A/61/324
communications sent and received since then will be summarized in his report to the
Council.
12. In accordance with the working methods adopted, the complaints received
were transmitted to the Governments concerned as urgent appeals or letters of
allegation. The situations in which violations of the human rights of this group are
alleged to have occurred during the period under review, giving rise to the
intervention of the Special Rapporteur, include allegations of: (a) arbitrary
detention, including of children; (b) inhumane conditions or detention; (c) illtreatment in the context of border control; (d) deaths as a result of the excessive use
of force by members of the police and security forces; (e) collective deportations,
summary expulsions and violations of the human rights of deported persons;
(f) impunity for crimes committed against immigrants; and (g) gender violence.
13. In his communications to Governments, the Special Rapporteur has also
expressed concern at a number of situations involving violations of the human rights
of migrant workers, including: (a) abusive working conditions imposed by
employers, sometimes under conditions similar to slavery or forced labour;
(b) withholding of passports; (c) non-payment of wages; (d) restrictions on freedom
of movement, verbal and physical abuse and precarious conditions in housing that
employers may be required to provide; (e) denial of the right of association and
assembly; and (f) abuses by migrant worker recruitment agencies resulting from
inadequate regulation of the sector.
14. Through the letters of allegation procedure, the Special Rapporteur has
requested certain Governments to supply information on laws and measures
applicable to migrants and on bilateral agreements for hiring migrant workers
directly from their country of origin. As in the past, the purpose of these
communications is to verify respect for minimum standards of protection of the
human rights of this vulnerable group.
15. During the period under review, communications were sent jointly by the
Special Rapporteur and by the following special procedures: the Special Rapporteur
on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; the Special Rapporteur on the
question of torture; the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial
discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance; the Special Rapporteur on
freedom of religion or belief; the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its
causes and consequences; the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child
prostitution and child pornography; the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in
persons, especially women and children; and the Special Rapporteur on the right of
everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental
health.
16. The Special Rapporteur is now preparing his next report to the Human Rights
Council. As noted above, in that report he will examine the issue of legislation and
other measures affecting migrants.
IV. Human rights of migrants: developments during the period
2005-2006
17. The Special Rapporteur would like to draw attention to a number of
developments that occurred during 2005 and 2006.
06-51782
5