Geneva, Switzerland – The Committee on Migrant Workers (CMW) held the Day of General Discussion (DGD) on The Rights of Migrant Workers in an Irregular Situation and Members of Their Families on 19 September 2011. Representatives of governments, UN bodies and specialized agencies, civil society organizations, and individual experts converged in Palais Wilson for deliberations on the legal standards relating to the rights of undocumented migrant workers and members of their families, as provided in the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (ICRMW) and other international human rights instruments. The day also gave way to the presentation of the challenges when protecting undocumented migrant workers’ rights, current practices to protect those rights, gaps in protection mechanisms and steps to realize and achieve the rights of migrant workers in an irregular situation.

The Day of General Discussion was webcasted live with hundreds of viewers watching from different parts of the world. The webcast enabled communities, especially the undocumented migrant worker communities, to witness the event and join the discussions by sending their comments through a live chat feed. The webcast was made possible by Migrants Rights International and Centre for Civil and Political Rights.

Full report of the proceedings will be made available soon on the resources page of the MFA website and in the upcoming newsletter. You can read the submission of MFA to the Committee on Migrant Workers here. To read all other submissions for this particular day, please click here.

You can also watch the recorded video of the Day of General Discussion.