Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All
Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families
Fortieth session
Summary record of the 591st meeting
Held at the Palais Wilson, Geneva, on Monday, 7 April 2025, at 10 a.m.
Chair:Ms. Diallo
Contents
Opening of the session
Opening statement by the representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Adoption of the agenda
The meeting was called to order at 10 a.m.
Opening of the session
1.The Chair declared open the fortieth 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 United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
2.Mr. Korkeakivi (Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights) said that, during its fortieth session, the Committee would consider the fourth periodic report of Mexico, the second periodic report of Niger and the combined initial and second periodic reports of Jamaica. It would also adopt a list of issues, under the traditional procedure, for Tajikistan, and lists of issues prior to reporting, under the simplified procedure, for Fiji, Guinea and Ecuador.
3.In addition, the Committee would hold the public launch of its general comment No. 6 (2024) on the convergent protection of the rights of migrant workers and members of their families through the Convention and the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration. He wished to congratulate the Committee for having completed work on the general comment, which it had formally adopted during its thirty-eighth session and which, he hoped, would guide States in the synergic implementation of both international instruments in a human rights-compliant manner. In fact, the Global Compact envisaged comprehensive, human rights-based responses to the opportunities and challenges that migration posed, and the general comment urged States to ensure that their laws, policies and practices effectively addressed the root causes of rising migration flows. The Committee was rightly concerned that discussions on irregular migration often focused on security and strict border controls, with the aim of curbing migration. Yet, repressive measures risked exceeding the scope of good migration governance and contributing to intolerance and xenophobia.
4.The Committee’s initiative with the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination to elaborate a joint general comment on xenophobia and discrimination served as an excellent example of collaboration between treaty bodies. The process had entailed important regional-level dialogues conducted between September and November 2024 in collaboration with regional offices of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and of the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
5.Contemporary migration was an increasingly complex phenomenon and migrants, notably those in an irregular situation, were disproportionately vulnerable to abuses and violations. Yet the human rights dimensions of migration remained widely neglected. OHCHR particularly valued the importance the Committee attached to the issue of enforced disappearance in the context of migration. Regular migration pathways had failed to respond to migration trends, often pushing migrants towards hazardous irregular routes where they were exposed to violence, abuse and even death. Nearly 9,000 people had died on migration routes worldwide in 2024, making it the deadliest year on record, according to IOM.
6.Increasing the ratifications of the Convention from the current number of 60 remained a top priority. Notably, none of the European Union member States had yet signed or ratified. OHCHR had recently called for a joint action plan with IOM and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to raise awareness among non-ratifying States, particularly focusing on the advantages they could gain from ratification.
7.In addition to facing chronic resource constraints, the treaty body system was also being impacted by the ongoing liquidity crisis affecting the United Nations, an issue that the treaty body Chairs had communicated forcefully to Member States and other interlocutors in New York in 2024. OHCHR was doing its utmost to ensure that the treaty bodies could continue to implement their mandates, also by highlighting the direct impact that resource limitations had on human rights protection on the ground. Nonetheless, all indications pointed to a continuation of the difficult liquidity situation for the foreseeable future.
8.Despite the resource constraints and the liquidity crisis, the treaty body strengthening process remained active, and the General Assembly had adopted its biennial resolution on the treaty body system in December 2024. The resolution enjoined greater coordination and predictability in the reporting process, with the aim of achieving a regularized reporting schedule, and greater use of digital technologies. However, it did not endorse certain proposals made by the Chairs, such as for an eight-year predictable schedule of reviews.
9.On Human Rights Day 2024, the Human Rights Platform of the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, in cooperation with the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, had organized an informal meeting on working methods with the Chairs and focal points of the treaty bodies, who had also met with Member States and other stakeholders. The meeting focused on issues of common concern, such as the independence of experts, and on ensuring an “all mechanisms” approach to the many challenges the human rights system was facing.
10.Mr. Corzo Sosa said that not only had the Committee’s general comment No. 6 been adopted, the joint general comment on xenophobia and discrimination that it was developing with another treaty body was at an advanced stage. He hoped that other Committees would also pursue joint initiatives, in order to strengthen the treaty body system.
11.The Committee had been feeling the impact of the United Nations liquidity crisis which had entailed, inter alia, fewer staff and tighter constraints on interactions with civil society. It was important to make the Committee’s concerns in that regard more widely known and to establish a course of action for the coming period. For their part, the treaty bodies had done what they could and made the sacrifices demanded of them. It was now up to States to meet the challenge and to take effective action to strengthen the treaty body system.
12.Mr. Korkeakivi said that, ultimately, the problem of resources was one that Member States had to resolve. For his part, he wished to express his appreciation and recognition for the work the Committee and other treaty bodies had been able to carry out despite long-term resource constraints coupled, more recently, with the liquidity crisis. All sides had to cooperate transparently to ensure adequate and predictable resources across the treaty body system.
Adoption of the agenda (CMW/C/40/1)
13. The agenda was adopted.
The meeting rose at 10.20 a.m.