International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of all Migrant Workers and Members of their Families

      On Tuesday 1st July 2003 the 'International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of all Migrant Workers and Members of their Families' came into force.

          There is abundant evidence that worldwide documented and undocumented migrant workers - including a growing number of women - are providing key contributions in such sectors as agriculture, construction, high tech and (domestic) services. They are, however, increasingly subject to racism, discrimination, abuse and violent attacks. We, therefore, welcome the entry into force of the Convention, although it took thirteen years to accomplish this.

       Among the main obstacles to ratification - in particular in the privileged North - were fears of what the Convention would bring and a lack of political will to go for something different. Without efforts to share wealth more evenly, migration will only increase. Migration is a phenomenon, not a problem. In this matter, no short term and obvious solutions exist.

    The Convention is not an open invitation for more migration but an instrument that provides a necessary universal basic standard to protect the human rights of both documented and undocumented migrant workers.

      The main purpose of the Convention is to provide a framework in international law which assures migrant workers that their basic human rights will be acknowledged during the course of their migration. The human rights provided for include:

         preventing inhumane living and working conditions, physical and sexual abuse and degrading treatments (articles 10-11, 25, 54),

         guaranteeing migrants' rights to freedom of thought, expression and religion (articles 12-13),

         guaranteeing migrants' access to information on their rights (articles 33, 37),

         ensuring their right to legal equality, which implies that migrant workers are subject to correct procedures, have access to interpreting services and:

         are not sentenced to disproportionate penalties such as expulsion (articles 16-20, 22),

         guaranteeing migrants' equal access to educational and social services (articles 27-28, 30, 43-45, 54),

         ensuring that migrants have the right to participate in trade unions (articles 26, 40).

       (the convention in full can be downloaded from here Migrant Convention.pdf)

        Ten UK-based organisations have officially welcomed the coming into force of the Convention. Anti-Slavery International, the Association for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa, the Dalit Solidarity Network UK, the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, Kalayaan:Justice for Migrant Domestic Workers, Liberty, the National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns the Office of Refugee Policy, Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, Oxfam GB, and the United Nations Association-UK.

      The convention first appeared in 1989, when UN member states were invited to sign up to its provisions. The process of gathering the necessary 20 countries to put their names as supporters of its principles has been slow, but the leading NGO support organisation, the Global Campaign for the Ratification of the Convention, greeted the news that the 20th country, Guatamala had signed in March this year by declaring:

      "[T]he concrete implementation of the Convention will fill a much-needed gap for the protection of all migrants. Although non-discrimination is a pivotal provision in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and its subsequent elaboration in the main human rights norms and standards, in practical terms, non-nationals are often exploited and discriminated against. The Convention provides governments with a concrete framework to prevent exploitation of migrant workers and their families during the entire migration process."

      The full list of 22 countries which will now implement the Convention in their domestic law is Azerbaijan, Belize, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cape Verde, Colombia, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea, Mali, Mexico, Morocco, Philippines, Senegal, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Uganda and Uruguay.

      At this time this list includes only one European state (Bosnia and Herzegovina). Supporters of the Convention in Europe are planning to take the debate forward through coordinated activities in all countries in the region, and in particular to call upon the Council of Europe and the European Union to initiate a new debate on the need for the human rights of migrant workers to be fully consolidated into all fundamental laws.

      The TUC and JCWI are organising a conference, to be held on Monday 14th July at Congress House, Great Russell Street, London WC1 - all welcome.

For further details of this event, visit JCWI's web-site at
http://www.jcwi.org.uk/