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Migration for Employment Convention (Revised), 1949 (No. 97) - Burkina Faso (RATIFICATION: 1961)

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Article 1 of the Convention. Information concerning general agreements and special arrangements, including statistics on migration. The Committee notes that the Government, in its report, sets out the bilateral agreements concluded with other countries concerning migration, in particular and most recently the cooperation agreement with the Republic of Chad relating to labour and social security (August 2015) and with the Kingdom of Morocco on the removal of visa requirements for nationals of both countries who are ordinary passport holders (October 2020). It also notes the Government’s indication, in response to its previous comment, that the establishment of a centralized database is still under way but that data on migration, disaggregated by sex, age and origin, are regularly collected. In this regard, the Committee notes that, in a report dated January 2017 on this subject, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) called for the technical capacities of the National Institute for Statistics and Demography (NISD) to be strengthened and for the collection of migration data to be integrated into the statistical master plan. It notes that the NISD and the IOM signed, on 9 December 2020, an agreement aimed at improving the collection and publication of migration data. The Committee notes the adoption of the national strategy on migration 2016–2025 and the implementation assessment report of the action plan 2016–2018 pertaining to this strategy, which was validated in July 2020 and which noted both satisfactory results and shortcomings. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on: (i) the establishment of the national strategy on migration 2016–2025 and the action plan 2021–2023 pertaining to this strategy, in the light of the shortcomings noted in the previous action plan; and (ii) the progress made towards the establishment of a centralized database,disaggregated by sex, age and origin, with a view to improving the understanding of migration and the situation of migrant workers. The Committee also requests the Government to continue providing information on any new bilateral agreement concluded on the matters covered by the Convention.

Article 6. Equality of treatment. The Committee notes the Government’s statement that in Burkina Faso there are cases of discrimination against migrant workers based, inter alia, on national preference, race, religion, ethnicity or tribe; and being a national of Burkina Faso remains an important criterion for recruitment in the private sector. The Government highlights that, within the framework of the Common Approach of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on Migration, it has concluded bilateral and multilateral agreements, for example by ratifying in August 2018, the Regional Convention on the Recognition of Studies, Diplomas, Degrees and other Academic Qualifications in Higher Education in the African States. The Committee requests the Government to provide specific information on any measures taken for the effective protection of the rights of migrants and equality of treatment, particularly in the framework of the ECOWAS Common Approach on Migration.

Social security. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government concerning the agreements on social security concluded with several African States.

Articles 2 to 4. Services and assistance for migrant workers. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the General Directorate for Burkina Faso Nationals Living Abroad has replaced the permanent secretariat of the Higher Council for Burkina Faso Nationals Living Abroad. It also notes that, in its concluding observations in May 2022, the United Nations Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families (CMW), while welcoming the creation of the Ministry for African Integration and Nationals of Burkina Faso Abroad in 2018, found it regrettable that the General Commission for Migration, responsible for monitoring and evaluating the implementation of the national migration policy, had still not been established, and was concerned about the multitude of entities working in the area of migration and about how they coordinated with one another (CMW/C/BFA/CO/2, 19 May 2022, paragraph 15). In this regard, the Government states that the mechanism for the implementation of the national strategy on migration provides for comprehensive coordination of action on migration through an interministerial steering committee, which must meet twice a year. It underscores that the process to establish this committee is under way. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken to improve coordination among all the institutions responsible for the management of migration with a view to improving assistance services to migrants and, particularly, on the establishment of the interministerial steering committee responsible for these matters, and on its activity. The Committee also requests the Government to provide information on any measures taken to: (i) provide accurate information to Burkina Faso migrant workers but also to foreign workers wishing to work in Burkina Faso, in order to combat misleading propaganda concerning emigration and immigration; and (ii) facilitate the departure, travel and reception of migrant workers.

Article 2. Services and assistance to Burkina Faso returnees. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government on the measures taken by the diplomatic missions and consular posts abroad, in coordination with the central administration of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Regional Cooperation and Burkina Faso Nationals Abroad (particularly its department of migration and reintegration), to organize the return of migrants to Burkina Faso. These include the building of a reception and transit centre for migrants which should, in time, house a training centre, and the development of a National Strategy for the Management of the Diaspora (2020–24). It also notes the activities performed in the framework of the second action plan 2021–2023 pertaining to the national strategy on migration. The Committee also notes that the IOM, in its publication, Migration Governance Indicators Profile 2021 - Burkina Faso, indicated that Burkina Faso’s National Social and Economic Development Plan (2016–20) acknowledges that large scale migratory movements can be observed in the country, but it makes no reference to reintegrating returning migrants (page 21), even though the IOM, since 2017 in a document on the management of migration and borders in Burkina Faso had called for the creation of integration frameworks to assist returning migrants (Gestion de la migration et des frontières au Burkina Faso, recommendation 1.2, page 65). The Committee requests the Government to continue providing information on the measures taken, particularly in the framework of the national strategy on migration 2016–2025, to improve the services and assistance available to nationals of Burkina Faso who return to their country, and the numbers who have benefited.

Article 8. Maintenance of residency rights in the event of incapacity to work. The Committee notes the Government’s statement that the legislation does not discriminate in matters of social security and that the current provisions provide coverage for the risk of disability without discrimination whatsoever based on nationality. It notes that section 4 of the Social Security Code (Act No. 004-2021/AN of 6 April 2021) specifies that it applies regardless of nationality.