A/HRC/26/35
includes (a) the right to form associations and trade unions (article 40); (b) access to
housing and social and health services (article 43); and (c) protection against dismissal and
the right to unemployment benefits (article 54).
30.
International labour standards adopted by the International Labour Conference of the
International Labour Organization (ILO) apply to migrant workers unless otherwise stated.
The fundamental principles and rights at work set out in the eight Fundamental ILO
Conventions apply to all migrant workers, irrespective of their migration status. The 1998
ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and its follow-up requires
all ILO member States to promote and realize the principles concerning the fundamental
rights enshrined in these Conventions. A number of other ILO standards of general
application and those containing specific provisions on migrant workers in the areas of
employment, labour inspection, social security, protection of wages, occupational safety
and health, as well as in such sectors as agriculture, construction, hotels and restaurants,
and domestic work, are of particular importance to migrant workers in an irregular
situation. In formulating national laws and policies concerning labour migration and the
protection of migrant workers in an irregular situation, States are also guided by (a) the ILO
Migration for Employment (Revised) Convention, 1949 (No. 97); (b) the Migrant Workers
(Supplementary Provisions) Convention, 1975 (No. 143); and (c) the accompanying
Recommendations Nos. 86 and 151. The ILO Multilateral Framework on Labour
Migration, approved for publication and dissemination by ILO’s Governing Body in 2006
and which is based on international human rights and labour standards, provides useful
guidance to governments, social partners and other stakeholders in the formulation and
implementation of national labour migration policies.
31.
The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially
Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention Against Transnational
Organized Crime, requires States parties to prevent and criminalize trafficking, and to
protect victims. The definition of trafficking includes the recruitment, transportation or
receipt of persons by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, fraud or
deception, to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the
purpose of exploitation, including forced labour, slavery or servitude.
C.
Manifestations of labour exploitation
32.
While many migrants find decent work, enabling them to improve their social and
economic situation, others end up as victims of labour exploitation. The following is a
collection of some of the worst practices migrants face in different regions of the world,
irrespective of their migration status.
1.
Discrimination
33.
Migrants report discrimination by their employers, on many grounds such as
nationality, race and sex, with regard to, inter alia, remuneration, excessive overtime,
opportunities for promotion, access to health care and unfair dismissals. Migrants are
sometimes submitted to mandatory HIV testing, which is prohibited under the ILO HIV and
AIDS recommendation, 2010 (No. 200). Migrants, both regular and irregular, are often
employed under precarious and discriminatory conditions, with temporary contracts that do
not entitle them to access social security services. They sometimes suffer verbal, physical
and sexual abuse in the workplace.
34.
One case brought to the Special Rapporteur’s attention concerned alleged arbitrary
arrest and detention, and lack of access to food, water and adequate housing in the context
of a natural disaster. In this situation, migrants were reportedly excluded from the
distribution of food and other essential items, and denied access to emergency shelters,
7