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Protecting rights of migrant workers: Upholding ICMW

MS Siddiqui | February 11, 2019 12:00:00

People of poorer countries move to developed countries for better livelihood ,

socioeconomic condition and shelter. They migrate to other countries through
both official and unofficial channels. In worst circumstances like war, civil
strife, ethnic conflict, violations of human rights or other situations, some
citizens are forced to leave their homeland and become refugees in other
countries. The statuses of refugee and expatriates are not the same.
Refugee is anyone who is forced to leave his or her country for various man -
made or natural disasters while expatriate is anyone living in another country
for employment purposes.

In article 2(1) of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights

of All Migrant W orkers and Members of Their Families (ICMW ), 1990 by the
UN, a migrant worker is defined as 'a person who is to be engaged, is
engaged or has been engaged in a remunerated activity in a State of which
he or she is not a national'. The Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees (the Refugee Convention) of 1951 defines refugee as any person
who is "outside their country of origin and unable or unwilling to return there
or to avail themselves of its protection, on account of a well -founded fear of
persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a
particular group, or political opinion."

There are about 10 million Bangladeshi migrants working in different

countries especially in Middle East (ME). According to latest data released
by the Bangladesh Bank, Bangladeshi expatriates remitted $14.98 billion in
the fiscal year 2017-18.

According to United Nations figures, there are approximately 200 million

international migrants in the world. This is barely 3.0 per cent of the world
population. Migrants contribute annually an estimated USD 2.0 trillion to the
economies of the countries in which they work.
Remittances of Bangladeshi migrants contribute nearly 11 per cent of the
country's annual gross domestic product (GDP). Remittances provide
significant support to the balance of payments and also help stimulate the
economy and alleviate poverty from the coun try. Bangladesh is naturally
concerned about their migrant workers as the latter play an important role in
the socioeconomic development of the country.

Host countries may have reasons to welcome migrants as well. This is due to
shortages of labour force and of native workers' reluctance to perform
specific jobs. These can be termed as '3D (dirty, demanding and dangerous)
jobs'. These jobs are usually in the construction, real estate sectors or
domestic services. The strenuous tasks in these sectors are usu ally done by
poor migrants who hail from across the world. The working condition, wages
etc are not favourable for migrant workers in other countries.

There are global concerns regarding the situation. UN and human rights -
promoting organisations are working hard to improve the employment
process and working condition of migrant workers. At present the
international legal framework for the protection of human rights of migrants is
significantly broad. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has two
Conventions aimed at protecting migrant workers: Conventions 97 (1949) and
143 (1975).

Moreover, a number of international treaties have provisions that protect the

rights of all men, irrespective of their citizenship. These include the six main
human rights treaties adopted by the United Nations from 1965 to 1989, as
well as the founding document which served as a matrix for the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in 1948.

These human rights treaties are: (a) The Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD, adopted in 1965); (b) The
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR,
1966); (c) The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR,
1966); (d) The Convention on the Eliminatio n of All Forms of Discrimination
against W omen (CEDAW , 1979); (e) The Convention against Torture, and
Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment(CAT, 1984);
and (f) The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC, 1989).

The landmark convention of UN is the 'International Convention on the

Protection of the Rights of All Migrant W orkers and Members of Their
Families (ICMW )'. It was adopted in 1990 and was entered into force on July
01, 2003 after the threshold of 20 ratifying States was reache d. Bangladesh
signed the convention in 1998. Unfortunately, only 51 States have ratified it
and, most notably, no important W estern destination and Middle Eastern
country has done so.
The objectives of ICMW are: to increase labour standards and lessen the
downward pressure resulting from competition between national and foreign
workers and protecting rights of migrants and local workers. The Convention
has recognised all the categories of migrants -irregular migrants, trafficked
migrants, migrant women.

At the same time, the emphasis on human rights, and not solely labour
rights, is crucial in terms of the protection of migrants who are not active on
the labour market or whose presence is only partly related to their working
capacity. The ICMW has given emphasis on rights of the 'members of the
families' of migrant workers and also rights of illegal migrants.

The Convention has established a treaty monitoring body, made up of 10

independent experts "of high moral standing, impartiality and recognised
competence in the field covered by the Convention" (Art. 72). This
Committee on Migrant W orkers (CMW ) examines the initial and periodic
reports submitted by each State Party. The Convention explicitly refers to the
possibility for the Committee to "invite the speci alised agencies and organs
of the UN, as well as intergovernmental organisations and other concerned
bodies to submit written information" (Art.74). In its deliberations, it can thus
consider comments and materials provided by the International Labour
Organisation (Art. 74).

ICMW is for more liberal immigration policies. It does not propose any new
set of rights that would be specific to migrants. It only ensures that human
rights are properly applied to migrant workers. Bangladesh, along with other
countries, should promote ICMW in Middle Eastern countries in order to
protect the rights of migrant workers

M S Siddiqui is a legal economist.

mssiddiqui2035@gmail.com