A/57/292
20. Communications received from Governments
contain
information
in
response
to
urgent
communications and other letters sent by the Special
Rapporteur.
Type of communications sent by the Special
Rapporteur
21. The Special Rapporteur maintains various types
of communications with Governments under the
resolutions that established her mandate and the type of
cooperation that Governments are expected to provide
to the office of the Special Rapporteur on the human
rights of migrants. In particular, the Special Rapporteur
has established three main types of communications
distinguished by their informational content, their
nature as a request for cooperation with her office, or
communications in which the Special Rapporteur
requests the urgent intervention of a Government to
prevent or, failing that, to investigate violations of the
human rights of migrants. In all of her missions, the
Special Rapporteur has initiated dialogues at three
levels, namely, with Governments, civil society, and
non-governmental
organizations
and
migrants
themselves, as recommended in the resolutions that
established her mandate. The information obtained
from these sources has broadened the understanding of
the Special Rapporteur and has provided a complete
picture of the situation in a country.
Visits
22. Pursuant to the resolutions establishing her
mandate (1999/44, 2000/48, 2001/52, 2002/62), the
Special Rapporteur undertook four missions during the
first three years of her mandate. She visited Canada in
2000 (see E/CN.4/2001/83/Add.1) and undertook a
mission
to
Ecuador
in
2001
(see
E/CN.4/2002/94/Add.1). In 2002, she visited Mexico,
the border between Mexico and the United States of
America, and the Philippines. The reports on these
recent missions will be submitted to the Commission
on Human Rights at its fifty-ninth session.
23. The Special Rapporteur considers that visits to a
country are a good way of monitoring the specific
situation in a country in order to be able to provide the
Commission with an overview of the situation. She is
convinced that to visit a country is to open up a
dialogue whose purpose is to identify the best practices
and areas in which the protection of the human rights
of migrants can be improved.
8
24. The table contains information concerning the
activities of the Special Rapporteur during her
mandate.