E/CN.4/2006/73/Add.2 page 5 Introduction 1. The Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants paid an official visit to Burkina Faso from 2 to 9 February 2005, after receiving an invitation from the Government of Burkina Faso in 2004 during the sixtieth session of the Commission on Human Rights. This is the first visit to Burkina Faso by the holder of a thematic special procedures mandate and the first visit by the Special Rapporteur to sub-Saharan Africa. The purpose of the visit was to assess the situation of migrants returning from Côte d’Ivoire and the state of migratory flows from and to other countries of Africa, Europe and the United States of America. 2. The Special Rapporteur wishes to thank the Ministry for the Promotion of Human Rights, which organized the visit for her. She also wishes to thank the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for its logistic support. The Representative of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Burkina Faso, Ms. Salomé Kombéré, provided valuable assistance for the visit by supplying information and documentation to the Special Rapporteur and by facilitating meetings with civil society representatives. Ms. Awa N’Deye Ouedraogo, a member of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, made some useful suggestions regarding meetings with institutions. 3. The Special Rapporteur’s mission took her to Ouagadougou, Ouahigouya, Banfora and Gaoua. She had 25 direct interviews and contacts with over 450 persons, one third of whom were women. She had the honour in particular to meet the Minister for the Promotion of Human Rights, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Cooperation, the Minister for Justice, the Minister for the Economy and Development, the Minister for Information, the Minister for Social Action and National Solidarity, the Minister for Labour, Employment and Youth, the Minister for Defence, the Minister for the Interior and the President of the National Assembly. She also met local authorities, including Governors, high commissioners and the mayors of the villages she visited. The Special Rapporteur also had meetings with civil society, the customary authorities, returnees from Côte d’Ivoire and associations of repatriated women. I. GENERAL BACKGROUND OF MIGRATION IN BURKINA FASO A. Burkina Faso as a country of emigration 1. Migration to neighbouring countries 4. The migration of Burkina Faso nationals to Côte d’Ivoire dates back to the colonial period, when the territory of Burkina Faso was known as the colony of Upper Volta and its population provided a reserve of labour for the plantations of Côte d’Ivoire. As a result Burkina Faso nationals make up the largest group of foreigners in Côte d’Ivoire, which is also the main destination of Burkina Faso migrants. As migratory movements to Côte d’Ivoire are now a historic phenomenon reaching the third generation (or even further in most cases), many such migrants have never returned to their country of origin. 5. In the region the traditional host countries are those bordering on Burkina Faso, particularly Côte d’Ivoire, which has taken in most of the Burkina Faso migrants of the diaspora. In 1996 there were an estimated 3 million migrants from Burkina Faso in Côte d’Ivoire, compared with 1.5 million in Ghana, 400,000 in Sudan and 300,000 in Mali.