COMPILATION OF INTERNATIONAL NORMS
AND STANDARDS RELATING TO DISABILITY
Part V. Rights of Vulnerable Groups. 11/11   
10. Rights of Migrant Workers
Millions of people who are earning their living, or are looking for paid employment,
are strangers to the State where they reside. Migrant workers are devoid of protection or
safety and are vulnerable to discrimination, poverty, and social and cultural handicaps.
Disabled migrant workers are doubly disadvantaged. In order to protect migrant workers,
special attention has been focused by the UN, ILO and at the regional level. What follows
are a some important international and regional standards concerning migrant workers:
10.1 United Nations Provisions on the Migrant Worker
The International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant
Workers and Members of Their Families is based on a General Assembly Resolution
and is not yet in force. It contains a comprehensive set of rules with regard to the
particular situation of migrant workers. The main thrust of this Convention is that
persons who qualify as migrant workers under its provisions are entitled to enjoy rights
regardless of their legal status. The Convention does not directly refer to the disabled
people, but some articles are worth mentioning.
Article 1 (1) states that "...the present Convention is applicable, except as
otherwise provided hereafter, to all migrant workers and members of their families without
distinction of any kind suchas 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..." (emphasis added).
Article 7 provides: "States Parties undertake, in accordance with the
international instruments concerning human rights, to respect and to ensure to all migrant
workers and members of their families within their territory or subject to their
jurisdiction the rights provided for in the present Convention without distinction of any
kind such as to 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." (emphasis added).
Article 28 provides that"...migrant workers and members of their families shall
have the right to receive any medical care that is urgently required for the preservation
of their life or the avoidance of irreparable harm to their health on the basis of
equality of treatment with nationals of the state concerned. Such emergency medical care
shall not be refused by reason of any irregularity with regard to stay or
employment."
Some recent UN World Conferences have dealt with the rights of migrant workers:
The World Conference on Human Rights invited States to ratify the International
Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their
Families as soon as possible.
In the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action which it adopted
(part II, paragraphs 33-35), the Conference urged all States to guarantee the protection
of the human rights of all migrant workers and their families.
In chapter X of the Programme of Action, which was adopted on the
International Conference on Population and Development,the Conference called for a
comprehensive international approach to dealing with international migration.
At the World Summit for Social DevelopmentStates committed themselves, at the
international level, to ensure that migrant workers benefit from the protection provided
by relevant national and international instruments, to take concrete and effective
measures against the exploitation of migrant workers and to encourage all States to
consider ratifying and fully implementing international instruments relating to migrant
workers.
In the Beijing Platform for Action which was adopted by the Fourth
World Conference on Women (Chapter IV. D), the Conference called on States to recognise
the vulnerability to violence and other forms of abuse of women migrants, including women
migrant workers, whose legal status in the host State depends on employers who may exploit
their situation.
10.2 Regional Instruments Pertaining to the Rights of the Migrant
Worker
At the European level, the European Social Charter protects migrant workers with
disabilities. Article 19 establishes the right of migrant workers and their families and
of self-employed migrants to protection and assistance. In order to implement these
guarantees, States Parties undertake to provide a number of services. Some of which
include:
- States undertake to assist migrant workers against misleading propaganda relating to
immigration and emigration;
- States undertake to adopt appropriate measures to facilitate the departure, journey and
reception of such workers and their families and to provide appropriate services for
health, medical attention and good hygienic conditions during the journey;
- States undertake to secure for migrant workers lawfully within their territories,
insofar as such matters are regulated by law or regulations or are subject to the control
of administrative authorities, treatment not less favourable than that of their own
nationals in respect of the following matters: remuneration, working conditions,
membership of trade unions, enjoyment of the benefits of collective bargaining and
accommodation;
- States undertake to secure for such workers lawfully within their territory treatment
not less favourable than that of their own nationals with regard to employment taxes, dues
or contributions payable of employed' persons;
- States undertake to facilitate the reunion of a family of a foreign worker lawfully
within their territory;
- States undertake to secure that workers lawfully residing within their territories
receive treatment not less favourable than that of their own nationals in respect of legal
proceedings;
- States undertake to secure that the workers lawfully residing within their territories
are not expelled unless they endanger national security or offend the public interest or
morality;
- States undertake to permit the transfer of the earnings and savings of the migrant
workers into other countries.
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