The Committee noted with concern that the October 2025 amendments to the Organic Law on Human Mobility permitted the detention and expedited deportation of migrants on ambiguous grounds. It was also concerned about tightened administrative sanctions that undermine due process, access to asylum and the prohibition on collective expulsions, including by allowing expedited deportation without prior judicial review. The Committee recommended that Ecuador prioritise alternatives to administrative detention and prevent arbitrary detention and expedited deportation based on ambiguous grounds or carried out without due process. It also asked the State Party to amend its migration laws to align them with the Convention and to eliminate practices involving confidential reports and summary hearings.
The Committee raised concerns about persistent sexual and gender-based violence, femicide, trafficking and exploitation of migrant, refugee and asylum-seeking women and girls, particularly those from Venezuela and Colombia. It also noted that victims face obstacles in accessing justice due to their irregular migration status and fear of deportation or reprisals, while digital violence and online attacks against migrant women are increasing. The Committee recommended that Ecuador implement law addressing violence against women, and guarantee safe access to reporting, protection and justice without risk of detention, deportation or reprisals. It further asked Ecuador to prevent, investigate and punish digital violence against migrant workers and their rights defenders.
The Gambia
The Committee was concerned that the Immigration Act of 1965 remains in force and is not aligned with the Convention, including with respect to the criminalisation of irregular migration and limited procedural safeguards. It recommended that the State Party swiftly adopt the 2026 Immigration Bill and ensure full conformity of its legislation with the Convention, including by decriminalising irregular migration and incorporating comprehensive protections for migrant workers and their families, irrespective of their migration status. The Committee welcomed the fact that the 2026 Immigration Bill includes draft provisions explicitly criminalising the smuggling of migrants, given that many migrants risk their lives using the Gambia as a country of transit, including on the Atlantic route.
The Committee expressed concern about the lack of adequate safeguards for migrant workers, especially in situations of detention, such as limited access to legal assistance, judicial review, and alternatives to detention. It recommended that the State Party ensure that detention is used only as a measure of last resort and never for children, establish effective legal safeguards in law and practice, guarantee access to legal representation and remedies, and develop alternatives to detention in line with international standards.
Ghana
The Committee highlighted its concern about significant implementation gaps in regulating private employment agencies, particularly the widespread use of informal recruiters operating outside State oversight, leading to deceptive practices, excessive fees, and heightened risks of exploitation, especially for women migrant workers. It further underscored barriers to compliance, weak enforcement capacity, limited coordination, and the absence of data on labour exploitation. The Committee called for strengthening the legal framework, including by setting limits on recruitment fees, improving enforcement and labour inspection, and simplifying registration procedures. It further recommended enhancing institutional coordination, ensuring better protection for migrant workers through written contracts and accountability for abuses, systematically collecting disaggregated data, and prioritising bilateral agreements to safeguard migrant workers' rights.
The Committee raised concern about the lack of data and transparency regarding expulsions and the procedures applied, as well as reports that deported third-country nationals received under an agreement with the United States have been detained in poor conditions and may have faced onward transfer to countries where they risk persecution, potentially violating the principle of non-refoulement. It also underlined the absence of safeguards, disaggregated data, and public disclosure of the agreement. The Committee called upon Ghana to systematically collect and publish data on expulsions and the treatment of deportees, and to ensure full respect for the principle of non-refoulement. It further asked Ghana to increase transparency by disclosing the agreement and to assess its impact on the rights of migrant workers and their families.
The above findings, officially known as Concluding Observations, are now available on the session page.
