Ensuring Respect For & Protection of Migrants

By an IPS Correspondent Reprint | | Print |

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 20 2013 (IPS) - Despite a wide legal framework for the protection of migrants, and a wide range of international, regional and national organisations and institutions dedicated to safeguarding their rights, migrants continue to experience violence, abuse and exploitation, according to a panel discussion Wednesday.

“There is a sufficient normative framework in place, the issue is the implementation gap,” said François Crépeau, U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants, at a round table discussion on measures to ensure respect for and protection of the human rights of all migrants..

The most comprehensive legal instrument on the human rights of migrants, the U.N. Convention on the Protection of the Rights of all Migrants Workers and Members of their Families (ICRMW), has not been widely ratified. None of the 46 states which have ratified the Convention is a major developed country of destination for migrants. Also, because of a lack of political will, capacity, and resources, some states do not deliver the rights contained in the legal instruments to which they are party.

Christian Salazar Volkmann, deputy director, Programme Division of United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), insisted on protection needs of all children in the context of migration: “A child is, first and foremost, a child. The fundamental rights of children are not tied to their nationality. This means that under international law, children affected by international migration are entitled to the full enjoyment of their rights, regardless of their status.”

He added: “The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is a powerful tool for advancing the rights of children affected by migration. In addition to legislatives and policy reform processes, the CRC Committee has recommended that periodic reporting mechanisms should be used by States and civil society to evaluate more systematically the implementation of the Convention.”

Panelists also stressed the global trend of criminalisation of migration. “We must use adequate terminology” to avoid negative stereotypes; “irregular migration is a correct term and it is not a crime,” said Crépeau.

He concluded by pointing out some of the measures to ensure the protection of human rights of migrants: “We need to decriminalise irregular entry or stay, to move away from detention, to ensure the protection of human rights of children at every stage and the enjoyment of social and cultural rights including education and housing for all migrants.”