A/HRC/38/41 I. Introduction 1. The present report is submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council resolutions 8/10 and 34/21. It contains information on the activities of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants since he assumed his functions on 1 August 2017, and a thematic study on return and reintegration of migrants. II. Activities of the Special Rapporteur A. Country visits 2. During the period under review, the Special Rapporteur undertook a visit to Nepal, from 29 January to 5 February 2018 (see A/HRC/38/41/Add.1), and plans to conduct a visit to Mali in May 2018. 1 The Special Rapporteur thanks both Governments for their cooperation before and during the visit. 3. The Special Rapporteur thanks the Government of the Niger for accepting a visit, and encourages the Government of the United States of America to respond positively to his request to conduct a visit in the second half of 2018. B. Other activities 4. On 20 October 2017, the Special Rapporteur presented the report of the previous mandate holder on a 2035 agenda for facilitating human mobility to the General Assembly (A/72/173). Since his appointment, the Special Rapporteur has been involved in the process and development of the global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration. On 30 August 2017, he delivered the opening speech at a regional consultation in Santiago de Chile. He also took part in the sixth thematic consultation of the global compact on the theme “Irregular migration and regular pathways, including decent work, labour mobility, recognition of skills and qualifications and other relevant measures”, held in Geneva on 12 and 13 October 2017. He also attended a stocktaking conference in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, from 4 to 6 December 2017, and provided input for the report of the SecretaryGeneral on the theme of “Making migration work for all” (A/72/643). In his contribution, the Special Rapporteur proposed ideas on how to develop the global compact, stressing the need for a strong, human rights-based, normative and institutional framework for migration within the United Nations, ensuring accountability, monitoring and oversight. 5. The Special Rapporteur participated in regional and international conferences, including as a panellist at a seminar on justice and migration organized by the Office of the National Public Defender and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in Santiago de Chile, on 8 August 2017. He gave a lecture on migration standards at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico in Mexico City, on 7 September 2017; a keynote lecture on migration, entitled “Challenges for the international community”, at the University of Texas in Austin, United States of America, on 4 October 2017; and a keynote lecture on “Migration, State obligations and rights in a globalized context” at the University of Geneva, on 12 October 2017. He participated from 20 to 23 November 2017 in an induction session organized for new special procedure mandate holders by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Geneva. 6. On 24 January 2018, the Special Rapporteur gave a keynote speech at the Interparliamentary Committee Meeting on the theme “The European Agenda on Migration: What about legal avenues and integration?”, organized by the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs of the European Parliament in Brussels. 1 The Special Rapporteur will submit a report on his visit to Mali to the Human Rights Council at its forty-first session. 3