§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what correspondence he has received since 1 July 2003 on the coming into force of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families; and what steps remain to be taken before UK ratification of the Treaty. [149249]
§ Mr. RammellThe Government have received communication from a variety of sources seeking UK ratification. However, we have no plans to ratify the Convention on the Protection of the Rights of all Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. The scope of the Convention is wider than the UK's existing immigration laws. Incorporating it into UK law would imply fundamental changes to our legislation and would undermine the UK's system of frontier control.
The Government consider they have already struck the right balance between the need for immigration control and the protection of the interests and rights of migrant workers.