MIGRANT NEWS, Issue 87, 21 March 2005
European week against racism
(14 - 22 March 2005)
http://www.united.non-profit.nl/pages/act05arw.htm
UN Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (UN CMW)
The next session of the new Treaty Body is scheduled from 25 to 29 April 2005. It will be held at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights at the Palais Wilson in Geneva, Switzerland.
The most important issue on the agenda is the elaboration of the rules of procedures vis-à-vis the State Parties reports and the NGO submissions.
No country reports have been deposited to date. Reports submitted between now and the upcoming Committee session will be reviewed during the December 2005 session. The exact date will be confirmed during the April session.
NGOs are welcome to attend the public sessions as observers. No official accreditation to the UN is necessary but they need to inform the Secretary of the Committee at least one week before the start of the opening session. Representatives of International NGO Platform on the Migrant Workers’ Convention (IPMWC) were informed that there will again be a special session with the NGOs. Such a session usually takes one morning. NGOs get the opportunity to make a statement and to discuss some specific issues, depending the available time and the interest by the Committee Members.
The Secretary for the Committee is Ms. Carla Edelenbos.
Email: cedelenbos@ohchr.org,
Fax: 0041 22 917 90 1
Tel: 0041 22 91792 41
Postal address:
United Nations
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
Secretary for the Committee on the Protection
of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and
Members of Their Families
Palais des Nations
CH-1211 Geneva 10
Switzerland
Office address:
Palais Wilson
52 Rue de Paquis
CH-1201 Geneva 10
Switzerland
International NGO Platform on the Migrant Workers’ Convention (IPMWC)
With the entry into force on July 1, 2003 of the UN Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, civil society members of the Steering Committee for the Global Campaign for ratification of the Convention started exploring ways to facilitate the implementation and monitoring of the Migrant Workers’ Convention and the follow-up of the recommendations on migrant workers’ rights by the six other Treaty Bodies. It resulted in the creation of an NGO Platform that aims at strengthening the capacities of NGOs active both at the UN level and those working on the promotion and protection of migrant workers’ rights in the States Parties. The International NGO Platform on the Migrant Workers’ Convention (IPMWC) will be launched officially on 18 April 2005.
A Guide for Non-Governmental Organisations on the Implementation of the Migrant Workers’ Convention, drafted by December 18 for the IPMWC, is presently being edited by the International Catholic Migration Commission and Amnesty International. It will be made available online in English, Spanish and French for the launch of the Platform. Printed versions are scheduled following the Committee session. The NGO Guide is made possible thanks to the financial support of Inter Pares (Canada), NOVIB (The Netherlands) and UNESCO (France).
For information on the IPMWC and on NGO access to the Treaty Body, please contact December 18.
Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD)
The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination held its 66th Session from 21 February to 11 March 2005 in Geneva. Among the various concerns expressed by CERD in its concluding observations, the following relate to migrants:
Australia
http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cerd/docs/CERD.C.AUS.CO.14.pdf
Mandatory detention of undocumented migrants and the denial of access to social security for a two-year period upon entry.
Azerbaijan
http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cerd/docs/CERD.C.AZE.CO.4.pdf)
Persisting discrimination in the areas of employment, education, housing and health.
France
http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cerd/docs/CERD.C.FRA.CO.16_En.pdf
Persisting discrimination in the areas of employment, education, housing and health.
Ireland
http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cerd/docs/CERD.C.IRL.CO.2.pdf
Exploitation of foreign workers by some employers and the violations of labour regulations prohibiting discrimination. Absence of special detention facilities for undocumented migrants awaiting deportation and instances of discriminatory treatment during security checks at airports.
Luxembourg
http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cerd/docs/CERD.C.LUX.CO.13_En.pdf
Equal enjoyment of the right to adequate housing is not sufficiently protected. Number of non-nationals who are illegally employed, risk abuse of their rights.
The CERD encouraged Ireland and Luxembourg to ratify the Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families.
To find out if and how the six treaty bodies cover the human rights of migrants, ICMC and December 18 reviewed their concluding observations and recommendations from a migrants’ rights perspective. It resulted in a joint paper entitled “The UN Treaty Monitoring Bodies and Migrant Workers: a Samizdat”, which is available:
in English
http://www.december18.net/web/docpapers/doc1940.doc
and in Spanish (NEW!)
http://www.december18.net/web/docpapers/doc2522.doc
(all annexes are in English)
UN Commission on Human Rights
The sixty-first session of the Commission on Human Rights (March 14 - April 22, 2005) is taking place at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. The first four days covered contributions by dignitaries from various countries. Protection of migrant’s rights was mentioned by the representatives of Mexico, Uruguay, Croatia, Honduras, Nicaragua, Cuba, Slovenia and the OSCE.
Full web site:
Daily briefs of the discussions are only available in English and can be read on this page.
Audio files of the sessions are available on this page.
Item 14 - Special groups and individuals: Migrant workers - is scheduled to be discussed during the fourth or fifth week (07/04 to 11/04).
REPORTS
The reports by Ms. Gabriela Rodríguez, Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants, are available on page 8 of 9 on this site.
- E/CN.4/2005/85 - 27 December 2004
General report on her activities in the past year, on racism and discrimination, on migrant women and unaccompanied minors
Available in English, Spanish, French, Arabic, Chinese and Russian
- E/CN.4/2005/85/Addendum 1
Communications sent to Governments and replies received
Available in English and Spanish
- E/CN.4/2005/85/Addendum 2
Visit to Iran
Available in English, Spanish, French, Arabic, Chinese and Russian
- E/CN.4/2005/85/Addendum 3
Visit to Italy
Available in English, Spanish, French, Arabic, Chinese and Russian
- E/CN.4/2005/85/Addendum 4
The report on her visit of Peru is not yet available online.
RESOLUTIONS
The draft resolutions are not available online yet. Following the entry into force of the UN Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, the resolution on the Convention became a bi-annual one. It will only be considered in 2006. The resolution on the rights of migrants will ask for the renewal of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants. The mandate of the Special Rapporteur (SR) on the Human Rights of Migrants was created in 1999 by the Commission. It was extended for a further three years by the Commission in 2002, at its 58th session (Res. 2002/62). It is expected to be renewed for another three years. In addition, as the current mandate holder, Ms. Gabriela Rodríguez, fulfilled two mandates of three years, she cannot be renominated. Following consultations with representatives of the five UN regional groupings of states, the Chairperson of the Commission will appoint a new candidate for Special Rapporteur. Both the extension of the mandate and the nomination of the new expert have to be endorsed by the Economic and Social Council at its session in July before the appointment becomes final.
The mandate focuses on human rights violations of a vulnerable group and is not a mechanism on general migration issues. As per the resolution creating the mandate, the SR is appointed to “formulate appropriate recommendations to prevent and remedy violations of the human rights of migrants”. In view of the low level of ratification and support for the Convention, it is essential that the new SR has a strong international human rights legal background and practical knowledge of the other six core international human rights treaties in order to address those violations.
European Parliament and the Migrant Workers’ Convention
The European Parliament called in its resolution for the 61st session of the UN Commission on Human Rights on the Member States to ratify the UN Migrant Workers' Convention and to support the universal ratification thereof. It also calls on the EU to strongly support the renewal of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants (P6_TA-PROV(2005)0051 – 24 February 2005).
See: http://www.december18.net
EC Green Paper on how to manage economic migration
The European Commission released in January 2005 a Green Paper launching a public consultation on how to manage economic migration at EU level. NGOs and other stakeholders are invited to respond in writing by 15 April 2005. These contributions and a public hearing taking place later in the year will feed into a policy action plan to be presented by the Commission by the end of 2005.
See:
Member organizations of the European Platform on Migrant Workers’ Rights (EPMWR) organised in different EU Member States meetings to discuss their input. Their contributions and a joint statement by the EPMWR will be made available on the December 18 website as of mid April.
Petition: Sign the call for European ratifications of the UN MWC!
December 18 takes the opportunity to call for European ratifications of the UN MWC and invites all non-governmental organizations to join.
This should be done by signing the following statement and returning it by email to info@december18.net by April 13, 2005.
Please disseminate this call to your member and partner organizations all over the world. The call and signatures will be handed over to the European Commission with reference to the Green paper on economic migration, to the cabinet of EU Commissioners Frattini (Justice, Freedom and Security) and Spidla (Employment and Social Affairs) and to the Member States. The call and signatures will also be shared with the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights, Louise Arbour, who will be visiting the EU at the end of April.
In light of the current debate on EU labour migration policy, we express our full support for the call by December 18 to the EU Member States to ratify the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.
We call upon the European institutions to assure a rights-based approach to EU labour migration policy and to encourage the Member States to ratify the seventh core international human rights treaty.
Name of your organization:
Name and title of the person who is signing:
Country:
Email address:
Campaigns
Action in Italy for an Italian ratification of the UN MWC and for European citizenship:
http://www.arci.it/Scripts/magazzino/notiziamagazzino.exe?Id=2752
Status of the UN Convention on the Protection of the Rights of all Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families
To date, there are 27 ratifications and 16 signatures.
For more about the Convention (including updated list of ratifications and signatures) and NGO campaigns, please view:
International Migrant’s Day
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You are organizing an event to celebrate the International Migrant's Day on 18 December 2005 and wish to use the international IMD logo, we will adapt it to your needs! Contact us at info@december18.net.
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European Week against racism (14 to 22 March 2005)
http://www.united.non-profit.nl/pages/act05arw.htm
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Published by December 18 vzw
Contact: info@december18.net
Written by Myriam De Feyter (December 18)
Contributions received from Isabelle Slinckx (December 18) and Mariette Grange (ICMC)
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