A/HRC/7/12 page 5 11. Finally, the Special Rapporteur emphasized that, despite the fact that the International Convention on the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, adopted by the General Assembly in 1990, was one of the seven basic instruments defining a global human rights protection regime for migrant workers, a number of Governments still needed to be convinced that its ratification was necessary. He reiterated the need for a comprehensive approach to migrants’ human rights in order to ensure that migrants had a framework for protection and enjoyed rights appropriate and adequate to their particularly vulnerable situations. 12. On International Migrants Day, 18 December, the Special Rapporteur issued a joint statement with the Chairperson of the Committee on Migrant Workers calling for wider ratification of the Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. II. THEMATIC ISSUES: CRIMINALIZATION OF IRREGULAR MIGRATION A. Protection afforded to irregular migrants 1. General trends and State responsibility 13. The Special Rapporteur observes the ongoing abuse of irregular migrants throughout the migration process (in the country or territory of origin, transit and destination) and therefore deems it important to put forth a discussion to highlight some of the violations against irregular migrants and the responsibility of the State to take measures to prevent such violations. The State has broad authority in determining admission, conditions of stay, and the removal of non-nationals. In addition, the State has the sovereign authority to take measures protecting its national security, and to determine the conditions upon which nationality is to be granted. This power to manage admission and expulsion has, however, to be exercised in full respect for the fundamental human rights and freedoms of non-nationals, which are granted under a wide range of international human rights instruments and customary international law.4 14. Although it is the sovereign right of all States to safeguard their borders and regulate their migration policies, States should ensure respect for the human rights of migrants while enacting and implementing national immigration laws. It is the responsibility of the State, regardless of the legal status of the migrant, to ensure that fundamental human rights norms are adhered to and that all migrants are treated with dignity. The Human Rights Committee, which monitors the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), has long since noted that reports from States have often failed to take into account that each State party must ensure the rights in the Covenant to “all individuals within its territory and subject to its 4 See International Organization for Migration, International Migration Law, Developing Paradigms and Key Challenges, Ryszard Cholewinski, Richard Perruchoud, Euan MacDonald, eds. (Asser Press, The Hague, 2007), and IOM, Compendium of International Migration Law Instruments, compiled and edited by Richard Perruchoud and Katarina Tomolova (Asser Press, The Hague, 2007).