MIGRANT NEWS, Issue 88, 10 July 2005
General Discussion Day on “Protecting the rights of all migrant workers as a tool to enhance development”
At its second session, held from 24 to 29 April 2005, the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families decided that it will hold a Day of General Discussion focusing on the topic “Protecting the rights of all migrant workers as a tool to enhance development”. The discussion will take place on Thursday 15 December 2005 during the third session of the Committee at the United Nations Office in Geneva.
Discussing this topic will enable the Committee to make a contribution to the High Level Dialogue of the General Assembly in 2006 on the relationship between international migration and development (A/RES/58/208) and to highlight the human rights approach in this respect. The Committee’s discussions will be public and Government representatives as well as United Nations bodies and specialized agencies, intergovernmental organizations, non-governmental organizations and individual experts are welcome to participate.
The Committee encourages participation by non-governmental organisations and the submission of written contributions or case studies.
Details about the programme, on how to submit your written contributions and on how to register can be found on the following web page: http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cmw/mwdiscussion.htm (no translations in French and Spanish available yet).
The third formal session of the Committee will be held from 12 to 16 December 2005 in Geneva, Switzerland. Non-governmental organizations are welcome to attend. To register, please contact the CMW Secretariat at CMW@ohchr.org.
Migrant Workers’ Convention now also online available in Turkish!
The text of the Migrant Workers’ Convention can now be found on the December 18 website in Turkish, as well as Albanian, Bahasa (Indonesia), Dutch, English, French, Georgian, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. To view the Convention in Turkish, please go to http://www.december18.net/web/docpapers/doc2692.doc
Focus 2005 Treaty Event: Responding to Global Challenges
The United Nations’ Focus 2005 Treaty Event is scheduled from 14 to 16 September 2005 at the UN Headquarters in New York. During this event, UN member states are invited to deposit their instruments of ratification for 31UN Multilateral Treaties responding to Global Challenges, including the Migrant Workers’ Convention.
PACE Resolution 1437: Migration and Integration
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe passed in April 2005 resolution 1437, entitled ‘Migration and integration: a challenge and opportunity for Europe. This resolution reiterates that that governments must guarantee respect for human rights as codified by the European Convention on Human Rights. In particular, paragraph 9C of the resolution calls on the Council of Europe member states to ‘recognise immigrants as persons with fundamental human rights, the respect of which must be ensured in full conformity with international and regional human rights instruments including the provisions of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of all Migrant Workers and Members of their Families which member states are urged to ratify and implement’.
The text of the resolution may be viewed at:
ILO Conventions on Migrant Workers’s Rights
The ILO adopted two conventions on migration and the protection of migrants.
The ILO Migration for Employment Convention no. 97 deals with international migration for employment and calls for free and accurate information for migrants. Its major provisions include non-discrimination in wages, benefits and social security, and union activities.
http://www.ilo.org/ilolex/cgi-lex/convde.pl?C097
This Convention is ratified by 43 countries. The latest one was deposited by Albania on 2 March 2005. While this Convention was ratified in the fifties by 7 of today's EU Member states, the ratification rate in Europe remains low. No Asian country has adhered to it to date. The State Parties are mostly Latin American and African countries.
The ILO Migrant Workers 'Supplementary Provisions' Convention 143 deals with migrations in abusive conditions and the promotion of equality of opportunity and treatment of migrant workers. It calls upon member nations to "seek to determine whether there are illegally employed migrant workers on its territory." ILO 143 also calls for employer sanctions and penalties for traffickers, equality of treatment in wages, social security and other benefits for unauthorized migrants who are employed.
http://www.ilo.org/ilolex/cgi-lex/convde.pl?C143
Convention no. 143 has today 18 ratifications, including ratifications by Norway, Portugal, Italy, Cyprus, San Marino, Sweden, Spain and Slovenia. The latest ratification was deposited by Serbia and Montenegro on 24/11/2000. Also here, no Asian countries have ratified and Venezuela is the only Latin American country that has done so. Except for Macedonia, all remaining State Parties are African.
About the ILO and Migrant Workers:
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/dialogue/actrav/genact/socprot/migrant/
For more information about the ILO’s policies on international labour migration, please view:
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/protection/migrant/
Published by December 18 vzw
Contact: info@december18.net
The Spanish, Italian, and French versions are available upon request.
Spanish version translated by Elisa Starkof, December 18, Argentina
French version translated by Catherine Thomas, December 18, France
Italian version translated by Eny Giambastiani, December 18, Italy