Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All
Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families
Thirty-seventh session
Summary record of the 531st meeting
Held at the Palais Wilson, Geneva, on Monday, 27 November 2023, at 10 a.m.
Chair:Mr. Corzo Sosa
Contents
Opening of the session
Opening statement by the representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations
Adoption of the agenda
The meeting was called to order at 10.05 a.m.
Opening of the session
The Chair declared open the thirty-seventh session of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.
Opening statement by the representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations
Mr. Ori (Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights) said that he wished to draw attention to the recent ratification of the Convention by Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Malawi and Togo. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the champion countries of the Convention and the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration should support the Committee in its efforts to increase the number of ratifications.
In the intersessional period, the Committee had held two regional consultations on its draft general comment No. 6 on the convergence of the Convention and the Global Compact: one with States parties from the Economic Community of West African States and one for Latin America. Together with the Inter-Parliamentary Union, it had also delivered an online briefing to parliamentarians to raise awareness aboutthe synergies between the Convention and the Compact. The Committee aimed to adopt draft general comment No. 6 at its current session.
During the thirty-seventh session, the Committee would consider the second periodic reports of Uruguay and Kyrgyzstan and the initial report of Sao Tome and Principe. It would also adopt lists of issues prior to reporting, under the simplified procedure, for the Gambia and Mexico and a list of issues, under the standard procedure, for Benin. Lastly, it would examine the report submitted by Chile on the follow-up to the Committee’s concluding observations (CMW/C/CHL/FCO/2).
The upcoming seventy-fifth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, on 10 December 2023, presented an important opportunity to renew the groundbreaking commitment made by States at the time of the adoption of that milestone instrument. The Declaration had inspired the many standards that had subsequently been embodied in the core human rights treaties and the optional protocols thereto, with the aim of enshrining legally binding obligations for the realization of the rights set out in the Declaration. The Sustainable Development Goals were so closely aligned with human rights that the implementation of human rights treaties had become critical to achieving the Goals and to ensuring that no one was left behind.
As part of the Human Rights 75 campaign, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights had organized a high-level event on 11 and 12 December 2023, in which the Chair and one member from each treaty body would participate. That event, alongside two side events organized by the Committee, would provide an occasion to increase the visibility of the Committee’s ratification campaign. The treaty body capacity-building programme had identified potential opportunities to achieve the ratification of the Convention by Brazil, Burundi, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ethiopia, Grenada, New Zealand, Palau, Panama, the Republic of Moldova and Uzbekistan. The broad scope of treaties could have a significant impact: governments had used treaty provisions and treaty body recommendations to advance complex societal changes that faced resistance at the national level, such as the adoption of comprehensive legislation on non-discrimination.
As the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights approached, conditions for migrants in many regions of the world remained far below those set out in that instrument. Too many migrants had died while on the move, and countless others had disappeared without trace, yet the human rights dimensions of migration were largely neglected, with the issue usually being tackled through the lens of economic development, security or border controls. Politicians used inflammatory and xenophobic rhetoric targeting migrants to help win votes, and migrants were regularly blamed for social and economic problems.
Migration was increasingly driven by multiple structural factors, including economic, professional, political, social and environmental interests, and societies were becoming more and more culturally diverse. That trend was likely to continue everywhere in the coming decades. Many people on the move fell outside the bounds of established legal protections and therefore required targeted initiatives to promote and protect their rights. Migrants might be vulnerable before, during and after migrating, as a consequence of conflict or owing to personal characteristics such as their age, sex, gender identity, ethnic, national or social origin or disability status.
The United Nations human rights mechanisms, including the Committee, were increasingly focusing their attention on climate change and environmental concerns in general. Nevertheless, reports issued by such mechanisms and reports submitted by States largely lacked a detailed analysis of the causes and consequences of the impact of climate change and other environmental issues on ethnic and racial minorities and other marginalized groups. Migrant workers, in particular those without regular status, were disproportionately affected by environmental degradation and climate change. Upholding the rights enshrined in the Convention was the best way to protect migrants from vulnerable situations, including abuse and trafficking in persons.
He called upon all States that had not yet done so to ratify the Convention.
The Chair said that it was vital to encourage more States to ratify the Convention, so as to ensure universal coverage of human rights. Contributions from non-governmental organizations and national human rights institutions were very important to the Committee’s work.
Adoption of the agenda ( CMW/C/37/1 )
The agenda was adopted.
The meeting rose at 10.30 a.m.