E/CN.4/2004/76/Add.3 page 5 of origin of prospective irregular immigrants are Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Guinea, Senegal and Algeria. Most of the irregular migrants who are intercepted are in the 20-35 age group. 7. During her visit to Spain, the Special Rapporteur was told about the important role Morocco plays in managing migration flows in the subregion and about its strategic position with regard to European Union migration policy. The Special Rapporteur therefore judged it important and useful to go to Morocco in order to form a clear picture of the situation there and undertake a thorough analysis as soon as possible. It is recommended that this report be read jointly with that on the Special Rapporteur’s visit to Spain (see E/CN.4/2004/76/Add.2). II. GENERAL COMMENTS A. Framework for the protection of migrants’ rights 1. The international framework 8. Internationally, Morocco has demonstrated its commitment to the promotion and protection of the rights of migrants and has supported the development of an international legal framework to that end. Morocco played an important part in creating the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants and it participated actively in the drafting and adoption of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and their Family Members, an instrument which Morocco ratified on 21 June 1993 and which entered into force on 1 July 2003. 9. With regard to the other main international human rights instruments, Morocco has either ratified or acceded to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography and the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the involvement of children in armed conflict. 10. With regard to refugee protection, Morocco has ratified the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees of 28 July 1951, together with the Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees. Within the region, the country has ratified the Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa of 10 September 1969. 2. National framework 11. The Special Rapporteur took note of the presence of institutional mechanisms concerned with the rights of migrants. The Centre for Migrants’ Rights, jointly established by the Ministry of Human Rights and the International Organization for Migration, plays an important role in consolidating respect for the rights of Moroccan migrants. Its training programmes for