MEETING OF STATES PARTIES TO CONVENTION ON MIGRANT WORKERS’ RIGHTS ELECTS OFFICERS, FIVE COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Second Meeting of States Parties

to Convention on Migrant Workers

2^nd Meeting (AM)

MEETING OF STATES PARTIES TO CONVENTION ON MIGRANT WORKERS’ RIGHTS

ELECTS OFFICERS, FIVE COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Number of Migrant Workers Currently Estimated at over 185 Million Worldwide

The meeting of States Parties to the Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families elected a Chairperson, two Vice-Chairpersons and five Committee members, as it held its second meeting at Headquarters this morning.

The Convention, which entered into force on 1 July 2003, seeks to prevent and eliminate the exploitation of migrant workers.  It provides a set of binding international standards to address the treatment, welfare and human rights of both documented and undocumented migrants, as well as obligations and responsibilities of sending and receiving States.

States parties report to the 10-member Committee on the Protection of the Rights of all Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families on steps they have taken to implement the Convention within a year of its entry into force for the concerned States, and thereafter every five years.  Under the treaty, a State party may recognize the Committee’s competence to receive communications from individuals within that State’s jurisdiction, who claim their rights have been violated.

Opening today’s meeting, Bacre Waly Ndiaye, Director of the New York Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, noted that the number of States that had ratified or acceded to the Convention had increased from 24 to 34.  The increase was encouraging, but States parties came predominantly from three regional groups, and the Convention could only be effective in protecting migrant workers’ rights when it represented all regions.  His Office would continue promoting the Convention through its drive for universal ratification, the Steering Committee on the Promotion of Ratification of the Convention, the Geneva Migration group and its Secretariat.

He added that the Committee had received initial reports from Mali and Mexico, but that 25 other States were now overdue in presenting them.  The Committee could only demonstrate its relevance to present-day migrant situations by considering States’ reports and applying the Convention.  States should present their reports without delay, and also recognize the Committee’s ability to consider communications from other States parties and individuals on violations to the Convention.

Mali’s representative observed that the number of migrant workers had risen from 175 million in 2003 to its current figure of more than 185 million, and that almost all nations now acted as origin, destination or transit points.  Stressing that the Convention was a vital tool in promoting migrant rights, he said the General Assembly’s 2006 high-level dialogue on international migration should determine how to take advantage of its benefits, and minimize its negative effects.

The meeting’s new Chairperson Fayssal Mekdad ( Syria), was then elected by acclamation.  Next, the meeting adopted its agenda and elected, by acclamation, Abdallah Baali ( Algeria) and Silvia Espindora ( Ecuador), as Vice-Chairpersons.

Following those actions, it elected by secret ballot, Mehmet Sevim (Turkey), Prasad Kariyawasam (Sri Lanka), Anamaria Dieguez Arevalo (Guatemala), Jose Serrano Brillantes (Philippines), and Azad Taghizade (Azerbaijan) to replace five members of the Committee whose terms of office would expire on 31 December 2005.

The Committee’s current members include Jose Serrano Brillantes ( Philippines), Anamaria Dieguez Arevalo ( Guatemala), Arthur Shatto Gakwandi ( Uganda), Prasad Kariyawasam ( Sri Lanka), Azad Taghizade ( Azerbaijan), Francisco Alba ( Mexico), Franciso Carrion-Mena ( Ecuador), Ana Elizabeth Cubias Medina ( El Salvador), Ahmed Hassan El-Borai ( Egypt), and Abdelhamid El Jamri ( Morocco).

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For information media • not an official record