Brillantes voted workers group vice chair

MANILA, Philippines – Philippine ambassador to Canada Jose Brillantes has been elected vice-chair of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (CPRMW).

Also elected to the same post were Anamaria Dieguez of Guatemala and Azad Taghizadet of Azerbaijan.

Abdelhamid El Jamri of Morocco was elected committee chair and Francisco Alba of Mexico was designated Rapporteur.

The committee, set up in 2004, is set to hear reports on the implementation of the convention on the protection of migrant workers’ rights. Syria is slated to make the first presentation.

Outgoing chairperson Prasad Kariyawasam recommended that the committee concentrate on efforts to universalize the convention.

Parties to the convention, aside from the Philippines, are Azerbaijan, Belize, Bolivia, Boznia and Herzegovina, Cape Verde, Burkina Faso, Colombia, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Morocco, Senegal, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, Togo, Uganda and Uruguay.  – Pia Lee Brago