E/CN.4/2006/73/Add.2 page 2 Executive summary At the invitation of the Government of Burkina Faso, the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants paid an official visit to the country from 2 to 9 February 2005. She called at Ouagadougou, Ouahigouya, Banfora and Gaoua. This is the first visit to Burkina Faso by the holder of a thematic special procedures mandate and the first visit by the Special Rapporteur to sub-Saharan Africa. The objectives of the visit were to assess the general situation as regards migration in Burkina Faso and the situation of Burkina Faso migrants repatriated from Côte d’Ivoire. Ontologically speaking Burkina Faso is a land of migration. It is at the same time a country of destination, of origin and of transit. It is a country of destination owing to migrations from bordering countries (including Côte d’Ivoire), but also a country of origin and transit owing to (mostly irregular) migration flows to western countries. These migratory movements raise an increasing number of problems which the country appears unable to deal with on its own. Child trafficking is a tangible phenomenon in Burkina Faso. A large percentage of children leave their families in search of a better life. Most of them find work on plantations, are employed domestically or are handed over to Koranic teachers. In order to improve the situation, the Government of Burkina Faso has set up 73 watchdog committees in the country, bringing together different members of the local community, such as administrative and religious authorities, local associations and non-governmental organizations, and bus and truck driver unions. The establishment of these watchdog committees has been a useful way of creating awareness among local communities of the practice of child trafficking and its underlying causes. The Special Rapporteur points out, however, that these individual measures must be backed up by more determined structural action if any real impact is to be achieved. A clearly defined migration policy is needed, as a means not only of dealing effectively with irregular migration flows, but also of optimizing the benefits that international migration can contribute to the country’s development. The organization of the diaspora, the promotion of productive government investments and joint development programmes are all concepts which have not yet become embedded in the institutional culture of Burkina Faso, despite a long tradition of large-scale outward bound migration. The Special Rapporteur recommends that the country develop, adopt and implement an appropriate migration policy. Within that policy she advocates giving priority to: (a) Concluding bilateral agreements with countries that expel Burkina Faso nationals (especially the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya) in order to safeguard the dignity of irregular migrants at the time of repatriation; (b) Taking an active part in regional migration processes;