Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2006, published 96th ILC session (2007)

The Committee notes with interest the information provided by the Government indicating that the constitutional procedures for the ratification of Convention No. 185 have begun and requests the Government to keep it informed of any developments in this respect. Nevertheless, it draws the Government’s attention to the following point.

Article 5 of the Convention. Readmission to the territory. According to resolution 614-515-ALCN of 1981, Panama issues a seafarer’s identity document to all seafarers working on board Panamanian ships engaged in maritime navigation. The issue of this document is subject to the fulfilment of requirements concerning the age and physical fitness of the seafarer, his occupational qualifications, and the length of his period of service at sea.

In 2005, an agreement concluded between the National Directorate of Migration and Naturalization (DNMN) and the Maritime Chamber of Panama (CMP) appears to have made the entry of foreign seafarers into Panamanian territory subject to the holding of a special seafarers’ visa. The foreign seafarer holding such a visa may remain in Panamanian territory for five days after having disembarked from or before boarding a ship that has called into a national port; this period of time may be extended by another five days by the Directorate of Migration, following a reasoned extension request notified by the shipping company (sections 6 and 7 of the above agreement). The agreement also contains special clauses for foreign seafarers whose nationality is subject to restrictions in Panama.

Pursuant to Article 5 of the Convention, the country that has issued the seafarer’s identity document is obliged to readmit to its territory any seafarer holding a valid identity document (Article 5, paragraph 1) and any seafarer holding a seafarer’s identity document that has expired, during a period of at least one year after any date of expiry indicated in the said document (Article 5, paragraph 2). No other conditions shall be attached to such readmission. However, since 2005 and the introduction of the abovementioned agreement, it appears that Panama makes it impossible for foreign seafarers to whom it has issued a seafarer’s identity document, to gain readmission without fulfilling certain conditions. Consequently, the Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that any foreign seafarer who holds a seafarer’s identity document issued by Panama can be readmitted to the territory without a special visa even when the identity document he holds expired since a year or less.