E/CN.4/2002/94/Add.1 page 14 are only eight men assigned to the Migration Police. The Special Rapporteur learned that in Guayas the Migration Police are responsible for monitoring the official ports used for entering and leaving the coastal region. It was reported that there is no infrastructure for monitoring unofficial departures of vessels and preventing smuggling. 36. The Special Rapporteur is concerned at the fact that the revision of the Penal Code has had no impact on punishment of the networks of smugglers in the country, and that full account has not been taken of the problem of illegal migration in the country’s institutions and public policies, especially in the interior. The despair of migrants’ families and family break-ups, among other problems, seem to be worsening as a result of the failure of institutions to respond to smuggling and usury. In this regard, praise is due to the organizations of migrants, families, the communities themselves, civil-society organizations and such bodies as the Pastoral Office of Human Mobility and the Ombudsman’s office for the huge effort they are making to address this dehumanizing problem. These efforts are accompanied by deep understanding of the reality of migration and considerable skills in making proposals on the part of civil society, which should be harnessed and should be heeded by the authorities in order to underpin their policies to combat smuggling of migrants. In this regard, the civil-society organizations warned the Special Rapporteur of the effects being produced by lack of effective legal remedies in the face of smuggling in the regions that are home to the migrants, which are beginning to experience incidents of parallel or “do-it-yourself” justice, extending even to the hiring of assassins to avenge rights that have been violated. 37. The resources of the Ombudsman’s office in the areas from which migration originates need to be strengthened so that it can continue its work in protecting citizens with real institutional support. There is a need for the State to place priority on combating the networks of smugglers and preventing illegal migration in view of the abuses suffered by migrants in this context. This prevention effort should be multifaceted. In this regard, the Special Rapporteur attaches importance to the initiative taken by the Foreign Ministry, backed by advisory services from IOM, to issue a new passport with new features that make counterfeiting difficult. Added to these measures is the idea of creating an identity document for Ecuadorians abroad, which would be issued by consulates. 38. Mention should be made of the National Seminar on the Human Rights of Ecuadorian Migrants, held in Cuenca in February 2001, and attended by representatives of civil-society organizations, the Ecuadorian Foreign Ministry and IOM. The participants found that, far from enhancing their quality of life, illegal migration exposes Ecuadorians to serious violations of their rights committed in the context of smuggling, and abuse of the families who remain behind. They concluded that legal migration should be encouraged and promoted, in a context of complete respect for fundamental rights. 39. The Special Rapporteur highly values resolution 2001/56 adopted by the Commission on Human Rights on 24 April 2001, which was sponsored by Ecuador, and especially paragraph 2, in which the Commission “encourages States of origin to promote and protect the human rights of those families of migrant workers which remain in the countries of origin, paying particular attention to children and adolescents whose parents have emigrated”, and “encourages international and non-governmental organizations to consider supporting States in this regard”.