HRC 35 : Interactive Dialogue with François Crépeau, Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants and the Working Group on Transnational Corporations and Human Rights
U.S. Statement As Prepared
Human Rights Council 35th Session
Geneva,
June 8, 2017
Thank you Mr. President.
Mr. Crépeau, the United States thanks you for your service as Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants and for your latest report. We appreciate the report’s recognition that States should seek “to adopt well-managed migration policies that facilitate the mobility of migrants and provide States with the border control that they need.”
The upcoming negotiation of a global compact on migration is an opportunity to develop focused, practical outcomes. These could include best practices and voluntary guidelines to facilitate safe, orderly, and regular migration and to provide assistance to migrants in vulnerable situations.
We appreciate your thorough analysis of the perils associated with irregular migration and the need to prevent migrant smuggling and trafficking in persons by enhancing regular migration channels and investigating and prosecuting the transnational organized crime groups that facilitate these crimes.
We note the many recommendations you provided for governments to consider in a potential 2035 agenda on human mobility following the UN global migration compact negotiation. However, we believe that we should focus now on goals and targets for the global compact itself, rather than developing additional programs of work.
The United States would like to highlight the responsibility of each government to manage its own borders and define its own immigration goals, processes, and priorities, consistent with international obligations. The commitments set forth in the migration compact – and their implementation – should be voluntary and non-binding. The onus is on member states, with assistance from international partners, as appropriate, to develop and strengthen cooperation mechanisms and to ensure accountability, monitoring, and oversight of their respective commitments.
We again thank you for your service and look forward to working with the new Special Rapporteur.
The United States also appreciates the work of the Working Group on human rights and transnational corporations. We are committed to implementing the UN Guiding Principles, and the United States strongly encourages companies, including small and medium-sized enterprises, to embrace high standards of responsible business conduct like those in the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and ILO Multinational Enterprises Declaration.
We would be interested to hear about any best practices with respect to SMEs and the promotion and protection of human rights in supply chains.
Thank you Mr. President.