A/HRC/14/30/Add.2 and Viet Nam, as well as, to a lesser extent, Australia, Canada, Israel, Serbia, Switzerland, the Syrian Arab Republic, Ukraine and the United States of America. 24. Information provided by the Ministry of Labour shows that a total of 15,000 work permits were issued in 2008 to nationals of 84 countries.13 The most work permits were issued to nationals from Turkey (4,831 work permits); China (4,761); the Republic of Moldova (1,214); Bangladesh (859) and Vietnam (566), as well as nationals of the Philippines (455 work permits); India (422); Egypt (206); Serbia (145); Israel (142) and Sri Lanka (126). The Ministry of Labour reported that Romania may increasingly resort to labour immigration as a consequence of population ageing and outmigration trends. 25. Irregular migration continues to be a concern in Romania. Information gathered by the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States of the European Union (Frontex) on irregular border crossing reported at the Eastern land border of Romania indicates a total of 756 interceptions in 2008.14 26. In the course of his visit, the Special Rapporteur was informed of the decrease in trafficking in persons and the increase in smuggling of migrant workers. In the view of a number of stakeholders and Government authorities, the latter was due to an increase in the demand for cheap labour arising from the economic crisis. 27. Pursuant to a Government decision issued in December 2008, Romania has become a resettlement country, with a quota of 40 refugees to be resettled each year during the period 2008 to 2010. Although, in 2008, the resettlement quota was not met, in 2009, the Government decided to resettle 40 refugees of Myanmar origin, currently in Malaysia, who are expected for permanent resettlement in Romania in 2010. Romania is also contributing to the intra-European Union relocation programme, with seven refugees to be permanently relocated from Malta in 2010. III. Normative and institutional framework for the protection of migrants in Romania A. The international legal framework 28. The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the State, recognizes in its article 11 that international treaties ratified in accordance with Romanian law are part of national law and that obligations stemming from those treaties are pledged to be fulfilled as such and in good faith by the Romanian State. 29. Romania is a party to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the United Nations Convention against Corruption, ratified in 2002 and 2004 respectively, both of which contain provisions requiring or encouraging measures for the protection for witnesses to offences sanctioned under those treaties. Romania is also a party to the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, and the Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, both of which supplement the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. 13 14 8 The full list of countries as provided by the Ministry of Labour is available at the Secretariat. “National analysis of the phenomenon of children left home by their parents who migrate abroad for employment”, p. 19. GE.10-12102