UN Committee on Migrant Workers to review Burkina Faso and Morocco 9-13 September

GENEVA, Switzerland, September 6, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- The UN Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families (CMW) is due to review Morocco and Burkina Faso from 9 - 13 September in sessions taking place at Palais Wilson, Geneva.

The Committee will engage in a dialogue with the delegations from the respective governments, and also hear from NGO representatives.

Among the issues that are likely to be discussed are:

Burkina Faso (9 -10 September) - forced labour, especially in agriculture, mining and domestic service; sexual violence against migrant women domestic workers; child labour; access to justice for migrant workers, rights of Burkina Faso migrants, including measures to prevent and combat smuggling and trafficking of the country's nationals.

Morocco (10 – 11 September) - collective expulsion of migrant workers to desert areas of Algeria and Mauritania; discrimination against migrants from Sub-Saharan countries, violence against migrants including sexual violence by members of the security forces; exploitation of migrants employed in domestic service, the rights of Moroccan migrant workers, including measures to prevent and combat smuggling and trafficking of Moroccan nationals.

The initial reports by the two countries and a full list of likely issues can be found here: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cmw/cmws19.htm

Burkina Faso and Morocco are among the 47 States Parties to the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families. States Parties are required to submit regular reports to the Committee, which is composed of 14 international independent human rights experts.

The Committee will make its concluding reports available on Friday 13 September here: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cmw/cmws19.htm