Migration and Human Rights: The United Nations Convention on Migrant Workers' Rights

by Ryszard Cholewinski, Paul de Guchteneire, Antoine Pecoud

Overview

The UN Convention on Migrant Workers' Rights is the most comprehensive international treaty in the field of migration and human rights. Adopted in 1990 and entered into force in 2003, it sets a standard in terms of access to human rights for migrants. However, it suffers from a marked indifference: only forty states have ratified it and no major immigration country has done so. This highlights how migrants remain forgotten in terms of access to rights. Even though their labour is essential in the world economy, the non-economic aspect of migration – and especially migrants' rights – remain a neglected dimension of globalisation. This volume provides in-depth information on the Convention and on the reasons behind states' reluctance towards its ratification. It brings together researchers, international civil servants and NGO members and relies upon an interdisciplinary perspective that includes not only law, but also sociology and political science.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521136112
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	11/26/2009
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	450
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Ryszard Cholewinski was a reader in Law at the University of Leicester from 1992 to 2005. He now works at the International Organization for Migration.

Paul de Guchteneire is Chief of the International Migration and Multicultural Policies Section at UNESCO and director of the International Journal on Multicultural Societies.

Antoine Pécoud is Programme Specialist for UNESCO's International Migration and Multicultural Policies Section. He is also a research associate at the Unité de Recherche Migrations et Société, University of Paris VII, and at Migrations Internationales, Espaces et Sociétés, University of Poitiers (France).

Table of Contents

List of figures vii

List of tables viii

Notes on contributors ix

Abbreviations xvi

1 Introduction: The UN Convention on Migrant Workers' Rights Paul De Guchteneire Antoine Pécoud 1

Part I

2 Migration and human rights: the uneasy but essential relationship Graziano Battistella 47

3 Role of civil society in campaigning for and using the ICRMW Mariette Grange Marie D'Auchamp 70

4 Committee on Migrant Workers and implementation of the ICRMW Carla Edelenbos 100

5 Migrants' rights in UN human rights conventions Isabelle Slinckx 122

6 The need for a rights-based approach to migration in the age of globalization Patrick A. Taran 150

Part II

7 Obstacles to, and opportunities for, ratification of the ICRMW in Asia Nicola Piper 171

8 Obstacles to ratification of the ICRMW in Canada Victor Piché Eugénie Depatie-Pelletier Dina Epale 193

9 Mexico's role in promoting and implementing the ICRMW Gabriela Díaz Gretchen Kuhner 219

10 Migrants' rights after apartheid: South African responses to the ICRMW Jonathan Crush Vincent Williams Peggy Nicholson 247

11 Policy on the ICRMW in the United Kingdom Bernard Ryan 278

12 The French political refusal on Europe's behalf Hélène Oger 295

13 Migration and human rights in Germany Felicitas Hillmann Amanda Klekowski von Koppenfels 322

14 Migration and human rights in Italy: prospects for the ICRMW Kristina Touzenis 343

15 The ICRMW and the European Union Euan Macdonald Ryszard Cholewinski 360

Annex 1 International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families Adopted by General Assembly Resolution 45/158 of 18 December 1990 393

Annex 2 Ratifications of ILO Conventions 97 and 143 and of ICRMW as at June 2009 437

Index 440

Editorial Reviews

'[This] book offers a good overview of the current challenges of the International Convention on Migrant Workers' Rights through complementary and informative perspectives. It has the merit of exploring a field which is conspicuously poor in the existing literature. One could accordingly hope that this book will encourage the research community to be more actively involved in this important area.' Vincent Chetail, International Journal of Refugee Law

'Migration and Human Rights: The United Nations Convention on Migrant Workers' Rights focuses on human migration as a key to human development in the age of globalization. The volume highlights the importance for the international community of nations to work together to promote and protect the fundamental rights of migrant workers across the world.' Ritendra Tamang and Ajay Pradhan, International Migration Review

'This original and well-documented book aims both at informing academics, civil society and policymakers, and at promoting the ratification of this key Convention. It is an important contribution for current thinking on migration issues and for the recognition of the potential of a rights-based approach in this field.' Anne-Claire Gayet, Population

'Migration and Human Rights: The United Nations Convention on Migrant Workers' Rights is a unique contribution, as it offers an insight into the historical, political, legal and institutional reasons of why states are so reluctant to ratify this international measure. This collection represents a useful source for scholars and practitioners interested in migration, human rights and integration studies within the international arena.' Sonia Morano-Foadi, International Journal of Law in Context

'This book will surely be of interest to a wide spectrum of people including academics, policymakers, NGO activists and people working on migration issues within international organisations.' Daniela DeBono, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies

From the Publisher