Joint Initiative by
December 18 and Migrants Rights International.
MIGRANT.NEWS, Issue
74, 1 September 2003
UN Special
Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants
The UN Special
Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants, Ms. Gabriela Rodriguez is visiting Spain from 15 until 26 September 2003. She will
be meeting with government officials and civil society in Madrid, Barcelona,
Algeciras, Tarifa, Ceuta, Melilla, Cadiz, Las Palmas and Fuerteventura.
Her trip to Morocco is scheduled from 19 until 31 October 2003. Relevant
information and materials on the situation of migrants and future migrants
should be forwarded to the Office of the
High Commissioner for Human Rights, United Nations Office at Geneva, CH-1211
Geneva 10 or emailed to webinfo@ohchr.org. Please use the UN Reporting Form
that is available on http://www.december18.net/UNreportingform.htm and indicate
in the subject line of your email message that the info is addressed to the SR
on the HR of Migrants.
The forthcoming thematic report by
the Special Rapporteur to the UN Commission on Human Rights will focus on the
situation of migrant domestic workers.
Relevant information and materials on the issue of migrant domestic workers
should be
transmitted before 30 September 2003 to the Office of the High Commissioner for
Human Rights, United Nations Office at Geneva, CH-1211 Geneva 10. In order to
facilitate the input, organizations are requested to use
enclosed questionnaire.
Migrant
Workers Convention: Creation of the Committee of Experts
The UN Convention on the Protection of the
Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (CPRMW) entered
into force on July 1, 2003.
For the purpose of reviewing the
application of the CPRMW, a Committee – also known as a Treaty Body - of 10
experts is elected 6 months after the date of the entry into force. Each State
Party has the right to nominate one person from among its own nationals. On July 3, 2003, the UN Secretary General invited all State
Parties to submit their candidates. The deadline they received is 3 September
2003. A finalized list of the nominees will be returned to all State Parties
one month before the final election of the 10 experts which is scheduled for
the second week of December 2003.
The election
The election of the members of the Committee (the experts) is held at a meeting of States Parties convened by the UN Secretary General in New York. Two thirds of the States Parties constitute a quorum. The experts elected to the Committee are the nominees who obtain the largest number of votes and an absolute majority of the votes of the representatives of the present voting States Parties. Once the Committee is set up, elections are held every second year.
The members
The members are elected as independent experts and serve in their
personal capacity for a term of four years. The term of five of the members
elected in the very first election expire at the end of two years. Immediately
at the first election, the names of these five members will be chosen by lot by
the Chairman of the meeting.
Once the Convention is ratified or acceded by 41 countries, 4
additional members will be elected. All members are eligible for re-election if
renominated.
If a member dies or resigns or declares any other cause why she or he
can no longer perform the duties of the Committee, the State Party that
nominated the expert will appoint another expert from among its own nationals
for the remaining part of the term. The new appointment is subject to the
approval of the Committee.
The members receive emoluments for UN resources on such terms and
conditions as the General Assembly decides.
Current membership in
the existing 6 treaty bodies shows two main flaws. Although independence is requested, an average of 50% of the
persons elected to treaty bodies are employed in some capacity by their
governments. In four of the 6 treaty bodies, representation of women experts is
less than 20%.
Staff and facilities
The UN Secretary General provides the necessary staff and facilities
for the effective performance of the functions of the Committee. The staff
usually consists of 2 persons.
State Party Reporting
obligations
Within the year of entry into force of the Convention, the State
Parties must submit their first a report. Thereafter every five years and
whenever the Committee so requests.
Content of the reports
States Parties must submit a report on the legislative, judicial,
administrative and other measures that give effect to the provisions of the
Convention. It must indicate factors and difficulties, in any, affecting the
implementation of the Convention and include information on characteristics of
migration flows in which the State Party concerned is involved. The Committee decides at the start of its mandate on any further
guidelines applicable to the content of the reports and on the way these
reports should be presented.
Role of NGOs
Note that the present list of State Parties do not have a good record
of submitting reports to the other Conventions they ratified or acceded. States
having ratified the Migrant Rights Convention must be reminded about their
forthcoming reporting
obligations. NGOs should try to
give direct input into the drafting process for country reports. Parallel to this, they should also
draft focused, succinct and accurate complementary background information for
the information of Committee members. States will rarely objectively indicate
the problem areas in implementing the Convention. NGO involvement should be done on the basis of strong
expertise and technical knowledge, as part of a dialogue and in a spirit of
cooperation. Treaty bodies are not tribunals and do not condemn, but they are a
unique tool for measuring respect of international obligations by governments.
NGOs have two main roles in relation to UN treaty bodies: to supply information on States
failures to respect their obligations under the relevant treaty; and to
publicize the conclusions and recommendations of the Committee at the national
level and monitor and assist their government in fulfilling those
recommendations. In order to do
this, NGOs must become thoroughly familiar with the Convention, and be ready to
commit time and mobilize resources.
States that do have problems on how to write such a report, should contact Mr. Alessio Bruni at the Office of the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights (abruni.hchr@unog.ch) to get information on possible technical support.
IMPORTANT !
Not one of the present State Parties have to-date
recognized the competence of the Committee to receive and consider individual
cases and State Party claims that another State Party is not fulfilling its
obligations under the present Convention (Articles 76 and 77, see http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/m_mwctoc.htm
). While it is very important to
continue to advocate for more ratifications, NGOs could also make it a priority
to lobby their government and others that ratified the Convention to recognize
both articles.
More information about the UN Convention can be found
at:
http://www.december18.net/UNconvention.htm
To get a good insight into the Treaty
Body system, read the following report “The UN Human Rights Treaty System: Universality at the Crossroads” by
Professor Anne F. Bayefsky on http://www.yorku.ca/hrights/
UN Committee
on Elimination of Racial Discrimination
The 63rd session of the
Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination held in August 2003
examined reports by the Governments of Albania, Bolivia, Cape Verde, the Czech
Republic, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Finland, the Republic of Korea, Latvia,
Norway, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and the United Kingdom on how they
implement the ICERD provisions. Further, the Committee adopted conclusions on
the situation in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic and in Malawi under its
review procedure which deals with countries who have never submitted a report
or whose periodic reports are seriously overdue. More information can be found on following web pages:
http://www.unog.ch/news2/documents/newsen/crd0333e.htm
http://www.unog.ch/search/startpress.asp?category=CRD&Action=Go&lang=&SearchString=Press
The 64th session of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of
Racial Discrimination (CERD) will take place in Geneva from 23 February to 12
March 2004, to examine the implementation by the
following states parties of the International Convention on the Elimination of
All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD):
A. Examination of initial or periodic
reports by Lebanon, Libyan Arab Jaramahiriya, Nepal, Spain, The Netherlands,
Brazil, Sweden, Suriname and the Bahamas.
B. Review countries (those states parties
have extremely over-due reports, and thus will be examined without updated
states' reports): Guyana, Barbados, Madagascar, Nigeria, Venezuela, Saint
Lucia and Tanzania.
Information
relevant to provisions of ICERD by NGOs, and individuals and peoples affected
by racial discrimination such as minority groups, indigenous peoples, migrants
and so forth, is crucial for the comprehensive examination by the Committee
which can lead to the adoption of useful recommendations for domestic
efforts to fight against racial discrimination. Information may be submitted in
the form of a so-called 'shadow report'. Any other forms of submission,
however, can be also useful provided that it is relevant to the Convention, and
contains reliable and updated information. Taking into account the
time that the Secretariat and/or individual members of the Committee
will need to process, absorb and study information they receive, it
is highly recommended that relevant materials be sent to the Secretariat and/or
to individual members as early as possible, preferably before January
2004. Please contact the CERD Secretariat (e-mail: nprouvez@ohchr.org), or IMADR Geneva
Office (e-mail: imadrun@iprolink.ch ) or IMADR International Secretariat
(e-mail: imadris@imadr.org) for any
questions you may have in this regard. The practical guides for NGOs interested
in ICERD/CERD are also provided in the manual jointly published by IMADR and
Minority Rights Group International. Please visit IMADR website: www.imadr.org to download the
manual.
Ms. Atsuko Tanaka,
the Geneva Representative of IMADR (International Movement Against All Forms of
Discrimination and Racism) can also be reached on the following address:
Route de Ferney, C.P.2100, 1211 Geneva 2,
Switzerland
Tel. (41 22) 791
6263
Fax (41 22) 791 64
For the UN ICERD
site, see : http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu2/6/cerd.htm
International Calendar
Conference
on Discrimination, Racism and Xenophobia
Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe:
4-5 September 2003, Vienna, Austria
Prostitution
Control and Globalisation
Pro-Sentret
5 September 2003, Oslo, Norway
http://www.prosentret.no/framsett.html
Summer
Working Group Meetings
Canadian Council for Refugees
5-8 September 2003, Montreal, Canada
http://www.web.net/~ccr/meetings.htm
Immigration,
History and Memory in Britain
De Montfort University
6-7 September 2003, Leicester, UK
http://www.dmu.ac.uk/faculties/humanities/his/HistConfHome.jsp
Violence
against women: tackling trafficking
British Council
7-12 September 2003, Codicote, UK
http://www2.britishcouncil.org/seminars-governance-0349.htm
Public
Hearing on Combatting Trafficking in Women - The Italian legislation, Best
Practice for the European Union?
Churches’ Commission for Migrants in Europe
12 September 2003, Rome, Italy
http://stranieriinitalia.com/briguglio/immigrazione-e-asilo/2003/luglio/invito-workshop-tratta.html
15th
Conference of the International Association for Research into Juvenile
Criminology: Migrations and Ethnic Minorities: Impact on Youth Crime and
Challenge for the Juvenile Justice Systems
Swiss
Forum for Migration and Population Studies
10-14 September 2003, Fribourg, Switzerland
http://www.unine.ch/fsm/congres.html
Actions
against Globalisation: 5th WTO Conference
10-14 September 2003, Cancun, Mexico
http://www.nadir.org/nadir/initiativ/agp/free/action2.htm
Healthcare
of Asylum Seeker and Refugee Women
Refugee Board
18 September 2003, London, UK
http://www.capitaconferences.co.uk/training/Conf/pdf/September/RefugeeWomen.pdf
Gaining
from Migration: A Global Perspective on Opportunities for Economic and Social
Prosperity
Metropolis International
15-19 September 2003, Vienna, Austria
http://www.metropolis2003.at/en/about.htm
International
Migration in the Americas: Immerging Issues
York University
19-20 September 2003, Toronto, Canada
http://www.yorku.ca/cerlac/Migration
Huwelijksmigratie,
een zaak van de overheid? (Marriage migration, an issue for the government?)
Stichting Gerrit Krefeld
20 September 2003, Gent, Belgium
http://users.pandora.be/samenleving-en-politiek/
Immigrant
Workers Freedom Ride
20 September – 4 October 2003, US
http://www.iwfr.org/default.asp
Workshop on Migration and Health in Asia
Asian Meta Centre for Population and Sustainable Development
Analysis
22-24 September 2003
http://www.populationasia.org/Migration%20and%20Health%20in%20Asia.htm
International Day Against the Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking of
Women and Children
23 September 2003
Regional
Expert Seminar on "Implementation of the Programme of Action adopted at
the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and
Related Intolerance: An Exchange of Ideas on How to Move Forward".
OHCHR and hosted by the Czech Republic
24-26 September 2003, Prague, Czech Republic
http://www.unhchr.ch/html/racism/noteprague.doc
http://www.unhchr.ch/html/racism/agendaprague.doc
Migraçöes: Exclusäo ou Cidadanía ? (Migrations : exclusion
or citizenship ?)
Centro Scalabriniano de Estudos Migratórios
25-27 September 2003, Brazilia, Brazil
Migrants
and Descendants: Ambivalent Legacies and New Border-Crossings in a changing
world
Association of European Migration Institutions
28 September – 1 October 2003, Lisbon, Portugal
http://www.aemi.dk/news.php3?page=87
Youth
and Migration Seminar
El Taller
29 September – 3 October 2003, Tunis, Tunisia
Working
Group of Experts on People of African Descent
29 September-10 October 2003
2nd
Balearic Congress 2015: Immigration
2 to 3 October 2003
Human
Dimension Implementation Meeting
Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights. Agenda includes
discussion on prevention of discrimination and racism, trafficking and migrant
workers).
6-17 October 2003, Warsaw
http://www.osce.org/odihr/meetings/2003/hdim/
European
Conference on Employment and the Hidden Economy
Italian Presidency of the Council of the European Union
11-12 December 2003, Italy
http://www.ueitalia2003.it/EN/Temi/OccPolSalCon/
http://www.ueitalia2003.it/EN/
END
Spanish, Italian and French version available upon
request at
myriam@december18.net
Spanish
version translated by Maria Ruiz, Spain, French version translated by Isabelle
Slinckx, Belgium and Italian version translated by Eny Giambastiani, Italy.