A/78/180 63. Mauritania is a country of transit and destination for Senegalese migrant workers. The National Confederation of Senegalese Workers has established a centre for prospective Senegalese migrants seeking employment in Mauritania or Europe in Nouakchott, and a call centre in Dakar that provides specialized assistance to domestic workers, most of whom are migrant women. It also receives complaints from domestic workers and facilitates employment-related issues and acts as a dispute resolution office. 81 E. Conclusions and recommendations 64. Increasingly, States are turning to temporary migration schemes or programmes to facilitate regular labour migration, and many seek explicitly or implicitly also to reduce irregular migration and the harmful realities associated with it. However, the restrictions inherent in these schemes create situations of vulnerability for migrants which actually drive them into irregularity. For example, migrants’ lack of control over the timing of their return from these programmes may drive some to move into irregular status rather than return at the end of their contract, in particular if they have developed social relationships, or if conditions in their country of origin became unfavourable due to climate change or political or economic turmoil. For those who have experienced exploitation or abuse, workplace injury, unpaid work or debt bondage, return may not be a viable option until debts are paid, or documentation procured. 65. Many such temporary pathways are incompatible with States’ human rights obligations. Workers usually take up fixed-term, low-wage work in sectors such as agriculture, construction, care work or the service industry. The temporary nature of these programmes structures the lived realities for these migrants so that they remain cut off from permanent supports and networks. Their framing as temporary is used to justify substandard “temporary” housing and a myriad of restrictions on a range of human rights, even in cases of protracted or “permanently temporary” migration whereby migrant workers migrate repeatedly through the same programme for decades, many for their whole (working) life, typically separated from their families. Even in situations where the labour needs that they are fulfilling are permanent, migrant workers in these programmes are usually excluded from pathways to permanent stay or citizenship. 66. There is a need for new mechanisms and permanent pathways that will protect migrant workers in countries of employment, regardless of status. They must be able to access decent work in safe environments free from discrimination and exploitation and have their labour and human rights protected wherever they are living and working. 67. It is the responsibility and obligation of States to institutionalize rights based migration governance, guided by the principle of non-discrimination for all workers (in areas such as pay, deductions for housing or transportation, access to rights, social protection and health-care insurance). 68. The Special Rapporteur calls upon States and other stakeholders to: (a) Strengthen and extend domestic labour protection to all migrant workers – regardless of their status – including in relation to minimum wages, payment for overtime, working hours, working conditions, days of rest, annual leave, freedom of association, social security protection (i.e., parental leave, __________________ 81 23-13823 ILO, “Centres for migrants in Senegal and Mauritania”, Good Practices database. Available at www.ilo.org/dyn/migpractice/migmain.showPractice?p_lang=en&p_practice_id=141 . 19/21