E/CN.4/2002/94
page 10
both commercial and private services to offset the effects of an aging population. But the flows
of migrants are still poorly managed and regulated, and there has been an alarming increase in
international networks smuggling migrants, exposing them to grave modern forms of human
rights violation.
26.
The Special Rapporteur also observes that victims of trafficking continue to be penalized
despite the ordeals they undergo, while in the great majority of countries the criminal trafficking
networks still operate with impunity. She also remarks that migrants are in a precarious situation
in transit countries, where they face capture, detention and expulsion. She is concerned at the
lack of protective mechanisms in those countries: countries of origin must negotiate with transit
and receiving countries to guarantee respect for their citizens’ rights.
27.
At the eighty-second session of the Council of the International Organization for
Migration (IOM), the Special Rapporteur identified the regulation of migratory flows and action
to combat smuggling in migrants from the countries of origin as the main challenge for the
coming century. She also remarked that it was increasingly incumbent on States to protect
migrants’ rights and tackle the question of protection as an integral part of migration control.
She emphasized that the protection of migrants’ rights cannot be viewed out of context, but
should rather be regarded as an issue that cuts across and relates to all aspects of migration
management and control over which States have sovereign authority. The focus on human rights
should be an integral part of any migration-related procedure, including the deportation and
return of undocumented individuals.
28.
The Special Rapporteur is concerned at the situation of migrants in detention, waiting
endlessly to be deported even after completing a penal sentence. Such cases occur in many
countries when neither the migrant nor the State has the resources to finance the journey home,
when the migrants lack travel documents and/or there is no consular office to send such
documents to the countries where they are, and in particular when there is no bilateral
arrangement governing deportation.
29.
At the same time, the Special Rapporteur’s attention has been captured by reports from
Ecuadorian migrants’ families claiming that their relatives have been put on trial and sentenced
in transit countries under identities (names and nationalities) other than their own.
30.
It is, the Special Rapporteur points out, especially important to encourage dialogue
between countries of origin, transit countries and receiving countries so as to coordinate efforts
to combat the smuggling of migrants and bring some order to the situation. Unilateral action to
deal with migration is ineffectual: migration is a dynamic phenomenon involving many different
parties and, in particular, civil society. Inviting civil society organizations to join in the dialogue
now beginning regionally, bilaterally and nationally among States is sound practice, in the
Special Rapporteur’s view, given those organizations’ knowledge of how migrants live and the
assistance they provide daily to thousands of migrants around the world. She takes a positive
view of regional processes in which civil society is treated as a partner and important matters
such as protecting migrants’ rights, preventing trafficking and gender and migration are
discussed.