A/HRC/7/12 page 10 supporting new efforts for the compilation of disaggregated data of labour supply and demand), labour mobility can form part of strategies to ensure dynamism, flexibility and competitiveness of economies of host countries, as well as in countries of origin. Indeed, remittances have become an important source of income for many countries of origin, while many industries and service providers in host societies benefit from a migrant-based labour force.17 27. Despite the general agreement on the positive aspects of migration for development and the evolution of international forums for cooperation, the focus of States has largely been on the better management and control of the movement of migrants and their goods and services, rather than on the articulation and protection of their rights. One sees a trend toward viewing migrants as commodities, rather than as persons with rights and duties afforded to them through the international human rights framework.18 With the further promotion of legal migratory avenues and assistance programmes, inclusive of an articulated and implemented perspective on the rights of migrants, States will be able to better address the challenges of irregular migration. Various forms of inter-State cooperation, including bilateral and regional labour agreements, can generate more predictable labour mobility flows and commitments of cooperation involving the private sector, which can result in more effective recruitment and employment procedures, while enabling the monitoring required to limit migrant exploitation. 28. Despite the increase of regional integration mechanisms over the last two decades with provisions for the free movement of labour, for example in the Caribbean, West Africa, and South-East Asia, regular migration is still not at its full potential in many regions, which often serves to foster undocumented migratory flows as well as hamper the potential for competitiveness among regional economies.19 While regional integration processes may serve as useful building blocks in efforts to facilitate and better regulate labour mobility, challenges persist with respect to policy design and implementation. 29. For example, in West Africa, the Treaty of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Protocol Relating to Free Movement of Persons, Residence and 17 IOM, International Dialogue on Migration, Intersessional Workshop on “Making Global Labour Mobility a Catalyst for Development”, Background Paper, October 2007. See also IOM, World Migration Report 2005, Costs and Benefits of International Migration (IOM, Geneva, 2005). 18 Jorge Bustamante, Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, Statement to Third Committee, General Assembly, October 2007. 19 But, such mechanisms have often achieved greater mobility of persons through regional integration or trade regimes than has been achieved to date under Mode 4 of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), which remains limited in scope and number of commitments to a select category of highly skilled workers. See IOM, International Dialogue on Migration.