Highlighting the need to ensure better protection of migrant rights worldwide, three specific events within the three-week session of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) focused specifically on migrants, including discussions on detention, the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) and migrant domestic workers.

“For my part,” stated UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms. Navanethem Pillay in her opening address to the panel discussion on migrant rights, “I miss no opportunity to highlight that the plight of migrants, and particularly migrants in an irregular situation, is one of today’s most critical human rights challenges. Promoting a human rights-based approach to migration will be one of the priorities of my Office for the next biennium. In this framework, one of our tasks is ensuring that immigration control does not compromise human rights.”

Following the HC’s opening statement, panel speakers spoke out against arbitrary detention—especially against children, women and the elderly—and called for improvement in the treatment of these vulnerable migrants. NGO Representative, Mr. William Gois, stressed that the recent increase in detention worldwide “must cease immediately.”

In a side event on the Global Forum on Migration and Development—which is being held in Athens this November—concerns and challenges were raised by a panel consisting of Representatives from the Permanent Mission of Mexico, Migrant Rights International, and overseas foreign workers. While some expressed concerns that the GFMD process takes place outside of the UN, others, including ICMC, stressed that the limited space allowed for NGO engagement generates questions on how to best organize the valuable contributions from Civil Society.

An additional side event focused on the situation of migrant workers in the Middle East region, with a special focus on Lebanon. Representatives who work for the rights of migrants workers in Lebanon and India shared their stories from the field, stressing that domestic work is a form of slavery. They further underscored that migrant domestic workers, which often include children, are frequently forced into domestic work through trafficking, and become victims of sexual, physical and emotional abuse.

ICMC actively engaged in each of the migrant-related events at the Human Rights Council, providing input on key questions, concerns and issues.