Australia Ratify Now: Migrant Workers Convention

One by one the world has adopted the major human rights treaties.  Early on the general ones: the ones that said everyone has human rights.  Then the treaties that tried to make this real for different groups in society.  The ones that said we couldn’t discriminate on the basis of race, or against women, or commit torture, or violate the rights of children, or discriminate against disabled people.  Just about every country has signed on to these treaties.  There was one more major human rights treaty however:  the 1990 International Convention on the Protection of All Migrant Workers and their Families. 

Unlike any of these other treaties not one single western or wealthy nation has ratified it.

Countries have found it easy to say that everyone has rights, children have rights, women have rights, the disabled have rights.  Yet we have found it difficult to say that migrant workers have rights.  That we think of migrant workers as ‘foreigners’ is likely part of the reason.  Given that we believe that all human beings are equal and endowed with rights, which human rights do we think migrant workers shouldn’t have?  The following are the kinds of rights that the Migrant Workers Convention guarantees to all migrant workers.

The right to leave any state (article 8 )

The right to be protected by law (article 9)

The right not to be subjected to torture (article 10)

The right not to be held in slavery or forced labour (article 11)

The right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion (article 12)

The right to freedom of opinion and expression (article 13)

The right to privacy (article 14)

The right not to be arbitrarily deprived of property (article 15)

The right to liberty and security of the person (article 16)

The right to humane treatment when in detention (article 17)

The right to equality before the law (article 18)

The right not to be subjected to retrospective penalties (article 19)

The right not to be imprisoned merely for failing to fulfil a contract (article 20)

The right not to have identity documents destroyed (article 21)

The right not to be subject to mass expulsion (article 22)

The right to seek consular assistance (article 23)

The right to recognition as a person before the law (article 24)

The right to equal treatment and equal remuneration before the law (article 25)

The right to participate in trade unions (article 26)

The right to equivalent treatment with respect to social security (article 27)

The right to urgent life saving medical treatment (article 28)

The right of a migrant child to a name nationality, to registration at birth (article 29)

The right of a migrant child to equal access to education (article 30)

The right to have cultural identity respected (article 31)

The right to transfer property when returning home (article 32)

The right to know their rights (article 33)

Ratification of the Migrant Workers Convention, would be just a beginning in attaining these rights, but it is important.  Without ratification what message are we sending?  We don’t really care about human rights for non-citizen workers?  In 2009 Amnesty International called on Australia to ratify.   They explain why Australia should ratify:

If Australia were to take the step of being the first wealthy developed nation to sign and ratify the Migrant Workers Convention, it would mark an historic breakthrough in the protection of migrant workers and members of their families. Finally, a country that is predominantly a ‘receiver’ of migrant workers would be committing itself to the protection of migrant workers’ rights. While continuing to benefit from the labour of migrant workers, Australia would be acknowledging their human rights and dignity.

The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), has also supported the call for ratification. 

In early 2011 Australia went through the process of Universal Period Review before the UN Human Rights Council.  Among the recommendations made to Australia was that it should ratify the Migrant Workers Convention.   Australian human rights organisations have since called on Australia to implement the recommendations, including ratifying the Convention.  As far as we are aware Australia has yet to respond.

Image Sources:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dfid/5499005775/ Department for International Development/Michael Haig

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rafamado/2660567870/