The International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families was adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations by its resolution 45/158 of 18 December 1990 after many years of discussions, reports and recommendations on the subject of migrants’ rights.
According to a UN Fact Sheet on The International Convention on Migrant Workers and its Committee, “The United Nations first voiced concern about the rights of migrant workers in 1972, when the Economic and Social Council … expressed alarm at the illegal transportation of labour to some European countries and at the exploitation of workers from some African countries ‘in conditions akin to slavery and forced labour.’ In the same year, the General Assembly … condemned discrimination against foreign workers and called upon Governments to end such practices and to improve reception arrangements for migrant workers.”
“Following a request from the Economic and Social Council in 1973, the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities adopted a report on the exploitation of labour through illicit and clandestine trafficking in 1976. The report … recommended the drawing-up of a United Nations convention on the rights of migrant workers. This recommendation was echoed at the World Conference to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination in Geneva in 1978 and in General Assembly resolution 33/163 on measures to improve the situation and ensure the human rights and dignity of all migrant workers.”
Following the adoption of a resolution by the General Assembly, “a working group open to all Member States was established in 1980 to draw up a convention, and the international organs and organizations concerned — the Commission on Human Rights, the Commission for Social Development, the International Labour Organization, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, and the World Health Organization — were invited to contribute to the task.” The working group finished drafting the Convention in 1990 and it was adopted by the General Assembly without a vote.
The Convention entered into force 1 July 2003 after 20 States had ratified or acceded to it. In 1998, a Steering Committee for the ratification of the Convention, an alliance involving the United Nations Secretariat, intergovernmental agencies and leading international human rights, church, labour, migrant and women’s organizations, was convened and “coordinated international and national activities to publicize the Convention and raise awareness about it through its Global Campaign. Acording to the UN’s Fact Sheet on the Convention, its work “led to a sharp increase in the number of ratifications and signatures.”
The Convention is considered to be one of the seven “core” international human rights treaties, which together form the United Nations human rights treaty system.