Welcome to the United Nations
CONTRIBUTION OF THE COMMITTEE ON MIGRANT WORKERS (CMW) TO THE HIGH-LEVEL POLITICAL FORUM ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (HLPF)
March 16, 2020
1.Today, international migration is the pivotal human phenomenon and migration policymaking has become one of the most debated and crucial areas of public administration in almost every country. Migration affects State welfare directly and above all, individual wellbeing. Therefore, it should be considered in a broader developmental context, including human rights and human development.
2.In the Document A/RES/70/1 “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” (Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on September 25, 2015) reference has been given to human dignity and equality as well as to ending poverty in all its forms. All human beings deserve these rights as they stand in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Among the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, at least 10 of them (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 10, 11, 16, 17) are overlapping issues related to international labour migration.
3.Migration policies are incorporated into national developmental strategies. In the 12th Global Forum on Migration and Development in Ecuador recently, the increasing weight of international migration in the development policies are highlighted with its numerous aspects such as civil society and private sector involvements in the sustainable development discussions. Various areas like demography, regulated access to labour markets, maintenance of social welfare and poverty reduction, health, sustainable economic development strategies – all these aspects should account for the developmental influence of international migration.
4.As already mentioned above, international migration is a social issue that deserves special attention in the context of universal human rights. Beyond the developmental issues of migration, migrants as humans should enjoy an equal treatment by its entire means in the migration-related countries. Equal treatment is the only way so that they can make a positive contribution to sustainable development.
5.There is broad consensus on the fact that international labour migration may reduce poverty for migrants and their family members, and the sending and the receiving countries. It should be, therefore perceived as a crucial key to the achieving of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). International migration has this potential in the current globalized era.
6.To take the advantage from international labour migration, safe, regular and orderly migration practice that is in compliance with the human rights of migrant workers together with the members of their families should enjoy general acceptance worldwide. The Global Compact on Safe, Regular and Orderly Migration presents a significant and progressive opportunity, although it is a soft law instrument, for the fulfilment of this goal.
7.The International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and the Members of their Families (ICRMW) from 1990 is the only binding legal instrument for the safeguarding of human rights of migrant workers. Its articles may be extended to other migrant groups for the rights contained in these articles have a universal character.
8.The Committee on Migrant Workers (CMW) as the monitoring body of the ICRMW puts the stress on the due application its articles by the State parties. Unfortunately, the ICRMW is the less ratified convention among all United Nations human rights treaties. This situation does not mean that the convention is less significant. On the contrary, the norms and standards set by the ICRMW could be groundbreaking in the migration debate and its related issues. Migration’s impacts on development must be conceived in this context.
