COMMITTEE ON PROTECTION OF RIGHTS OF MIGRANT WORKERS CONCLUDES NINTH SESSION

The Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families today concluded its ninth session after issuing its concluding observations and recommendations on the initial report of El Salvador, which it considered during the session.

In its concluding observations on that report, the Committee noted with appreciation the opening in July 2008 of the migrants’ holding centre in San Salvador, which improved the detention conditions of migrants awaiting deportation. Among principal subjects of concern and recommendations, the Committee noted with concern that the procedure for expulsion/deportation was not fully regulated by law and that the right to seek a stay of the expulsion was not provided for in the law. Among recommendations, El Salvador was encouraged to finalize its study on the impact of migration on children with the aim of developing adequate strategies to ensure the protection and the full enjoyment by children of migrant families of their rights.

In addition to considering El Salvador’s report, on the morning of Thursday, 27 November, the Committee held a meeting with the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, in which it discussed promotion of the Convention and in particular discussed strategies to obtain ratifications by migrant-receiving States. In concluding comments, High Commissioner Pillay said she recognized from the discussion that it was not enough to call for ratification of the Convention. It was not just a question of the political will of States; it was up to them to find ways to guide States around obstacles they had identified to ratification. In that connection, she agreed as a first step to use the presence of her office in 50 countries immediately to spread information not only about the Convention but also about how States should respond to it and what benefits it contained.

Earlier in the week, the United Nations Migrants Committee held an exchange of views with members of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, as well as with a representative of the International Labour Organization, to discuss the prospects of the implementation of the Convention in the Member States of the Council of Europe. As the outcome of the meeting, it was agreed that it was a good idea to further strengthen the links between the two bodies, perhaps by holding a joint conference in 2009, and the Council of Europe Committee invited United Nations Committee members to attend its sessions.

Also during its ninth session, the Committee held public meetings to discuss its methods of work, including the periodicity of reports and follow-up to its concluding observations, and in the context of the work of the Inter-Committee Meeting to harmonize and streamline the work of the human rights treaties bodies. To resolve the uneven spacing in State party reports generated under the current rules when States were late in reporting, the Committee decided that, instead of keeping to fixed intervals based on the date of ratification of the Convention, following the submission of initial reports by States parties their next periodic reports would be due two years after the submission of the previous report. It also decided to send follow-up letters to the 24 States who were late in presenting their initial reports under the Convention.

Over the past week, the Committee also discussed current issues related to migrants or migration policy in light of the provisions of the Convention, and the issue of promotion of the Convention in the context of the Manila Global Forum on Migration and Development and plans to promote the Convention and a human rights approach to migration at future Global Forums.

At its final meeting, on Friday afternoon, Committee Chairperson Abdelhamid El Jamri introduced an issue for discussion raised by the case of Bosnia and Herzegovina, that of foreigners and non-governmental organization workers who had become nationals, i.e. had acquired the nationality of their host country and were therefore no longer migrant workers in the eyes of their host country. However, for their countries of origin, those nationals were still considered migrants and were covered by the Convention. This raised the issue of what it was to be a national, what it was to be a citizen and the issue of voting. For example, national could refer to one's origin, not just one's citizenship, as in his case where he had dual French/Moroccan nationality and in France was considered a French citizen, but as a Moroccan national. There was also the case of foreign nationals who had been working in another country for generations, still did not have citizenship, and yet had few ties with their country of nationality.

In the ensuing discussion, an Expert was concerned that the Convention be interpreted very narrowly in this area, otherwise they would get into very complicated legal areas. Moreover, they should not lose sight of whom the Convention was created to protect: the vulnerable persons who did not have citizenship rights in the country in which they were working. There was a clear difference in the Convention between migrants (i.e. those who had migrated to a country and become citizens) and migrant workers (who did not have citizenship in their host country). An Expert pointed out that if a migrant worker had alleged violations of their rights under the Convention in the country in which they were working and subsequently become a national of that country, the Committee was still competent to consider the violations that had occurred in the past. In view of the complexity of the issue, an Expert suggested this might be a good subject for the Committee's first General Comment on the Convention.

On voting rights, while an Expert was of the view that this issue applied to migrant workers both with regard to national and local elections, others pointed out that the Convention only discussed voting rights with regard to a migrant's right to vote in his or her country of origin. It was silent on the issue of voting in the host country.

The next session of the Committee will be held from 20 April to 1 May 2009, when it is scheduled to consider the initial reports of Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Colombia and the Philippines.

Concluding Observations

Having reviewed the initial report of El Salvador, the Committee noted with appreciation the opening on 7 July 2008 of the migrants’ holding centre in San Salvador, which improved the detention conditions of migrants awaiting deportation. It also noted with appreciation the different initiatives taken to combat trafficking in persons, including the creation of a National Committee Against Trafficking in Persons, the inauguration in 2006 of a shelter for victims of trafficking and the inclusion of trafficking in persons as a crime under Salvadoran criminal law. Further appreciated was the information provided on the preparation and development of guidelines, manuals and standard procedures, particularly in regard to repatriation of children and victims of trafficking, which compiled best practices in the area of migration. The Committee also welcomed El Salvador's efforts to promote and protect the rights of Salvadoran migrant workers abroad, including by appointing a Vice-Minister for Salvadorans Abroad in 2004, and by opening protection consulates. Other welcome measures included the conclusion of bilateral and multilateral agreements with a view to promoting sound, equitable and humane conditions in connection with international migration of workers and members of their families and the ratification of a number of international instruments, including the optional protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, and on the involvement of children in armed conflict; and International Labour Organization Convention No. 182 on the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour

Among principal subjects of concern and recommendations, the Committee noted that the draft migration and aliens act, which incorporated some of the provisions of the Convention, remained under consideration of the President’s office and had not been submitted for consultation with the National Human Rights Institution or civil society. El Salvador was encouraged to take all necessary measures for prompt harmonization of its legislation, including in particular the current migration and aliens laws, with the provisions of the Convention. The Committee also noted with concern that the procedure for expulsion/deportation was not fully regulated by law and that the right to seek a stay of the expulsion was not provided for in the law. El Salvador was invited to ensure that, among others, pending an appeal, persons should have the right to seek a stay of expulsion. The Committee noted with concern that it was not clear from information provided how El Salvador in practice guaranteed and monitored the equality of treatment of migrant workers in agricultural and domestic employment. Another concern was that the Salvadoran Constitution and the Labour Code reserved to Salvadorans by birth the right to be part of the leadership of trade unions. The Committee encouraged El Salvador to continue its efforts with a view to revising its legal framework and to take other steps to facilitate the exercise of voting rights by Salvadoran migrant workers residing abroad.

The Committee took note of the explanations provided by El Salvador, that in recent practice migrant workers in El Salvador were given 60 to 90 days after expiration of their contracts in order to find new employment or change their migration status. It noted with concern, however, that the Migration Law required migrant workers to leave El Salvador upon termination of their contracts, regardless of the reason therefore, or else risk expulsion. The Committee also remained concerned about the situation of children in El Salvador whose parents had migrated abroad, and the lack of information in that regard. El Salvador was encouraged to finalize its study on the impact of migration on children and to share its findings widely, with the aim of developing adequate strategies to ensure the protection and the full enjoyment by children of migrant families of their rights.

Members of the Committee

The members of the Committee are Francisco Alba (Mexico); José Serrano Brillantes (Philippines); Ana Elizabeth Cubías Medina (El Salvador); Anamaría Dieguez Arévalo (Guatemala); Ahmed Hassan El-Borai (Egypt); Abdelhamid El Jamri (Morocco); Prasad Kariyawasam (Sri Lanka); Myriam Poussi Konsimbo (Burkina Faso); Mehmet Sevim (Turkey); and Azad Taghizade (Azerbaijan).

Mr. El Jamri is the Chairperson. The Vice-Chairpersons are Mr. Brillantes, Ms. Dieguez Arévalo and Mr. Taghizade. The Rapporteur is Mr. Alba.

For use of the information media; not an official record

CMW08016E