A/HRC/56/54 65. Restrictions on obtaining or renewing work permits can force migrants into irregular situations, unemployment or the informal economy, increasing risks of exploitation. 75 66. The lack of recognition of foreign qualifications and skills often prevents migrants from working in the fields in which they were trained, leading to underemployment and wasted potential. Difficulty in obtaining work permits and credential recognition has a disproportionate impact on women, hindering their path towards economic independence and autonomy over life and family decisions, with limited resources dedicated to the gender dimensions of migration. Many recruitment agencies, driven by their own financial incentives, place skilled and highly educated women in domestic work and discourage their attainment of further skills or higher-skilled employment in other sectors. 67. Migrants face considerable legal and practical obstacles to freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining. Temporary work contracts, long working hours, isolated workplaces, discrimination and anti-migrant attitudes, and fear of anti-union reprisals further hamper many migrants’ ability to organize or join trade unions.76 F. Access to social protections 68. All human beings, irrespective of their migration status, have economic, social and cultural rights.77 The elimination of legal, administrative and other barriers is a prerequisite for migrants to gain access to health care, education, justice and housing. By ensuring that the providers of essential services are not obliged to share information about migrants with the authorities, migrants can be treated when they are unwell, their children can continue with their education, and those who are victims of crimes can file complaints with the police, without fear of arrest or deportation. 69. Migrant workers should enjoy the same treatment as nationals. However, they often lack access to social protections, as well as to economic, social and cultural rights more broadly. This increases their dependence on employers and worsens situations of vulnerability, hindering their contributions to society. 70. Despite 645 multilateral social security agreements globally, coverage is limited primarily to countries of the global North.78 Practical barriers, such as employers’ limitations in administering benefits and burdens on migrant workers, further impede access. 79 In the context of South-South migration, deficiencies in social protection systems restrict migrants’ rights, with portability remaining a challenge. 71. Despite a significant rise in the number of countries that now accept dual citizenship, which can support integration,80 restricted access to citizenship persists in many countries, and prolonged residency is often required before complicated application processes. VI. Factors supporting migrants’ contributions 72. The Special Rapporteur was encouraged by numerous reports of initiatives to support migrants’ contributions. It is, however, important to restate that migrants are rights holders 75 76 77 78 79 80 12 Submission by Cabo Verde. See ILO, Migrant Workers’ Rights to Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining (Geneva, International Labour Office, 2023). See OHCHR, “Technical note: access to services and protection of economic, social and cultural rights” (2018); and https://www.ohchr.org/en/migration/economic-social-and-cultural-rightsmigrants-and-access-services. See Sayaka Iha, “Global Overview of International Social Security Agreements” (International Social Security Association, 2022). See ILO, Social Protection for Migrant Workers in Countries of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf: A Regional Mapping of Provisions on Paper and in Practice (Beirut, International Labour Office, 2023). See Maarten Vink, Gerard-René de Groot and Ngo Chun Luk, “Global Expatriate Dual Citizenship Dataset”, Maastricht Centre for Citizenship, Migration and Development, available at https://macimide.maastrichtuniversity.nl/dual-cit-database/. GE.24-07075