Promoting and Protecting the Rights of Migrant Workers The Role of National Human Rights Institutions The report is examined during a public session of the Committee, which considers the information provided by the State party and information received from other sources, including NHRIs and NGOs.48 Based on this process, the Committee provides its concluding observations, which cover both the positive aspects of the State’s implementation of the Convention and areas where the State is recommended to take further action. The treaty reporting process is intended to generate positive change on a progressive basis, with steps taken by the State to implement the recommendations of the Committee reviewed during subsequent reporting sessions. These issues can also be considered, and recommendations for action presented, as part of the State’s participation in the Universal Periodic Review (see Chapter 11 for more information). 4.2. Individual complaints procedure Under Article 77, a State party of the Convention may declare that it recognizes the competence of the Committee to receive and consider complaints from, or on behalf of, individuals within that State’s jurisdiction who claim that their rights under the Convention have been violated. The Committee may request written explanations and express its views after considering all available information. The individual communication procedure requires ten declarations by States parties to enter into force.49 4.3. General comments The Committee, like other treaty bodies, may also develop and disseminate general comments that elaborate particular areas of concern or provide interpretative guidance on the content of particular rights within the Convention. In February 2011, the Committee adopted its first general comment on the Rights of Migrant Domestic Workers.50 Further information on general comments relevant to migrant workers made by other human rights treaty bodies is available in Chapter 3. 5. MYTHS AND MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT MIGRANT WORKERS AND THE CONVENTION 1. Ratifying the Convention will create an influx of migrant workers While the Convention protects the rights of migrant workers, it does not entitle an individual to become a migrant worker in a foreign country. Ratifying the Convention does not mean a State has an obligation to accept more migrant workers; that remains the sole decision of the State. Article 79 states that “[n]othing in the present Convention shall affect the right of each State Party to establish the criteria governing admission of migrant workers and members of their families”. 2. Migrant workers take the jobs of nationals Migrant workers are often sought to fill sectors that are not being adequately filled by domestic workers. The Convention is actually beneficial to local workers because it ensures that basic labour rights and standards are maintained for all and, therefore, that migrant workers are not more attractive to 48 “Committee on Migrant Workers and Implementation of the ICRMW”; Carla Edelenbos; Migration and Human Rights: The United Nations Convention on Migrant Worker Rights; Ryszard Cholewinski, Paul de Guchteneire and Antoine Pécoud (ed), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization / Cambridge University Press; 2009. 49 Two States had accepted this procedure at May 2011. 50 CMW/C/GC/1. 20 | Chapter 2: The International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families