By Brendan Sweeney
In a world that is becoming increasingly globalised, populations can move more easily from country to country creating both opportunities for migrants and host countries as well as numerous human rights problems.
In the fourth of a series of high-level conferences organized by the Arab-European Dialogue on Human Rights for NHRIs - a network that was jointly launched by DIHR and the Jordanian National Centre for Human Rights in 2007 - key Arab and European human rights advocators met at the Hague Peace Palace in Holland on 11 March to discuss migration and to agree on common recommendations to protect migrant workers’ rights.
“We live in an increasingly globalised world which has become much more diverse and multicultural, but there is also a dark side to this. Migrants are increasingly facing discrimination - even racism - and are often perceived as competitors for scarce resources. I believe this conference will help make migrants and the societies they live in more aware of these problems and that with the help of national human rights institutions we will be able to develop strategies that better protect the rights of migrant workers and their families,” said Executive Director of the Danish Institute for Human Rights, Jonas Christoffersen.
Migrant workers make up a significant proportion of the world’s labour force. On a global basis 192 million people are estimated to be living outside of their country of birth. Unfortunately, many migrants are unaware of their human rights or unable to protect them and they often face exploitation at work – including their legal right to receive the minimum wage, their right to join a union, their rights to fair working hours, and their right to protection from discrimination.
During the three-day dialogue conference, these major concerns were discussed by 18 Arab and European National Human Rights Institutions and key international observers and UN and EU agencies such as the UNHCR, ILO and the EU Fundamental Rights Agency, with the overall aim of strengthening the human rights of migrant workers.
The network of NHRIs, which organized the Fourth Human Rights Dialogue High-Level Conference on Migrant Workers’ Human Rights, was established in close cooperation with the Jordanian and Moroccan National Human Rights Institutions, and co-sponsored by the Dutch and Danish Ministries for Foreign Affairs. So far, four high-level meetings and a number of working group meetings have been held to discuss human rights concerns such as access to information, counterterrorism measures, discrimination and migration.
Mu’ayyad Mehyar, Project Manager at DIHR for the Arab-European Dialogue is optimistic about the progress made so far:
“The future of the Arab-European Human Rights Dialogue depends on effective participation of NHRIs from both the Arab World and Europe. So far this participation has been outstanding and we are happy to see such a strong commitment from participants in the dialogue meetings, working groups, dialogue actions and project activities.”
But the Dialogue is dependent on a steady stream of information:
“For this process to succeed, it is important for NHRIs to provide regular information and updates to the working groups about their respective country situations, as well as their own activities and policies relating to the dialogue themes. And we must also remember that members of the working groups and delegates participating in the high-level dialogue meetings effectively contribute to streamlining the dialogue process when they report regularly to their own NHRIs about the activities, results, and recommendations concluded by the working groups and the high-level meetings. I am confident that partners to the Arab-European Human Rights Dialogue will continue to maintain a strong commitment to the Dialogue which in turn will ensure its success.”
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