E/CN.4/2006/73 page 2 Summary This report is submitted pursuant to Commission resolution 2005/47. It is the first report submitted to the Commission by Jorge Bustamante since his appointment as Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants in July 2005. The report is divided into three sections. They present the activities undertaken by the Special Rapporteur, a description of the mandate, the main situations requiring his attention, and a programme of work. The Special Rapporteur intends to carry out his work within the framework of international human rights instruments, and considers the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families a major instrument for the promotion and protection of the human rights of migrants. Other international instruments, including those of the International Labour Organization, are also relevant. The Special Rapporteur will continue to develop the activities undertaken by his predecessor and by other special procedures mandate holders by sending communications, carrying out country visits and undertaking thematic studies. He also wishes to establish and consolidate methods of follow-up to his activities. Dialogue, consultations and networking with all stakeholders will be an essential feature of his work. Over the years, the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants intervened in a number of different situations involving the violation of the human rights of migrants. These are examined individually in the report. The Special Rapporteur also refers to the fact that reluctance to recognize the demand for the labour of migrant workers, which is a common factor among host countries, acquires heuristic importance when it becomes clear that there is some relationship between that reluctance and the appearance of anti-immigrant ideologies often tinged with xenophobia and racism. Denial of demand is an important issue as it is one of the main factors that leads to irregular migration, a situation at the core of much of the abuse and numerous human rights violations suffered by migrants. Abuse and human rights violations also occur in the context of legal migration, often in the situations of temporary migration. The practice of subcontracting migrant labour can also be a gateway for the impunity for abuse of and violations against migrant workers. The action of private recruitment agencies, such as the charging of large fees and placing migrants in employments where they are subjected to abusive or hazardous working conditions, has often been the subject of complaints and is a question that deserves closer consideration. Discrimination and anti-migrant ideology are factors that affect all migrants, whether regular or irregular, temporary or permanent. The Special Rapporteur intends to continue examining multidimensional patterns of discriminatory practices affecting migrants with particular emphasis on the gender dimension of migration. He will also focus on the situation of children involved in migration, both as unaccompanied children and as children of migrants, by highlighting the protection needs of this group and expressing them as rights.