A/HRC/31/80 13. North Africa: protecting migrants and asylum seekers 50. In its resolution 17/22, the Human Rights Council requested OHCHR to monitor the situation of migrants and asylum seekers in North Africa. In he report submitted to the Council pursuant to that request (A/HRC/18/54), OHCHR highlighted the human rights concerns associated with the displacement of migrants and asylum seekers fleeing events in North Africa between January and August 2011, described the international response, and made recommendations designed to protect the human rights of migrants and asylum seekers. B. 1. Ratification of international and regional human rights instruments, and review of reservations Supporting ratification of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and national legislation compliant with international standards 51. During the period under review, OHCHR assisted a number of national governments that plan to ratify the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families by 2017, notably Djibouti, Ethiopia, Honduras, Liberia and Zimbabwe. 52. In December 2010, on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the Convention, the OHCHR Regional Office for Europe organized a seminar in the European Parliament with the participation of European Members of Parliament representing several political groups. It presented the draft of a comprehensive study on how best to narrow the gap between European Union law and the Convention. The event addressed the often-repeated but anachronistic and occasionally self-contradictory arguments put forward by States that oppose ratification of the Convention. Several members of the European Parliament attended the official launch of the OHCHR publication Rights of Migrant Workers in Europe. 2. Madagascar: supporting ratification of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and national legislation compliant with international standards 53. Since 2007, thousands of Malagasy migrant workers have sought employment abroad, notably in Kuwait, Lebanon, Mauritius, Saudi Arabia and Seychelles. Drawn by promises of better working conditions, many have been exploited and suffered ill-treatment. When the Minister for the Public Function and Social Affairs decided to send 500 domestic workers per month to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia in 2014, OHCHR, IOM and civil society organizations, with the Ministry of Justice, organized a meeting in the Prime Minister’s Office to discuss the need to protect the rights of Malagasy migrant workers. The Governing Council subsequently issued a decree that suspended the transfer of nonqualified Malagasy labour to countries that could not provide sufficient protection for migrant workers. 54. On 27 November 2013, Madagascar ratified the Convention. Through advocacy and capacity-building, OHCHR supported government and parliamentary efforts to operationalize this important instrument. A law authorizing ratification was promulgated by the President of the Republic on 20 February 2014, and the State’s instrument of ratification was deposited on 13 May 2015, helping to strengthen the human rights protection system in Madagascar. 13