16 Years After U.N. Migrant Treaty Adopted, U.S. Has Not Signed

by Mike Hall, Dec 19, 2006

Some 120 million migrants are at work around the world, leaving their homelands in search of jobs to support themselves and their families back home. But many millions of these construction, domestic, contract, garment and other workers are exploited—or even worse, trafficked into virtual slavery through sweatshop labor, domestic servitude and other exploitative work conditions.

Sixteen years ago, the United Nations General Assembly adopted an international treaty upholding migrant workers’ rights to at least minimal protections.

International Migrants Day, Dec. 18, marked the 16th anniversary of that treaty—the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families. However, the United States still has not signed it.

Urging the United States to ratify the treaty, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney says:

We stand together with migrant workers and immigrant communities worldwide to call on the U.S. government to uphold the human and civil rights of all migrant workers and their families.

Says Louise Arbor, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights:

The reality for many migrants is one of exploitation, exclusion, discrimination, abuse and violence amounting to widespread human rights violations. They frequently find themselves accepting dangerous or unhealthy employment with few avenues to seek redress when abuses occur.

Through programs supported by the Solidarity Center, an AFL-CIO allied organization, unions are working with migrants to protect their rights and develop pro-migrant public policies.

Most migrant workers come from countries that have large disparities between the rich and poor—and especially between urban and rural dwellers. These countries tend to have few social safety nets such as pensions, health care and other benefits. According to the Solidarity Center, the leading migrant nations are the Philippines, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, while Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Malaysia and Kuwait are the largest importers of migrant workers.

In the UAE, some 500,000 migrant construction workers earn an average of $175 a month, compared with the nation’s per-capita monthly income average of $2,106.

The worst abuse of migrant workers is known as trafficking—using fraud or coercion to recruit, transport, buy and sell human beings into virtual slavery. Says Arbour:

Organized crime and smuggling networks target irregular migrants and lead them into such high-risk situations as perilous border crossings and trafficking. The news media is full of stories of migrants perishing at sea, suffocating in cargo holds or being subjected of rape and abuse while in transit.

Migrant workers in the United States also face exploitation as corporations seek cheap labor. But as Sweeney notes, the immigration reform debate seldom focuses on workers’ rights:

The U.S. government must implement an immigration policy that prioritizes workers’ rights. Unfortunately, the rights of migrant workers have been largely ignored in the political discussions concerning comprehensive immigration reform. Corporations continue to call on Congress to create a new large guest worker program, which will provide corporations with a constant stream of exploitable workers and create a secondary class of workers that will drive down workplace standards for all workers.

As a nation that prides itself on fair treatment and equality, we should accept the standards of rights laid out by the U.N. Convention on migrants and demand immigration reform that will guarantee that all workers who labor in our nation enjoy full protections of the laws.

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