The International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families is a United Nations

multilateral treaty A multilateral treaty or multilateral agreement is a treaty to which two or more sovereign states are parties. Each party owes the same obligations to all other parties, except to the extent that they have stated reservation (law), reservations. Ex ...

governing the protection of

migrant worker A migrant worker is a person who Human migration, migrates within a home country or outside it to pursue work. Migrant workers usually do not have an intention to stay permanently in the country or region in which they work. Migrant workers ...

s and families. Signed on 18 December 1990, it entered into force on 1 July 2003 after the threshold of 20 ratifying

States State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

was reached in March 2003. The Committee on Migrant Workers (CMW) monitors implementation of the convention, and is one of the seven UN-linked

human rights treaty bodies Human rights are universally recognized moral principles or norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both national and international laws. These rights are considered inherent and inalienable, meaning t ...

. The convention applies as of November 2024 in 60 countries.

Context

In his 9 November 2002 report on strengthening the organization, United Nations Secretary-General

Kofi Annan Kofi Atta Annan (8 April 193818 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founder a ...

wrote: "It is time to take a more comprehensive look at the various dimensions of the migration issue, which now involves hundreds of millions of people, and affects countries of origin, transit and destination. We need to understand better the causes of international flows of people and their complex interrelationship with development."

Overview

The United Nations Convention constitutes a comprehensive international treaty regarding the protection of migrant workers' rights. It emphasizes the connection between migration and human rights, which is increasingly becoming a crucial policy topic worldwide. The Convention aims at protecting migrant workers and members of their families; its existence sets a moral standard, and serves as a guide and stimulus for the promotion of migrant rights in each country. In the ''Preamble'', the Convention recalls conventions by

International Labour Organization The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is one of the firs ...

migrant workers A migrant worker is a person who Human migration, migrates within a home country or outside it to pursue work. Migrant workers usually do not have an intention to stay permanently in the country or region in which they work. Migrant workers ...

Migration for Employment Convention (Revised), 1949 Migration for Employment Convention (Revised), 1949 is an International Labour Organization Convention for migrant workers. It was established in 1949, with the preamble stating: Having decided upon the adoption of certain proposals with regar ...

, Migrant Workers (Supplementary Provisions) Convention, 1975, and on

forced labour Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, or violence, including death or other forms of ...

;

Forced Labour Convention The Forced Labour Convention, the full title of which is the Convention Concerning Forced or Compulsory Labour, 1930 (No.29), is one of eight ILO fundamental conventions of the International Labour Organization. Its object and purpose is to sup ...

and

Abolition of Forced Labour Convention Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957, the full title of which is Convention concerning the Abolition of Forced Labour, 1957 (No. 105), is one of the eight ILO fundamental conventions of the International Labour Organization, which cancels ...

as well as international human rights treaties including Convention against Discrimination in Education. The primary objective of the Convention is to foster respect for migrants' human rights. Migrants are not only workers, they are also human beings. The Convention does not create new rights for migrants but aims at guaranteeing equality of treatment, and the same

working condition {{Short description, 1=Overview of and topical guide to working time and conditions The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to working time and conditions: Legislation * See :Labour law * Collective agreement * H ...

s, including in case of

temporary work Temporary work or temporary employment (also called gigs) refers to an employment situation where the working arrangement is limited to a certain period of time-based on the needs of the employing organization. Temporary employees are sometimes ...

, for migrants and nationals. The Convention innovates because it relies on the fundamental notion that all migrants should have access to a minimum degree of protection. The Convention recognizes that regular migrants have the legitimacy to claim more rights than irregular immigrants, but it stresses that irregular migrants must see their fundamental human rights respected, like all human beings. In the meantime, the Convention proposes that actions be taken to eradicate clandestine movements, notably through the fight against misleading information inciting people to migrate irregularly, and through sanctions against traffickers and employers of undocumented migrants. Article 7 of this Convention protects the rights of migrant workers and their families regardless of "sex, race, colour, language, religion or conviction, political or other opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, nationality, age, economic position, property, marital status, birth, or other status". And Article 29 protects rights of child of migrant worker to name, to registration of birth and to a

nationality Nationality is the legal status of belonging to a particular nation, defined as a group of people organized in one country, under one legal jurisdiction, or as a group of people who are united on the basis of culture. In international law, n ...

. This Convention is also recalled by the

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is an international human rights instrument, international human rights multilateral treaty, treaty of the United Nations intended to protect the rights and dignity of persons with Disabil ...

at the Preamble.

Parties and signatories

As of September 2023 countries that have ratified the Convention are primarily countries of origin of migrants (such as Mexico, Morocco, and the Philippines). For these countries, the Convention is an important vehicle to protect their citizens living abroad. In the Philippines, for example, ratification of the Convention took place in a context characterized by several cases of Filipino workers being mistreated abroad: such cases hurt the Filipino population and prompted the ratification of the Convention. However, these countries are also transit and destination countries, and the Convention delineates their responsibility to protect the rights of migrants in their territory, and they have done little to protect those at home. No migrant-receiving state in Western Europe or North America has ratified the Convention. Other important receiving countries, such as Australia,

Arab states of the Persian Gulf The Arab states of the Persian Gulf, also known as the Gulf Arab states (), refers to a group of Arab states bordering the Persian Gulf. There are seven member states of the Arab League in the region: Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Saudi ...

, India and South Africa have not ratified the Convention.

Intersessional panel discussion

In June/July 2022, at the Human Rights Council Fiftieth session, the Human Rights Council held an Intersessional panel discussion on the human rights of migrants in vulnerable situations that were previously stated under 35/17 and 47/12 resolutions. The High Commissioner pointed out concerns related to the criminalization of migration, gender-based violence, arbitrary detention, family separation, loss of lives, harmful and dehumanizing narratives, and pervasive discrimination owing to personal factors, including age, gender, or disability. The broader impact of COVID-19 was also highlighted. Statements were provided by panelists reiterating that all migrants, regardless of status, were entitled to all human rights. Concerns on situations of vulnerability that migrants encountered in transit and at borders and violence perpetrated against migrants, including by State and non-State actors were also referred. Calls were made for independent mechanisms to monitor human rights violations, increase attention to the human rights of migrants, the importance of international cooperation, and the need to translate these rights into adequate legal and regulatory provisions. Additional recommendations included the need for implementing comprehensive protection regimes to identify and address situations of vulnerability in the process of migration. Remarks were made on the need for the international community to understand the root causes of migration and the challenges associated with it, and the range of measures that are needed to respond adequately to those challenges. Annual panel discussions were suggested by the High Commissioner.

Notes

References

External links

Full text of the Convention (English)

Full text of the Convention (Spanish)

Signatures and ratifications

The Committee on Migrant Workers
(which monitors the implementation of the convention)

* ttp://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu2/i2othmig.htm Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants
UNESCO Programme on International Migration and Multicultural Policies: Project on the UN Convention on Migrants’ Rights

International Labour Organization

International Organization for Migration

Migrants Rights International

Migrant Forum in AsiaDeclaration on the Rights of Expelled and Deported Persons
{{DEFAULTSORT:Migrant Workers Protection Convention Human rights instruments United Nations migration policy United Nations treaties

International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families The International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families is a United Nations multilateral treaty governing the protection of migrant workers and families. Signed on 18 December 1990, it ...

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