COMMITTEE ON MIGRANT WORKERS

25th Anniversary of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families 18 December 1990 - 18 December 2015

Step It Up: Rights, Dignity, Development

18 December 2015 marks the 25th anniversary of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.  The occasion is a perfect opportunity for all stakeholders to step-up their advocacy efforts for the ratification of the only Convention that specifically guarantees the human rights of all migrant workers and members of their families.

To mark the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the Convention, States parties and civil society organizations, including non-governmental organizations and trade unions, are invited to organize events and activities relating to the promotion of the human rights of migrant workers as well as ratification of the Convention during the period 18 December 2014 to 18 December 2015 as part of a global campaign entitled: Step It Up: Dignity, Rights, Development.

The global campaign will be kicked-off by Migrant Forum in Asia network and affiliated civil society organizations and trade unions, together with the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and the ILO by launching a web platform on 19 December 2014.  The platform provides a space for all stakeholders to showcase events and activities throughout the year to promote the human rights of migrant workers and the ratification of the Convention.  The global campaign centres around the following themes: ending child immigration detention, migrant domestic workers, forced labour, contributions of migrant workers to countries of origin and host countries, and promotion of the ratification of the Convention.    

The link to the web platform is: http://cmw25.org/

The Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families is also planning to mark this important occasion by holding a panel discussion during its 23rd session in September 2015.  Information on this event as well as other related events will be updated regularly on this webpage.    

About the Migrant Workers Convention

The International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families was adopted by resolution 45/158 of 18 December 1990 at the forty-fifth session of the General Assembly of the United Nations.  The adoption of the Convention was an historic event for migrant workers.  It establishes, in certain areas, the principle of equality of treatment with nationals for all migrant workers and their families, regardless of their legal status.  The Convention set forth, for the first time, internationally uniform definitions agreed upon by States for different categories of migrant workers.  It also obliged sending, transit and receiving States parties to institute protective action on behalf of migrant workers. 

The Convention is one of the core international human rights instruments and is firmly grounded in the principles and standards of the wider human rights framework.  It seeks to establish minimum standards that States parties should apply to migrant workers and members of their families, irrespective of immigration status.  The Convention does not create new rights or establish additional rights for migrant workers.  It does not reach above general international human rights standards which protect all human beings, but it does give specific form to these standards so that they are meaningful in the particular context of migration.