The UN Committee on Migrant Workers (CMW) has released its “General Comment No.6” on the convergence between the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of Migrant Workers and the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration. The purpose of the General Comment is to explore linkages between the Convention and the Compact, which overlap in important ways despite some key divergences, as well as to provide guidelines on how to implement the Compact in light of existing human rights norms.
In 2022, the GDP and our partner Migrant-Rights.org provided both written and oral interventions during the drafting stages. Many of the GDP’s recommendations are explicitly referenced in the final document. These include:
- Reaffirming the norm against detention of children, going beyond the Compact’s suggestion to “work towards” ending this practice.
Paragraph 74, General Comment: “States should cease detaining children, families and other migrants in vulnerable situations.”
- Re-emphasising the importance of decriminalising immigration status violations, which the Compact fails to do.
Paragraph 50, General Comment: “The committee believes that irregular migration should not be subject to criminal penalties.”
- Reaffirming the primacy of the human rights framework and affirming that the Compact and its related mechanisms do not replace or displace this framework.
Paragraph 5, General Comment: “The Committee submits this General Comment in order to reaffirm that, without prejudice to the legal nature of regional and global agreements on migration governance, full compliance with applicable international human rights instruments must always be ensured.”
Paragraph 6, General Comment: “The guidelines provided are based on the Committee’s practices and deliberations on the nature and scope of the two instruments, taking into account the convergence that occurs between certain common aspects, bearing in mind that States’ efforts to harmonize and implement the Global Compact must be consistent with the obligations contained in the Convention.” (Emphasis added.)
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Committee on Migrant Workers: “General comment No. 6 (2024) on the convergent protection of the rights of migrant workers and members of their families through the Convention and the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration”
GDP Oral Submission: Statements Concerning the CMW’s General Comment No.6 on the Convergence Between the Global Compact for Migration and the Convention
GDP Written Submission: Submission to the UN Committee on Migrant Workers – General Comment No.6 on the Convergence of the International Convention on the Rights of Migrant Workers and the Global Compact for Migration
