DUSHANBE, April 4, 2011, Asia-Plus — The Human Rights Center public association has begun work on preparing an alternative report for the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families (CMW).
Ms. Nodira Abdulloyeva, labor migration program coordinator, Human Rights Center, says the Center plans to hold meetings with representatives of non-government sectors in Russia and Kazakhstan and prepare its own report on the observance of rights of migrant workers and members of their families.
“Preparation of the alternative report is one of important directions of activities of public associations on protection of rights of labor migrants at the national and international levels,” she noted.
Tajikistan submitted its first report on the process of implementation of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families to the Committee in 2010.
According to Abdulloyeva, the Committee will probably examine Tajikistan’s national report in autumn this year or in spring 2012. “Therefore, we plan to complete the alternative report in late summer this year,” the labor migration program coordinator said.
“The national report does not describe all problems facing labor migrants and we want to display these problems in our report and give the government recommendations on improving the situation regarding the observance of rights of migrant workers and their families,” Abdulloyeva noted.
One of such problems is lack of state-run information and resource centers for labor migrants in Tajikistan. “Such centers function at NGOs, but the state must have its own information structure and it will be more efficient,” she added.
Tajikistan ratified the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families in 2002 and it took effect in 2003.
The Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families (CMW) is the body of independent experts that monitors implementation of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families by its State parties. It held its first session in March 2004.
All States parties are obliged to submit regular reports to the Committee on how the rights are being implemented. States must report initially one year after acceding to the Convention and then every five years. The Committee will examine each report and address its concerns and recommendations to the State party in the form of “concluding observations”.
The Committee will also, under certain circumstances, be able to consider individual complaints or communications from individuals claiming that their rights under the Convention have been violated once 10 States parties have accepted this procedure in accordance with Article 77 of the Convention.
The Committee meets in Geneva and normally holds two sessions per year. The Committee also organizes days of general discussion and can publish statements on themes related to its work and interpretations of the content of the provisions in the Convention (general comments).
