The Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, acting under its mandate to monitor the implementation of the Convention, is alarmed by the armed conflict and by the violent response to the popular uprising in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya since February 2011, as well as by the disastrous consequences of this situation for the enjoyment by all migrant workers and members of their families of their civil and political as well as economic, social, and cultural rights.

The Committee is deeply concerned about the recurrence of violations of the right to life, acts of violence, including sexual violence, as well as acts of discrimination and arbitrary detentions victimizing migrant workers and members of their families in Libya, in particular migrants from sub-Saharan Africa.

The Committee is equally concerned about the difficulties encountered by migrant workers and members of their families trying to leave Libya, either to return to their countries of origin or to seek protection from the violations and threats facing them by claiming asylum in third countries. In this context, the Committee is concerned about the dangerous interception of migrants at sea and at inland borders.

The Committee is especially saddened by the recent drowning of more than two hundred persons drowned off the southern coast of Italy, including Eritreans, Ivoirians and Somalis, many of whom women and children, who departed from Libya by boat in an attempt to reach the Italian island of Lampedusa.

The Committee is particularly concerned about the humanitarian situation of thousands of migrant workers and members of their families who are without shelter or stay in overcrowded transit centres and lack access to basic amenities such as drinking water, adequate food and basic health services.

The Committee urges all belligerent parties involved in the armed conflict in Libya, including the Libyan authorities, to comply with their obligations under international human rights law and, in particular, with the provisions of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, by strictly ensuring respect for the rights to life and to freedom of movement of migrants and by facilitating the peaceful departure of those who wish to leave the country.

While welcoming the efforts undertaken by a number of countries, including countries of origin, to enable the safe and orderly return of migrants from Libya, the Committee invites the international community to provide assistance, especially economic and technical, to migrant workers and members of their families affected by the situation in Libya. It calls on the States concerned, including neighbouring countries, to take all necessary measures to ensure that all migrant workers and members of their families having fled Libya, whether in transit or asylum seekers, are treated with respect for their human dignity and in conformity with international human rights standards and international humanitarian law.

The Committee calls on the Secretary General of the United Nations, in cooperation with the competent organs, including the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the International Labour Organization (ILO), as well as regional organizations, to mobilize all available resources and to take all appropriate and necessary steps to put an end to the violations and ensure respect for the human rights of all migrant workers and members of their families staying in Libya or fleeing the country.

Libya acceded to the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families on 18 June 2004.

164th meeting

8 April 2011