CMW/C/GC/2 II. The normative framework for the protection of the rights of migrant workers in an irregular situation and members of their families A. Part III of the Convention 6. Part III of the Convention protects the rights of all migrant workers and members of their families, including those in an irregular situation. Most of the rights protected in Part III are common to a host of international human rights treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Among the civil and political rights protected in Part III, the right of migrant workers to liberty and security of person (art. 16) and the right of migrant workers deprived of their liberty to be treated with humanity (art. 17) have been contextualized, taking into account the situation of this group of rights-holders. Specific rights of migrant workers that are either not explicitly protected in other human rights treaties include their protection against unauthorized confiscation or destruction of personal documents (art. 21), procedural safeguards in individual expulsion proceedings (art. 22) and the right to have recourse to consular or diplomatic protection and assistance (art. 23). Among the economic, social and cultural rights of all migrant workers, the right to respect for their cultural identity (art. 31) and the right to transfer their earnings and savings upon termination of their stay in the State of employment (art. 32) are Convention-specific. In addition, Part III provides for information rights (art. 33) and affirms the obligation of all migrant workers and members of their families to comply with the laws of the State of employment or transit (art. 34). B. Other international legal instruments 7. The Committee notes that the Convention provides only for a minimum standard of protection. Article 81, paragraph 1, states that nothing shall prevent States parties from granting more favourable rights or freedoms than those set out in the Convention to migrant workers and members of their families, including those in an irregular situation, by virtue of the law and practice of, or any bilateral or multilateral treaty in force for, the State party concerned. The Committee is of the view that a State’s obligation under the Convention must be read with respect to the core human rights treaties and other relevant international instruments to which it is a party. Although separate and freestanding, these treaties are complementary and mutually reinforcing. 8. The rights guaranteed to migrants in an irregular situation in other international human rights treaties often have a wider scope than their counterparts in Part III of the Convention. These treaties also contain additional rights. The rights guaranteed in those treaties generally apply to everyone, including migrants and other non-nationals, without discrimination of any kind as to race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status, including immigration status. 9. For example, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights provides for a wider scope of protection regarding the right of peaceful assembly, the right to freely enter marriage and to equality of rights and responsibilities of spouses, the right of every child to special protection, the right to equality before the law and equal protection of the law, and minority rights. In addition, other rights enshrined in the Covenant apply to all migrant workers, whether in a regular or an irregular situation, such as the right to form associations and trade unions and the right to protection of the family, whereas the Convention makes a distinction between migrant workers in a regular situation and those in an irregular situation. Both the Covenant and the Convention protect the right to freedom of movement 4