SEEAC and WBI Submits Report to the UN on the UK’s Implementation of Key Human Rights Treaty
SEEAC is delighted to have collaborated with Work Better Innovations (WBI) to submit a joint Parallel Report to the UN. This report highlights the situations and challenges faced by migrant workers and refugees in the UK and provides recommendations for areas of improvement for the UK Government during its 7th State Review under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).
Migrant and refugee representatives will participate in the review of the UK's implementation of ICESCR in Geneva next month, facilitated by WBI with a grant from the Equality and Human Rights Commission, one of the UK’s national human rights institutions.
Why Is This Human Rights Treaty Important?
The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), adopted in 1966 and ratified by the UK in 1976, is one of the earliest human rights treaties. Along with the 1948 Universal Declaration on Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political, the ICESCR is a foundational pillar to the International Bill of Human Rights by obligating states parties to protect individuals' economic, social, and cultural rights.
States that have ratified the ICESCR are regularly reviewed by a body of UN human rights experts on their implementation of the treaty. For the UK, this will be the 7th time this review has taken place; the UK last submitted its report in June 2014.
Civil society's reports provide valuable insights into a state’s implementation of human rights treaties. These reports amplify grassroots voices and promote transparency and inclusivity.
Our Key Recommendations
Our report and recommendations focused on (1) General Comment No. 24 (2017) on state obligations in the context of business activities; (2) Article 7 on the right to just and favourable conditions of work; and (3) Article 12 on the right to physical and mental health.
We call on the UK Government, under the protection of rights in the context of business activities, to:
Adopt legislation to require business enterprises to exercise human rights due diligence;
Update and strengthen the UK Modern Slavery Act 2015 to be fit-for-purpose to meet growing global expectation for human rights due diligence; and
Deliver a national baseline assessment for the implementation of the UNGPs and update the UK's National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights.
We call on the UK Government, under Article 7 on the right to just and favourable conditions of work, to:
Eliminate the charging of all recruitment fees and related costs to migrant workers in the UK;
Ensure the effective enforcement of the legal and policy framework of responsible labour recruitment; and
Permit migrant workers to change their employers and report labour abuses without fear of risking their status, and ensure their access to remedy.
We call on the UK Government, under Article 12 on the right to physical and mental health:
Support and engage local communities to co-design and deliver health services through community-based participatory research;
Ensure primary care adhere to national guidelines to not deter individuals from access and that such information is widely shared; and
Establish health inequalities leads to mainstream lessons learnt on reducing disparities in health outcomes for marginalised populations.
We are honoured to have contributed to this joint report, bringing our insights and presenting our recommendations to the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. These recommendations are rooted in our experience of working with refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants and have been echoed on various occasions.
🔗 Read full report here.