New international initiative on migrant’s rights
-22/04/05
As political parties come in for increasing criticism from church groups and agencies over their rhetoric and policies on immigration and asylum, several Christian groups have been involved in setting up a new initiative to work for migrant’s rights.
The ‘NGO Platform on the Migrant Workersí Convention’ invoves agencies including Franciscans International, International Catholic Migration Commission, Jesuit Refugee Service, and the World Council of Churches.
The Platform aims at facilitating the promotion, implementation and monitoring of the United Nations Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (ìthe Conventionî).
It is a civil society initiative to encourage and facilitate non-governmental involvement in the monitoring of the implementation of the core international human rights treaty.
The Platform will also engage with the other United Nations treaty supervisory bodies from a migrantsí rights perspective.
The Platform has received the support of the newly established UN Committee of independent experts set up to monitor the implementation of the Convention.
The Platform works through close cooperation with other partner and interested non-governmental organisations based in the countries that have ratified the Convention.
Any non-governmental organisation working or planning to work on the protection of the human rights of migrant workers is welcome to join the IPMWC as a member.
The groups involved in the initiative are: Amnesty International, Anti-Slavery International, December 18, FÈdÈration Internationale des Ligues des Droits de líHomme, Franciscans International, International Catholic Migration Commission, Jesuit Refugee Service, Migrant Rights International, Organisation mondiale contre la torture, International Movement Against All Forms of Discrimination and Racism, Public Services International and the World Council of Churches