The UN Committee on Migrant Workers (CMW) commended Morocco’s open migration policy after its visit. During its trip, the Committee also advanced the drafting process of General Comment No. 6, a guide to the International Convention, to help States parties protect the rights of migrant workers.
A CMW Delegation of seven human rights experts visited the Kingdom of Morocco from 10 to 13 May. They met with the Speakers of the two Houses of Parliament, high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccans Living Abroad, as well as the National and Regional Commissions of the National Human Rights Council. They also held discussions with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the African Union Observatory Migration and civil society organisations.
The Committee commended Morocco’s open-door migration policy, particularly the operation of mass regularisation of more than 50,000 irregular migrants, including all irregular women migrants, decided by His Majesty Mohamed VI in 2017. It encouraged Morocco also to regularise those migrant workers who are temporarily without a valid contract for whatever reasons, to ensure they will not be left behind in irregular situations.
The experts meanwhile called on authorities to revise their migration legislation to comply with international human rights standards and adhere to those standards at borders.
Building on their meetings with various stakeholders in Morocco, the Committee advanced the drafting of General Comment 6 to provide authoritative guidance to States parties for the implementation of their obligations under the International Convention. This general comment will also assist States in implementing their commitments contained in the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) to ensure that they do not fall short of the obligations in the Convention and other international human rights instruments.
According to the Committee, the preparation of General Comment No. 6 on the convergence between the two instruments will be a great opportunity to analyse and focus on the legal and human rights-based approach of the 23 objectives of the Global Compact and the Convention.
“We firmly believe that these two instruments are complementary and mutually reinforcing in advancing migration governance and promoting and protecting the rights of all migrants, regardless of their migration status,” said Edgar Corzo Sosa, Chair of the Committee*.
“The convergence between the two instruments will be a great opportunity to better protect the rights of migrant workers on major issues such as the regular pathways for migration, regularisation of migrants and their family members, and on legislative measures concerning the rights of migrants to liberty and security, and freedom from detention,” he added.
The experts call on States to ratify the International Convention, endorse the GCM, and implement both in synergy and complementarity.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
