The international conference on the rights of migrant workers concluded on Wednesday, acknowledging the need for a relevant human rights mechanism and broader coordination and cooperation among national human rights institutions (NHRIs) from the Asia Pacific region.

 

Issuing a unified document—the ‘Kathmandu Resolution 2012’, participants from various nations expressed their commitment to setting up a regional mechanism giving due consideration to the existing national, regional and international human rights mechanisms.

 

The two-day conference for the protection and promotion of migrant workers’ rights in the Asia Pacific region saw participation from NHRIs, national and international NGOs, key stakeholders from the Nepal government, and independent experts and academics from various countries.

 

“This is our first initiative in safeguarding the rights of migrant workers. The conference proved extremely beneficial to winning commitments from various NHRIs to work together,” said Kedar Nath Upadhyaya, chief commissioner at the Nepali National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

 

The document drafted by the unified taskforce from various countries stressed the need to set a standard for female migrant workers at the international and regional levels and promoting the universal ratification of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families.

 

The members also expressed their commitment to ratify all UN human rights treaties, to strengthen cooperation with all human rights bodies, to abide by all basic human rights principles and to form a mechanism to provide legal remedy to migrant workers. The participants hope to monitor the human rights situation of migrant workers, establish bilateral and multi-lateral frameworks for cooperation among NHRIs, engage with stakeholders in the area of labour migration such as the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) and undertake advocacy and public awareness campaigns.

 

Key participants at the conference consisted of chairpersons, members and representatives from national human rights commissions of Nepal, India, Bangladesh, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, South Korea and Afghanistan and representative from various ministries and NGOs.