Conditions for migrants globally has got worse, says UN

Migrants face increasingly harsh conditions around the world, from exploitation in the workplace to frequent episodes of xenophobia or racism to detention if their status is irregular, a UN human rights expert has said.

Gabriela Rodríguez Pizarro, the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, said today that the phenomenon of people smuggling was also worsening, and driven by criminal organisations.

In a report to the General Assembly on her work between August 2003 and August this year, Ms Rodríguez Pizarro stated there has been "a continuing deterioration in the human rights situation of migrants".

The rights of migrants were being ignored during debates in countries about immigration policy. Countries around the world must now ratify the global conventions protecting the rights of migrant workers and their families and outlawing the illegal trafficking of people, she added.

The Special Rapporteur also called for the overhaul of traditional ways of managing migration, saying they were no longer effective in an "increasingly globalised world where people in poor States can see obvious and large disparities in wealth and development".

Welcoming some initiatives that promote public consultation in the framing of migration policy, Ms Rodríguez Pizarro said that countries should share responsibility for accepting and dealing with migrants, rather than treating the issue as one of internal security or specific economic interests.

(gmcg/mb)