A/HRC/4/24/Add.2 page 4 I. INTRODUCTION 1. The Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants visited the Republic of Korea (RoK) from 5 to 11 December 2006 at the invitation of the Government of the Republic of Korea. The Special Rapporteur takes this opportunity to thank the Government of the Republic of Korea for inviting him to visit the country and for the valuable assistance and cooperation afforded to him prior to and during the visit. The Special Rapporteur wishes to express his sincere appreciation for the assistance provided by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Seoul and by the many non-governmental organizations and individuals whom he had an opportunity to meet during his stay in the Republic of Korea. 2. The main purposes of the visit were to assess the prevailing situation of migrants living in the Republic of Korea and to promote the ratification of the 1990 International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (ICRMW). 3. In this report, the Special Rapporteur has paid special attention to the circumstances and impact of new labour systems implemented in order to regulate unskilled migrant workers living in the Republic of Korea namely the Industrial Trainee System (ITS) and the Employment Permit System (EPS) and the situation of female migrants. Programme of the visit 4. During his visit, the Special Rapporteur held meetings with government officials and the relevant representatives of civil society, trade unions and employers. The Special Rapporteur also had the opportunity to spend a day in a women shelter administered by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family outside Seoul. The following report is based on the meetings the Special Rapporteur held with the authorities, the representatives of the civil society and the migrants themselves. II. THE GENERAL SITUATION OF MIGRANT WORKERS IN THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA International standards 5. The Republic of Korea has ratified the main international human rights treaties. In particular, the country acceded to the ICCPR and the ICESCR in April 1990; the CERD in December 1978; the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (Convention against Torture) in January 1995 the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in December 1984; and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in November 1991. However the Republic of Korea has not ratified the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (ICRMW).