Protecting rights of migrant workers more crucial than ever – UN Committee -- DisplayNews

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GENEVA (2 October 2013) – Migrants are too often regarded as commodities or economic and political problems instead of human beings, a UN Committee has said in an appeal to all countries to join an international treaty that protects the rights of migrant workers.
“The International Convention on the Rights of Migrant Workers and their Families (ICRMW) is one of the core international human rights treaties,” said Chairperson Abdelhamid El Jamri on behalf of the Committee on the Rights of Migrant Workers (CMW).
“Ratifying this treaty does not commit States to giving migrant workers special treatment. It does not create new rights nor establish additional rights specifically for migrant workers. What it does do is give specific form to standards that protect all human beings so that they are meaningful within the context of migration,” said Mr. El Jamri.
Changing patterns of migration and the exploitation and discrimination faced by migrant workers in sectors such as construction and agriculture have made protecting their rights more crucial than ever, he stressed.
The Convention, in force for 10 years, has been ratified by 47 States. However, no major destination countries, among them the US, EU member States and Gulf countries, have ratified it, even though it reflects the rights set out in other core human rights treaties to which many States are already party.
The Committee’s call for wider ratification of the Convention comes ahead of high-level talks at the United Nations in New York on 3 and 4 October on migration and development, which are seen as an important opportunity to promote recognition of the fundamental human rights of all migrants.
More than 200 million people worldwide are international migrants; of these some 30 million are estimated to be irregular migrants.