A/HRC/11/7 page 3 I. ACTIVITIES OF THE SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR A. Country visits 1. Since his appointment to the mandate in July 2005, the Special Rapporteur has requested invitations to visit the following countries: Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mauritania, Mexico, the Philippines, Qatar, the Republic of Korea, Romania, Senegal, South Africa, Spain, Thailand and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. He has visited Indonesia, the Republic of Korea and the United States of America. 2. During the period under review, the Special Rapporteur visited Guatemala (A/HRC/11/7/Add.3) and Mexico (A/HRC/11/7/Add.2). The visits to be undertaken in 2009 are under discussion. The Special Rapporteur would like to thank the Government of the countries that have responded positively to his requests for visits and to urge Governments that have not yet done so to provide a response. B. Communications with Member States 3. From 1 January 2008 to 6 March 2009, the Special Rapporteur sent a total of 26 communications alleging violations of the rights of migrants to 19 Member States and received 10 responses from the concerned Governments. The Special Rapporteur thanks all Governments that responded to his communications for their collaboration and reminds Governments that have not yet responded to do so and to address all the concerns raised in each communication. A summary of all communications sent during the period under review are included in an addendum to the present report (A/HRC/11/7/Add.1). C. Other activities 4. The activities of the Special Rapporteur are carried out in accordance with Council resolutions 8/10 and 9/5. General Assembly resolutions 62/132 and 63/184 provide further thematic guidance to the Special Rapporteur. 5. On 6 March 2008, the Special Rapporteur participated in a parallel event on the theme “Challenges of Irregular Migration”, organized by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the Geneva Office of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation. 6. From 1 to 3 June 2008, the Special Rapporteur participated in a training programme organized in Sweden by the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law and the Inter-American Institute for Human Rights on international and regional human rights systems. 7. From 23 to 27 June 2008, the Special Rapporteur attended the fifteenth meeting of special rapporteurs/representatives, independent experts and chairpersons of working groups of the special procedures of the Council, held in Geneva, and participated in the drafting of the report submitted to the Council at its tenth session (A/HRC/10/24). He also participated in the seminar