A/62/218 I. Introduction 1. The present report is the sixth report to be submitted to the General Assembly by the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants and the third submitted by the present Special Rapporteur, Jorge Bustamante. It covers activities carried out during the period from June 2006 to 1 August 2007. II. Mandate and communications 2. The activities of the Special Rapporteur are carried out in accordance with Commission on Human Rights resolution 1999/44, in which the Commission established the mandate and defined its functions. At its sixty-first session, the Commission decided, by its resolution 2005/47, to extend the Special Rapporteur’s mandate for a further three years. 3. The Special Rapporteur continues to receive allegations of violations of human rights of migrants. After careful consideration, he engages with a number of Member States regarding specific cases. He will submit a report containing all his communications to the Human Rights Council at its forthcoming session. III. Country visits 4. During the reporting period, the Special Rapporteur travelled on official missions to the Republic of Korea between 5 and 11 December, to Indonesia between 12 and 21 December, and to the United States of America between 30 April and 18 May. A. Republic of Korea 5. Between 5 and 11 December 2006, the Special Rapporteur visited the Republic of Korea. The main purposes of the visit were to assess the prevailing situation of migrants living in the Republic of Korea and to promote the ratification of the 1990 International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. During and after his visit the Special Rapporteur encouraged the use of incentives for voluntary return rather than expulsion, in accordance with procedural guarantees against forced return. 6. The Special Rapporteur drew attention to the immigration and labour laws in the light of international human rights treaties that the Government of the Republic of Korea has signed or ratified. In this regard, he paid special attention to unskilled migrant workers. The Special Rapporteur recommended that every employer responsible for violating the human rights of migrant workers should be brought promptly to justice, including through criminal prosecutions. 7. With regard to female foreign spouses, the Special Rapporteur recommended that the Government relax the requirements to apply for naturalization for the victims of domestic violence. Migrant women who have a child with men who are nationals of the Republic of Korea should be entitled to residency rights, regardless of their marriage status. In the case of domestic violence, moreover, foreign victims must have access to adequate interpretation facilities in police stations and the 07-45625 3

Select target paragraph3