Issue 100, December 2007

Index

1. Special Contribution by Ambassador Prasad Kariyawasam, Chair UN CMW

2. News on the Migrant Workers Convention

3. International Platform (IPMWC)

4. UN News

5. International Migrants Day

6. Radio 1812

7. About December 18

1. Special Contribution by Ambassador Prasad Kariyawasam, Chair UN CMW

UN Convention on the Protection of Migrant Workers

By Ambassador Prasad Kariyawasam

Chairperson of the UN Committee on Migrant Workers

The process of globalisation has transformed States, societies, economies and cultures in all regions, making the world an increasingly integrated and inter-dependent community. With the advent of new technologies and the expansion of the global economy, new opportunities are being created all the time for people in different parts of the world. Nevertheless the impact of globalisation has been uneven and growing disparities in living conditions both within and between countries are becoming apparent. This has contributed to the increase in the scale of international migration. There are almost 200 million international migrants today. This figure is more than double that was recorded in 1980, just 25 years ago.

The International Convention on the Protection of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families is the most comprehensive international treaty dealing with rights of migrant workers. This Convention, popularly referred to as the International Convention on Migrant Workers (ICMW) is also the latest of the seven "core" international human rights treaties, which together form the United Nations human rights treaty system. Most of the rights contained in six other "core" treaties also apply to non-citizens and thus provide a basic protection for migrant workers and their families against discrimination and other violations of their fundamental human rights. The ICMW on the other hand codifies existing standards in a forward looking and a progressive manner. It complements internationally recognized labour standards, whilst specifying the application of generally recognized human rights standards to migrant workers and their families. The Convention protects the human rights of migrant workers at all stages of the migration process, in the country of origin, the country of transit and the country of employment, by clarifying obligations of the States parties.

The overarching principle of the Convention is non-discrimination. Article 1 affirms this at the outset, stating as follows:

“ The present Convention is applicable, except as otherwise provided hereafter, to all migrant workers and members of their families without distinction of any kind such as sex, race, colour, language, religion conviction, political or other opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, nationality, age, economic position, property, marital status, birth or other status.”

Although the enumeration of such grounds for distinction is illustrative and not exhaustive, it is important to note that the list in the convention is broader than those found in other human rights conventions, such as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

The Migrant Workers Convention is very comprehensive and has taken into account the emerging developments in the world.

However, despite the intrinsically progressive nature of the Convention, ratification remains far below expectations. Parties to the Convention are still predominantly labour exporting States. To date, none of the major labour receiving States in the Western hemisphere are among the current 37 parties to the Convention. It is unfortunate that no Western State has yet signed or ratified the Convention despite some of those States having actively participated in drafting the Convention and none having voted against the ICMW at the time of its adoption by consensus by the United Nations back in 1990.

As to why the Convention has met with insufficient enthusiasm on the part of many States, especially those States that usually champion human rights issues is an important question. There has been several interesting views on this matter.

One common misconception is the often expressed opinion that the Convention favours irregular migration and granting more rights to migrants would make a State more attractive to irregular migrants. On the contrary, the Convention obliges States parties to take measures to counter illegal migration. The preamble and article 35 reflect these ideals. The concept of giving rights to irregular migrant workers was inspired not only by the basic principle of respect for the dignity of all human beings, but also by the desire to discourage recourse by employers to irregular labour, by making such recruitment much less advantageous.

It is also possible that the contents of some provisions of the ICMW may be unacceptable to some States, because provision of some rights may be perceived as beyond the economic and social capacity and imperatives of a particular State. However, the Convention itself has foreseen this possibility and has provided for entering reservations to the application of certain articles. Therefore this obstacle can be overcome by a careful study of the compatibility of the domestic legislation with the rights contained in the convention, and the drafting of pertinent reservations, if necessary.

Many States may also fear the high cost of developing infrastructure for the implementation of the Convention. The Convention is a long and complex instrument that provides many rights in different fields, and the implementation therefore consequently involves many government departments, coordination of which may not be an easy task. It is also possible that some States may have only a small number of migrants and do not see a need to legislate on this complex issue and for some others the Convention is not well known and therefore not high on their political agenda. It also appears that some States are not willing to let international agreements to interfere with their domestic migration policy, viewing these policies as strictly national issues.

It is also becoming apparent that the present political climate is not very conducive to granting of rights to migrant workers. Public opinion in many receiving countries has turned against migrants who are perceived as competing in and thus a danger to local job markets. Prejudices against migrants are also aggravated by a trend to view foreigners as potential security risks. Moreover, family reunions recommended in the Convention may run counter to policy of some receiving States to diminish number of migrants and encourage only productive migrants. In these circumstances, some States may feel that the ratification of the Convention and thus recognition of rights of migrant workers, in particular irregular migrant workers within their borders would meet with opposition of society at large, and exacerbate social tensions. Some States may perceive that the State would be subject to an examination by an international body leading to an embarrassing situation of human rights violations highlighted at international level.

All these fears lack credibility. It is a matter of political will and not resource or social constraints that is holding back States on this account. This Convention is not an instrument for a more liberal immigration policy. It does not propose new set of rights specific to migrant workers. The Convention only seeks to ensure that all human rights are accorded to migrant workers too, in recognition that they are also part of our large human family.

States that already respect human rights and have ratified the other six core human rights instruments therefore have no reason to resist ratifying the ICMW as they already are bound by the provisions in those Conventions that apply to migrant workers.

The economic benefits of migration for both sending and receiving countries are increasingly becoming apparent. It has now been widely recognised that migrant workers are actively contributing to the growth and economic prosperity in receiving countries. The impact on the job market by the presence of migrant workers in receiving countries is a moot point. The World Economic and Social Review has recorded that in receiving countries, migrants only have a modest impact on wages since the increase in the supply of labour due to the arrival of migrant workers is off-set by demands for goods and services and the setting up of new businesses. Moreover, some categories of jobs avoid competition and low skilled jobs in the informal economy are mostly up for grabs by migrant workers. In addition, sustained levels of migration have been recorded as offsetting natural reduction of the working age population in many receiving countries.

On the other hand, many countries of origin in the developing world are benefiting immensely from inward remittances by migrant workers. For many developing countries such remittances have become main stays in financial inflows, even surpassing ODA and revenue from traditional exports. While the flight of skilled migrants searching for work is denounced as a “brain drain” in sending countries, it has also been observed that sending countries could benefit from the eventual return of some, who have acquired new skills, new money and therefore could help transform economies and institutions in their countries of origin.

By taking into account all aspects relating to migrant workers; it is becoming increasingly apparent that providing for human rights of the migrant workers is a win-win situation, both in economic terms as well as for giving effect to globally accepted human rights standards and values.

The Convention is a comprehensive and a progressive instrument in terms of protection of human rights of migrant workers and members of their families. It has taken into account all previous human rights norms applicable to migrant workers and integrated them, bearing in mind the ongoing trends in the world, both in terms of ever increasing mobility of people as well as the continuing emphasis on human dignity and the human rights of the individual.

In a world that is inter-dependent and that values the freedom, rights and dignity of the individual, it is essential that the international community, makes the International Convention on Migrant Workers, a universal instrument, so that all migrant workers are treated as human beings with equal rights, wherever they live and wherever they come form.

2. News on the Migrant Workers’ Convention

Status of the Convention

There are now 37 States Parties to the Migrant Workers Convention: Albania ratified the Convention on 5 June 2007.

For more information about the Convention (including updated list of ratifications and signatures) and NGO campaigns, please click here.

Committee on Migrant Workers

The seventh session of the UN Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (UN CMW) just took place in Geneva, Switzerland, from 26 to 30 November 2007. The committee adopted concluding observations on Ecuador, after examination of the State’s replies to the list of issues, and after hearing NGOs’ additional information. The Committee also started the examination of the reports from Syria and Bolivia and adopted lists of issues on both countries.

On 6 December 2007, 5 out of the 10 members of the Committee will be elected by the States Parties in New York. To see the new members, visit this page.

In April 2008, the Committee will meet for two weeks for an annual meeting (from 14 to 25 April). It will start the examination of reports from El Salvador, Azerbaijan and Bosnia & Herzegovina and will adopt lists of issues on these countries. It will also hold a Day of Celebration of the Convention on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the entry into force of the Migrant Workers’ Convention.

If you would like to submit information to the Committee on Migrant Workers on the following countries, Syria, Bolivia, El Salvador and Azerbaijan, please contact the Secretariat of the Committee, Ms. Carla Edelenbos, at CMW@ohchr.org. You can also consult the web page of the International NGO Platform on the Migrant Workers’ Convention to find more info on the way to submit information to the CMW.

3. International Platform (IPMWC)

The IPMWC participated in the Global Community Forum, the NGO event parallel to the Global Forum on Migration and Development that took place in Brussels from 9 to 11 July 2007. A report of this civil society Day will be published soon that includes important decisions for future Global Fora on Migration and Development; in particular, the Global Community Forum led to the creation of a coalition of NGOs to prepare the next Forum in Manila in 2008. Though it was not among the 200 organisations invited to take part in the official Civil Society Event on 9 July, the IPMWC also circulated a letter that was addressed to Mme. Régine De Clercq from the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and to Mr. Luc Tayart de Borms, from the King Baudouin Foundation. In this letter, the Platform expressed its concerns regarding the organisation of the Global Forum vis-à-vis civil society actors, and advocated for the respect of the international protection regime and the ratification of the Migrant Workers’ Convention.

The IPMWC held its ninth meeting in preparation of the CMW session on 22 November 2007. You can consult the draft minutes of this meeting by clicking here.

Information on the IPMWC and minutes of former meetings can be found on December 18 website (click here) or by contacting the IPMWC coordinator at ipmwc@december18.net.

4. UN News

The Human Rights Council has adopted the modalities for the Universal Periodic Review; this review will start in 2008. The calendar of the full cycle of universal review can be found here. At its next session, from 7 to 18 April 2008, the Council will review the human rights fulfilments by 16 States.

The Council also has 14 new members, elected in May 2007.

5. International Migrants Day

Please send us your information on the activities you are planning for this year’s celebration of International Migrants’ Day. They will be included in our international calendar.

As usual, we will also publish your IMD press releases and statements on our web site. So please send them to us by writing to rene@december18.net

To access the calendar click on the link: www.radio1812.net/event

6. Radio 1812

There are now over 50 radios in 24 countries that have committed to taking part in Radio 1812/2007 to celebrate International Migrants Day, and we are welcoming more ever day! We are absolutely delighted to welcome new and old participants in this year's events.

For more information on how to take part in Radio 1812 or to share any existing audio content you may have on migration, please check the Radio 1812 website at: www.radio1812.net, or contact us at: radio1812@december18.net