A/HRC/29/36 agriculture and tourism, migrants in need of work but unable to get visas come irregularly and can become vulnerable to abuse, violence, restrictions on their freedom of movement and economic exploitation. 56. While the relationship between irregular migration status and labour market abuses is complex, the former will tend to increase vulnerability to the latter. Undocumented workers, constrained by circumstances, will perform tasks at great financial, physical and psychological cost. Little attention has been given to the impact European Union labour market dynamics has on pull factors for irregular migration and the suffering of undocumented migrant workers in the European Union. While the human rights implications of using precarious sea routes have been highly visible, the suffering experienced by undocumented migrant workers inside the European Union is largely invisible. 57. Migrant workers trying to survive in Europe often find themselves subject to racism and xenophobia. Labour market-related abuses and xenophobia within the overall population are mutually reinforcing. It has been reported that employers do not employ even highly skilled foreign workers and that there is a failure to maximize the potential of migrant workers within the European Union, with many migrants underperforming in the labour market relative to their education, in part because of xenophobic attitudes. 58. The unwillingness of European Union member States to ratify the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families reflects the intention to not be held accountable for human rights abuses against undocumented migrant workers. 2. Developing a human rights-based framework that banks on mobility over a generation 59. All the human rights concerns discussed above are signs of stress within the European Union border management and migration systems. They are clear indications that the status quo simply is not sustainable. Ignoring these warning signs and pouring further resources into an ineffective and paradoxical closure system will lead to further avoidable human suffering, as well as wasted resources and lost opportunity costs from not reaping the rewards of organized mobility. 60. Developing a human rights-based framework by tackling the most pressing concerns and sustaining the political will needed to stay the course of reform over a generation will allow the European Union to bank on the economic and social benefits of mobility. Developing a human rights-based framework 61. States assume obligations and duties under international law to respect, protect and fulfil human rights. These obligations and duties on States under international law are also broadly echoed by the standards within the European human rights system, which apply to all regardless of nationality and administrative status. 62. A human rights-based framework for migration would ensure the application of these obligations and duties to people in vulnerable situations of migration. It is a framework based on equality and non-discrimination, the duty to protect and access to justice. By upholding the principles of equality and non-discrimination, States acknowledge that human rights are for all and that migrants should be treated as equal rights holders, regardless of their migratory status in relation to the sovereign territory they find themselves in. When migrants are viewed as equal rights holders, a duty to protect them at all stages of the migration process naturally follows. If violations of these rights occur at any point, as equal rights holders, migrants must have access to justice to remedy any injustice. 12