/NER/1).

Report

The initial report of Honduras can be read here: CMW/C/HND/1.

Presentation of the Report

RAMON FERNANDO CARRANZA DISCUA, Assistant Secretary of State, Department of Labour and Social Protection of Honduras, recognized the challenges that Honduras faced, including those of a regional character such as the fight against poverty, inequality and insecurity, to which most of the national resources were dedicated. Significant progress had been made in improving the real protection of the rights of all migrants, as reflected in the setting up of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in the country. The Alliance for Prosperity for the Northern Triangle and the National Economic Development Plan 2020 aimed to tackle the root cause of migration, namely the lack of employment opportunities. In order to implement the provisions of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, a procedural protocol had been set up to ensure dignified care for returnees, especially for child migrants, and a tripartite agreement had been signed with the United Nations Refugee Agency concerning the protection of child migrants, in order to prevent their refoulement to communities of origin where they could face risk of various forms of violence.

Improving the condition of migrant workers and their families was a priority in Honduras, which had created a Ministerial Department for Consular Migration Affairs and the General Directorate for the Protection of Migrants, in order to strengthen consular services and consular protection to Honduran migrants abroad. The National Migration Institute was in charge of providing humanitarian assistance and advice to irregular migrants, for the resolution of refugee claims and internal monitoring of compliance with the law on administrative procedures for migrants, and the protection of the human rights of more than 41,760 irregular migrants registered in Honduras today.

The protection of rights of regular and irregular migrants was regulated by the Law on Migration and Aliens, which was consistent with the provisions of the Convention. In recent years, Honduras had noted an increase in the number of irregular migrants transiting through the country: in 2010 a total of 168 such cases had been registered, while the number grew to 20,611 in 2015, mainly from Haiti, Cuba and a number of African countries. Honduras had therefore set aside resources to assist them, while the National Migration Centre had four centres to provide various forms of services and support. No complaints had been filed concerning human rights violations of migrants in transit. In the last six months, Honduras had successfully concluded two operations in Central America, during which several persons had been captured and charged with the crime of trafficking, including two officials of the National Migration Institute.

The National Action Plan to combat trafficking in persons 2016-2022 had been adopted and a convention had been signed with the Ministry for Development and Social Inclusion for assistance to victims. The State supported migrant workers by providing relevant information and guidance on their rights and obligations when they went abroad, with the purpose to serve them in the framework of orderly migration. The Labour Inspectorate had been strengthened with the recruitment of an additional 64 inspectors; they were also in charge of monitoring the general working conditions of foreign workers and documented migrants. The Inspectorate had registered 5,096 documented migrant workers since 2010, and had issued them with their respective cards. The Law on the Protection of Honduran Migrants and Their Families had created the Solidarity Fund which disbursed $ 5 million annually to support migrants in need, while several campaigns had been put in place to raise awareness of risks of migration. Consulates in the United States and Mexico had signed agreements with law firms and pro-bono lawyers to provide Hondurans with assistance and legal advice in administrative, labour and criminal matters.

Questions from the Committee Experts

PABLO CERIANI CERNADAS, Committee Expert and Co-Rapporteur for Honduras, recognized the complexity of challenges in Honduras, and especially the regional dimension of a number of complex issues which required regional solutions. The Law on Migration and Aliens had been adopted in 2003, several years before the ratification of the Convention, noted the Co-Rapporteur, asking about measures taken to harmonize the law with the Convention. What steps would be taken to adopt the implementing legislation for the more recent Law on the Protection of Migrating Hondurans, and to ensure that resources for its implementation were available and secured? The migration of children was an issue of concern in Honduras, and it was striking that the protocol for dealing with Honduran migrant children favoured the option of return and reintegration of the children, which might not always be in the best interest of the child, given the poverty and insecurity at home and the fact that many of the children who migrated, especially to the United States, had family support there. What steps would be taken to ensure that all cases of child migrants would be considered individually, and that child migrants abroad had access to specialized consular services which would also ensure specialised protection services? Which resources had been set aside for the creation of care centres for Honduran children abroad in need of consular protection, and the protection of women victims of sexual violence?

Another issue of concern was that of migrants who disappeared, not only in Honduras, but also in Mexico and in the United States; what initiatives were being put in place to search for those missing persons and to ensure that the relatives of the disappeared had access to information and access to justice? The delegation was asked about the programmes in place to support returning migrants with disabilities; long-term plans and strategies to address root causes of migration, including violence and insecurity as well as social exclusion and discrimination; the intended use of the funds from the United States provided under the Alliance for Prosperity; and the national approach to the issue of remittances which amounted to about $440 million and so represented a significant proportion of the national economy?

KHEDIDJA LADJEL, Committee Expert and Co-Rapporteur for Honduras, remarked that the report of Honduras had painted a positive picture of the situation in the country, in terms of laws, policies, institutions and resources, and said that the non-respect of the laws was usually one of root causes of migration. In order to tackle the crisis of unaccompanied minors on the move, Honduras had set up a special task force in the summer of 2014: what was the effectiveness of this task force, and what was the success rate in integrating children into their societies, and in dissuading children from migrating in the first place? It seemed that one of the shortcomings in the implementation of the Convention was the lack of its dissemination to civil society organizations, civil servants and the public in general.

Another Expert asked for additional information about the efforts to implement Article 14 which guaranteed the protection from arbitrary or unlawful interference with a migrant’s privacy, and guaranteed the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks; about the state of a large group of Haitians who had been recently arrested for lack of travel documents; and about the success of measures and strategies adopted to address the activities of the maras (gangs).

The situation of utmost concern was the situation of migrant children, Experts said, asking about the system in place to guarantee the welfare and protection of both children migrating to join their parents, and returning children; about bilateral agreements with countries of transit and destination of migrant children, especially Mexico and the United States, and details of such agreements; and the system in place to ensure continuous communication and dialogue with civil society organizations concerning the situation of children in migration. What was the relationship between the mass migration of children and trafficking, and what system was in place to protect the children and prevent traffickers from exploiting the vulnerabilities of migrants wishing to reunite with their families? Poverty and violence were often cited as causes of migration; what were other causes of migration of Honduran children and what role did the society play in promoting the “migration dream”?

Honduras was above all a country of origin of migrants, noted Experts and asked about the system of social protection in the country, and also whether the temporary protection status that Honduran migrants enjoyed in the United States had a positive impact or if it had increased migrants’ vulnerability to prosecution.

The delegation was asked about the involvement of civil society organizations in the preparation of the report, and what the expectations were concerning cooperation with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and other human rights organizations and institutions.

Response by the Delegation

Responding to questions concerning the harmonization of the law on migration with the Convention, a delegate confirmed that the Aliens Act predated the ratification of the Convention, and said that nevertheless, it was clear from the Constitution that the Convention took precedence over the existing legislation. It was clear that a better legal framework was needed in Honduras, and an agreement to this effect had been signed with the United Nations Refugee Agency and a tender had been opened for a consultant to support the drafting of a new law in line with the Convention and other relevant international standards. The National Migration Institute would be in charge of coordinating the drafting of the new legislation.

The flow of Haitian migrants was on the increase; they were mainly transiting the country, and there were cases in which some of them were arrested by the police. The migratory services provided support and care to those migrants in transit, including providing the necessary documentation. There were no records of the abuse of migrants in centres for irregular migrants which were under the jurisdiction of the National Migration Institute.

An inter-institutional international agreement had been signed with a number of countries, and a group had been put in place, headed by the Ministry of Justice, which worked toward locating the missing migrants. The State of Honduras was putting considerable efforts in searching for and identifying missing migrants, as well as in programmes aiming to prevent migration. Multilateral and bilateral programmes were in place to tackle the root causes of migration, principally violence, including violence against children. One such programme, which covered some 5,000 children, was a holistic programme which focused on conducing constant campaigns to raise the awareness of children and adolescents on the risks of migration. Another important initiative was to design policies and programmes for vulnerable people, including women and returning migrants with disabilities.

Honduras had extended a standing invitation to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Special Procedures mandate holders two years ago, while Parliament had endorsed the agreement for the opening of the national office of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights this summer. In 2014, Honduras had set up an inter-institutional group, which also comprised representatives of civil society, and which ensured that Honduras was presenting its reports to human rights treaty bodies on time. This had been the process and mechanism followed in the presentation of this initial report, and it was important to say that civil society organizations had also presented their shadow report.

With regard to temporary migrant workers in Honduras, mainly from other countries in the region, a delegate explained that many temporary workers were in fact seasonal coffee workers from neighbouring countries, Nicaragua principally. The number of seasonal workers was not known, but a study by the International Labour Organization shed light on the working conditions of those seasonal workers.

A number of initiatives had been undertaken to curb irregular migration toward the United States, Canada and Europe, and it was important to say that the number of migrants to Spain had seen a decline due to the economic and financial crisis there and the lack of employment opportunities. The powers of the Labour Inspector had been enhanced and 64 additional inspectors had been hired to inspect general recruitment conditions of documented migrants, in order to establish whether recruitment agencies were abiding by the law. A Competition Bureau had been created to deal with returning migrants with disabilities, and a project had been put in place to increase the number of jobs for persons with disabilities. During the first six months of the project, 150 such jobs had been created.

The Law on the Protection of Honduran Migrants did not have an implementing law; the law foresaw the creation of the Council for Migrant Workers to extend protection services to Hondurans abroad, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had put aside resources for the functioning of the Council. The policy of Honduras was not to return child migrants at all costs, but to raise awareness about the process to be followed by Hondurans who were regular migrants in the United States.

Concerning the policies and mechanisms for consular protection, a delegate said that three new consulates had been set up in places where demand for consular services was high, and had received necessary resources and training for their functioning, including on the human rights of migrants, the rights of most vulnerable groups, and on consular and consular protection services. Those activities were being supported by the United Nations Refugee Agency and the International Organization for Migration. Honduras was planning to open another two consulates in the United States, pending the host country’s approval. The Consular Migration Observatory was collecting data and statistics on Honduran migrants, and was able to identify more than 1,200 who were deprived of liberty in the United States and Europe.

All the consulates in Mexico and the United States had reached agreements with law firms and pro bono lawyers for the provision of legal services to Hondurans in migration. To date, the consular services had registered 328 cases of migrants who went missing in Texas, Arizona and Mexico; 23 of those had been identified. As far as migrant children were concerned, their return was not the first policy priority. Honduras had signed memoranda of understanding with a number of countries where Honduran migrants resided, which aimed to guarantee a dignified and safe return, and that children were not put at risk during the return.

Questions by the Committee Experts

In the next round of questions and comments, a Committee Expert asked about initiatives to promote the implementation of protection measures for Honduran migrants in Mexico via the Mexican Victims Law. It was estimated that some 90 per cent of returning migrants, including migrant children, re-emigrated, usually because the reasons for which they migrated in the first place were still there, or because the reintegration attempts were not successful – what information could the delegation provide about the reasons behind such a high rate of re-emigration? The delegation was also asked to clarify how broad the scope of the temporary protection system for migrants in the United States was, about mechanisms in place to ensure that that relatives of the missing migrants had access to justice and reparation, and the rate of success of the Roundtable for Competition, which had been put in place to support returning migrants with disabilities. The delegation said that the number of children emigrating was decreasing, however, the number of Honduran children detained in Mexico increased every year, and 90 per cent of them were returned to Honduras; could the delegation explain?

JOSE BRILLANTES, Committee Chairperson, asked the delegation to comment on reports of human rights defenders in Honduras facing dangers to their safety, security and life, and also to explain how migrant children managed to arrive to borders unaccompanied.

Response by the Delegation

According to the Observatory on Migration, between January and August 2016, a total of 1,722 Hondurans had irregularly re-emigrated after their return to the country, representing about four per cent of the total number of migrants who had returned in 2016.

In order to strengthen the protection of migrants, Honduras held regular dialogue with the United States on the human rights of migrants and the need to protect them from detention, and had also taken a number of measures to increase the capacity of consular services in the United States and Mexico to offer consular services and protection to its citizens abroad.

Temporary protected status was granted by the United States on the grounds of natural disaster or other calamities. The temporary protected status had been first granted in 1991 following hurricane Mitch, to Hondurans residing in the United States; there would be no further extension of the temporary protection status which was only applicable to Hondurans residing in the United States prior to 1991. The consulates in Mexico had lodged 120 applications for humanitarian visas to ensure the protection of human rights of Hondurans who were victims of a crime and also to ensure access to compensation for their families.

The resources of the Alliance for Prosperity were being used for four key areas of activities: the support programme for early childhood and the extension of pre-primary and primary education to all; improvement of holistic health services, particularly to women, children and adolescents; job creation programmes which also included the creation of sustainable family farming for family life; the programme for the improvement of public safety and access to justice through the training of police officers and the boosting of the capacity for criminal investigations; and the institution strengthening activities, including those aiming to promote and protect human rights.

The system for the protection of human rights defenders comprised the National Council which brought together various ministries and civil society organizations; this national mechanism had dealt with more than 27 requests for protection, coming from human rights defenders, justice officials, and journalists. In 2016, Congress had approved a budgetary allocation to ensure the sustainability of the Act on the Protection of Human Rights Defenders. The regulation for the implementation of this act had just been adopted, and the Ministry was drafting operating protocols and handbooks for protection which would become part of the protection system.

With regard to the dissemination of the Convention, a delegate said that its provisions had been promoted among civil servants in 45 State institutions, while the National Migration Institute had provided training to border police officers and other police officers who worked on human rights. The Ministry of Justice had provided special training to officials in order to ensure the guarantee of the enjoyment of human rights to detainees, including those in administrative detention. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs provided regular training on the human rights of migrants to consular officials in Mexico and the United States.

The National Plan of Action on combatting trafficking in persons, in addition to including activities to combat the trafficking, also aimed to provide support for victims of trafficking and in particular reduce their secondary victimization.

Migration in Honduras usually involved the transit of Haitians, Cubans and people from African countries, and the assistance provided by the Honduran State was guided by humanitarian motifs. Migrants in transit who for various reasons had to stay in Honduras, and who had not applied for regularization of their status, become irregular migrants. There were 250 migrants, mainly Cubans and Haitians, had been granted permits allowing them to continue their journey. Honduras, in fact, had become a humanitarian corridor for individuals migrating towards Mexico and the United States.

The Roundtable for Inclusion and Competitiveness had been set up to improve the cooperation between the public and private sectors to increase the inclusion of persons with disabilities in the employment and labour market, in a participative manner. The Roundtable was composed of civil society organizations, technical experts, and various public and private sector institutions.

Questions by the Committee Experts

PABLO CERIANI CERNADAS, Committee Expert and Co-Rapporteur for Honduras, in the next round of questions took up the issue of the participation of the armed forces in operations concerning migration, and asked about measures put in place to ensure that the rights of those affected by those operations were respected, including the training provided to the military on the human rights of migrants. What was being done to strengthen the National Commission and ensure that it was fully independent and able to provide services to migrants and their families? Were the consular activities in the United States extended to federal and privately-operated prisons?

The Co-Rapporteur further noted that the repatriation mechanisms implemented by land from Mexico did not meet the criteria of agreement between Honduras and Mexico, and asked the delegation to comment. It was estimated that 60 to 70 per cent of migrant children actually fled violence, and yet, the number of humanitarian visas in Mexico was rather low. How many children had been repatriated, and how many of those ended up murdered by gangs or other criminal groups? A number of reasons were pushing people to migrate, including gang violence, discrimination against Afro-descendants, and conflicts over land; to what extent were the causes of migration built into responses to migration?

KHEDIDJA LADJEL, Committee Expert and Co-Rapporteur for Honduras, addressed the push factors for migration which were very complex, and asked about the role of the State institutions in addressing those push factors, and implementing the laws. There were reports of families often pushing children to migrate and the Co-Raporteur asked about action taken to address this. How did Honduras see the role of non-governmental organizations and civil society organizations in addressing various migration issues?

Another Expert asked about the status of the National Plan of Action on combatting trafficking in persons, how comprehensive it was in addressing trafficking in persons, and what was being done to ensure that it was successfully implemented. The Expert also asked about the implementation of the recommendation issued during the accreditation process of its national human rights institution, and about the gender equality policy in Honduras.

The delegation was asked about the system in place to provide protection to migrants in transit through Honduras, particularly those from Haiti, Cuba and several African countries, and assist them in obtaining documentation in the absence of consular services of their country of origin. Experts inquired about the structural causes of forced migration and the strategies to combat gang violence which often had strong links with gangs abroad.

Could the delegation provide figures on the number of cases of misuse of power or corruption of State officials and civil servants, as well as on the number of complaints from migrants which had ended up in court? What measures were being taken by Honduras to incorporate the provisions of the Convention into its law and to harmonize the Law on Migrants with the Convention?

What was the system of treatment and protection of irregular migrants: what happened to detained irregular migrants after the detention, did their children have access to schools, and could children born to irregular migrants be registered at birth?

Response by the Delegation

Responding to questions raised by Committee Experts, a delegate stressed that Honduras was facing one of its most serious crises in history, as a result of violence and trans-national and trans-border crime. The major challenge, in addition to fighting poverty, was to ensure the return of peace and security. The situation of general violence was described as an invisible epidemic which affected all and had serious repercussions on the enjoyment of the human rights of all the population in the country. The State had put in place a number of measures to return to peace and human security, including the review of the justice and police system and the greater engagement of the army, which was of an extraordinary and time-bound nature. Honduras was taking the necessary measures to ensure that the members of the military taking part in those operations were properly trained, including in human rights. There was an immediate investigation into all cases of human rights violations, and perpetrators were held to justice before a court of law.

Honduras had put in place insertion programmes with several countries, such as Canada and Spain, in order to foster regular migration through positive policies, and so stem illegal and irregular migration. Since 2007, a total of 581 persons had been placed through such programmes, 496 in Canada and 87 in Spain; 2012 was the last year in which a large number of persons had been taken by the programme – 108 who had been placed in Canada, and in 2015 only three Hondurans had been placed in Canada and none in Spain.

A Roadmap 2016-2022 had been drawn up for the implementation of the National Action Plan to combat trafficking in persons; it contained a number of steps to prevent and fight labour, sexual exploitation and human smuggling by providing holistic care to victims. It also sought to prosecute those responsible for exploitation and human smuggling. The main pillars were prevention, prosecution of the crime, coordination, and awareness raising among the population and institutions.

The data from the Central Bank showed that in the years prior to 2015, over six per cent of the gross domestic product came from remittances; in 2015, remittances represented 18 per cent of the gross domestic product. The draft bill on the Use of Force had been prepared in cooperation with the International Committee of the Red Cross and Honduras was the only country in the region to have drafted such a law. The draft bill was currently being disseminated among the members of the armed forces, who were also trained in international laws and standards concerning torture and cruel ill-treatment.

The National Human Rights Commissioner (CONADEH) had been created as a national human rights institution in accordance with the Paris Principles and had been granted status A by the International Coordinating Committee of National Human Rights Institutions. However, its status had been downgraded to Status B, although Honduras had not received any justification of explanation for this decision.

Various employees of the National Migration Institute had been sanctioned on various grounds, including corruption and abuse of power. Two employees of the Institute had been arrested for charges of trafficking in persons. According to the Labour Code, 90 per cent of the employees in the country had to be Hondurans, and 85 per cent of the salary envelope had to be paid to Hondurans. There was a certain degree of flexibility concerning those provisions, and there were some projects in which the quota of 10 per cent of foreigner workers had been increased because of the shortage of qualified staff among Hondurans.

Concerning the migration of indigenous peoples, a delegate explained that push factors that played a role in the migration of non-indigenous persons were also those that pushed the indigenous peoples to migrate: violence, insecurity, poverty and exclusion. Honduras had ratified the International Labour Organization Convention 169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples and had already embarked on the process of consultation with nine indigenous peoples. A draft bill on consultations, which would be adopted in several weeks, made consultations with indigenous peoples on any administrative or legislative measures mandatory.

Migration was a choice and a human right and this was the principle which guided the response of Honduras to migration. Civil society organizations played a crucial role in making sure that the policies and laws came to fruition and it was clear in Honduras that active and constructive participation of all in the society was needed. Honduras had earmarked $ 5 million for the Solidarity Fund and a number of civil society organizations were implementing programmes supporting returning migrants.


Concluding Remarks

PABLO CERIANI CERNADAS, Committee Expert and Co-Rapporteur for Honduras, said that the Committee was aware of the complex issues in the country and the region and how great the challenges were that Honduras was facing. There were deep rooted causes of such challenges, including violence which itself was not only a cause but also a response to other structural causes such as poverty and exclusion. Through its concluding observations, the Committee would make a contribution to finding best responses to those challenges.

KHEDIDJA LADJEL, Committee Expert and Co-Rapporteur for Honduras, recognized the political will to address the issues and meet the needs of the population affected by migratory flows and movements, and the very real constraints in doing so. Honduras should focus on the underlying factors of the movement of the people and on looking for regional solutions. The greatest cause of concern was the situation of children and it was hoped that solutions for them could be found at the local level.

RAMON FERNANDO CARRANZA DISCUA, Assistant Secretary of State, Department of Labour and Social Protection of Honduras, reiterated the commitment to redouble the efforts to promote the rights from the Convention and implement the Committee’s concluding observations. Migration should not be seen as a problem, but rather as a way of development for both the country of origin and the country of destination. Honduras was facing great structural, institutional and cultural challenges; the commitment and coordination between various actors in society was needed to overcome those challenges and to build equality, eradicate poverty, and return to peace and security.

JOSE BRILLANTES, Committee Chairperson, thanked the delegation for the constructive dialogue with the Committee which had provided insight into the situation of Honduran migrants abroad and the situation of migrants in Honduras.



For use of the information media; not an official record

CMW16/010E