International Convention on the Protection of the Rights
 of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families
 (New York, 18 December 1990)

OBJECTIVES 

        The globalization of markets, information and technology, as well as the liberalization of many laws affecting individuals’ mobility, has enabled vast movements of people on a scale never seen before.  The objective of this Convention is to create international standards for the protection of the human rights of migrant workers and their families. 
        The reasons individuals migrate vary greatly.  Some individuals migrate in order to escape desperate conditions in their home countries, such as war or famine.  Others seek better living conditions in countries where economic opportunities seem to be more abundant or more equitable. 
        However, all migrant workers are vulnerable to abuse by virtue of the fact that they are living in a foreign country. In fact, many fall victim to human traffickers who recruit them under false pretences and some are even held against their will under slavelike conditions. 
        Migrants may face many forms of discrimination on the part of the institutions and laws of their host country or its people.  They are often restricted by law in the kind of employment or conditions of work in which they can engage, even in cases where they were encouraged by foreign companies or Governments to settle in the host country.  


KEY PROVISIONS 

        The adoption of this Convention in 1990 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, irrespective of their legal status.  
        This Convention sets forth, for the first time, internationally uniform definitions agreed upon by States for different categories of migrant workers. States also agreed upon the need for the sending, transit and receiving countries to institute protective action on behalf of the migrant workers. 
        The Convention establishes standards to which States Parties must adhere with respect to migrant workers.  It incorporates six international human rights treaties that are today in force.  It also provides for the establishment of a monitoring mechanism in the form of an international body of independent experts.  This independent body will periodically review the implementation of the Convention by States Parties to the Convention.  


ENTRY INTO FORCE 

        The Convention is not yet in force. It shall enter into force on the first day of the month following a period of three months after the date of deposit of the twentieth instrument of ratification or accession with the Secretary-General of the United Nations.  


HOW TO BECOME A PARTY 

        The Convention is open for signature (indefinitely) and to ratification and accession.  


OPTIONAL AND/OR MANDATORY DECLARATIONS

        A State Party to the Convention may at any time declare that it recognizes the competence of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families to receive and consider communications to the effect that a State Party claims that another State Party is not fulfilling its obligations under the Convention.  
        A State Party to the Convention may at any time declare that it recognizes the competence of the Committee to receive and consider communications from or on behalf of individuals subject to its jurisdiction who claim that their individual rights as established by the Convention have been violated by that State Party.
        States may declare, at the time of signature or ratification, that they do not consider themselves bound by Article 92.1, according to which disputes among States Parties relating to the interpretation or application of the Convention which are not settled by negotiation will be submitted to arbitration, upon request of one of them, and, failing an agreement about the organization of the arbitration, to the International Court of Justice.


  RESERVATIONS 

        A State ratifying or acceding to the Convention may not exclude the application of any part of it, or exclude any particular category of migrant workers from its application. 
        Reservations not compatible with the object and the purpose of the Convention are not permitted.


  WITHDRAWAL/DENUNCIATION

        Denunciation of the Convention is possible only 5 years after it has entered into force for the State concerned, and it becomes effective on the first day of the month following the expiration of a period of 12 months after the date of the receipt of the notification by the Secretary-General of the United Nations. 
        Denunciation does not have the effect of releasing the State Party from its obligations under the Convention with regard to any act or omission which occurs prior to the date at which the denunciation becomes effective, nor does it prejudice in any way the continued consideration of any matter which is already under consideration by the Committee prior to the date on which the denunciation becomes effective.


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