In its resolution 7/1, entitled "Strengthening the implementation of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the Protocols thereto", the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime decided that the Working Group on Smuggling of Migrants will be a constant element of the Conference.
The seventh session of the Working Group on the Smuggling of Migrants will be held on 8 and 9 September 2020 in Vienna, Austria.
Information on the mechanism for the review of the implementation of UNTOC and its Protocols can be found on the webpage of the review mechanism that will be progressively updated with relevant information.
Information note for participants (Status: 24 August 2020)
Proposed organization of work in view of COVID-19 restrictions and hybrid/in-person meeting format
Participants Guide to Interprefy meetings (Speaking and Listening function)
Participants Guide to Interprefy meetings (Listening function)
Guidance for participants of meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic
UN Code of Conduct to prevent harassment, including sexual harassment, at UN system events
Annotated provisional agenda
List of Participants
Impact of natural disasters, conflicts and crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, on trends in organized criminal groups and on routes for the smuggling of migrants, as well as good practices to support effective law enforcement cooperation during such crises to detect, investigate and prosecute such cases
Successful strategies concerning the use of technology, including information and communications technology, to prevent and investigate the smuggling of migrants and to mount a robust response to the increasing use of cyberspace by criminal groups. Background paper prepared by the Secretariat
Report of the meeting of the Working Group on the Smuggling of Migrants held in Vienna on 8 and 9 September 2020
Francesco Testa, Chief Prosecutor in the town of Chieti, in Italy, has been selected as the Chairperson of the 7th Working Group on the Smuggling of Migrants. Read more here.
Statements reproduced as received
General Statements
Iran (Islamic Republic of), Mozambique, United States of America
Statements on Agenda Item 2
Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Indonesia, Mexico, Morocco
Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean
Statements on Agenda Item 3
Ms. Amanda Ledwaba
Director, Central Law Enforcement
South Africa
Mr. Andrés Perez Esquivel
Director of International Affairs, National Migration Directorate
Argentina
Ms. Simona Ragazzi
Judge at the Court of Catania
Italy
Mr. Jorge Matías Fernández
Jefe de Sección Operativa de la Brigada de Investigación
de Redes de la UCRIF Central de la Comisaría General de
Extranjería y Fronteras
Spain
Tomás Guayasamín
Director of Prevention of Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling,
Ministry of Interior
Ecuador
Panellist presentation on agenda item 2 (impact of natural disasters, conflicts and crises such as COVID-19 pandemic)
Panellist presentation on agenda item 2 (impact of natural disasters, conflicts and crises such as COVID-19 pandemic)
Impact of the current pandemic and other calamities on smuggling of migrants in the central Mediterranean route
Panellist presentation on agenda item 3 (successful strategies concerning the use of technology)
Panellist presentation on agenda item 3 (successful strategies concerning the use of technology)
