E/CN.4/2002/94/Add.1 page 6 Annex Introduction 1. The Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants visited Ecuador from 5 to 16 November 2001 at the invitation of the Government of Ecuador. The Government had issued the invitation following a request made to all Governments by the Special Rapporteur, at the beginning of her mandate, announcing her appointment and enumerating the provisions of the resolution which set out the mandate requesting Governments to cooperate with the Special Rapporteur and to consider the possibility of inviting her to visit their countries. The visit to Ecuador was the second such visit made by the Special Rapporteur. 2. The Special Rapporteur takes this opportunity to thank the Government of Ecuador for inviting her to visit the country and for the valuable assistance and cooperation afforded to her. Prior to the mission, she and her supporting staff contacted the Permanent Mission of Ecuador to the United Nations Office at Geneva, which played a major role in planning and facilitating the visit and confirmed the final dates of the visit in a letter dated 20 September 2001. The Ecuadorian authorities granted all the requests she made for meetings, and the mission took place in an atmosphere of transparency and openness. She also wishes to express her sincere appreciation for the assistance provided by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and by the many non-governmental organizations and individuals whom she had an opportunity to meet during her stay in Ecuador. 3. It is not intended that this report should provide a thorough and specialist investigation, since its scope is restricted to the mandate conferred on the Special Rapporteur. The aim of the report is to stimulate a broad discussion on the situations facing the migrants described here. The conclusions and observations set out in the report are based on the information gathered during the mission and on relevant international norms. In this regard, the Special Rapporteur has paid special attention to the circumstances and impacts of illegal migration and smuggling of migrants in Ecuador, the situation of families in the places of origin of migration, and immigration into Ecuador, within the framework of the human rights of migrants. I. PROGRAMME OF THE VISIT 4. The Special Rapporteur held meetings with officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Labour, the Ministry of the Interior and Police and the Ministry of Social Welfare, as well as the Commissions of the Congress on International Affairs, Human Rights, Women, Children and the Family and Indigenous Affairs and other ethnic groups. She also held meetings with staff of the Ombudsman’s office and non-governmental and social organizations, and with representatives of the academic world in Quito, Cuenca and Guayaquil. Throughout her visit she held meetings with members of the families of migrants, women migrants and minors affected by migration. She visited prison institutions, where she spoke to migrants in detention. She also met the Sectoral Sub-Commission on the Operational Plan relating to the Human Rights of Migrants, participants in the dialogue on migrants and the Advisory Commission on Migration. She met officials from various government bodies including migration bodies, the Ombudsman’s office and the National Institute for Children and the Family in Santo Domingo de los Colorados, Cuenca, El Cañar and Guayaquil. In these two last towns,