General comment No. 1 on migrant domestic workers Committee on the Protection of the Rights ofall Migrant Workers & Members of Their Families CMW/C/GC/1 23 February 2011 INTRODUCTION 1. Domestic work is an important occupation for millions of individuals, accounting for up to 10 per cent of total employment in some countries.1 The trend over the past decades has been a growing prevalence of migrants amongst domestic workers. Women make up the overwhelming majority of these workers. 2. Noting the omission of express references to either domestic work or domestic workers in a broad range of national and international frameworks of law, the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (hereinafter referred to as the Committee), at its eleventh session in October 2009, resolved to issue a general comment in order to provide States with guidance on how to implement their obligations under the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and the Members of Their Families (hereinafter referred to as the Convention) with respect to migrant domestic workers. The Committee organized a Day of General Discussion on this subject on 14 October 2009, which generated strong participation by States, international organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and trade organizations, civil society and migrants, including a number of written perspectives and studies. This general comment draws upon those contributions as well as the Committee’s experience in reviewing with States parties their reports on the implementation of the Convention. 3. As defined by the Convention, the term “migrant worker” refers to any person who “is to be engaged, is engaged or has been engaged in a remunerated activity in a State of which he or she is not a national”2. Accordingly, the Convention expressly provides protection to migrant workers and their family members not only when the migrants are actually working, but “during the entire migration process of migrant workers and members of their families, which comprises preparation for migration, departure, transit and the entire period of stay and remunerated activity in the State of employment as well as return to the State of origin or the State of habitual residence”3. 4. Depending on their administrative status under national immigration laws, some migrants are considered as documented or in a regular situation, while others are considered as non-documented or in an irregular situation. Just as the Convention delineates rights that apply to all migrant workers regardless of their status4, and then distinguishes further 1 There is no accurate data on the number of domestic workers throughout the world, partly due to the high incidence of undeclared domestic work and the fact that national statistics often do not count domestic workers as a distinct category. However, such data as are available show that domestic work accounts for between 4 and 10 per cent of total employment in developing countries and between 1 and 2.5 per cent in industrialized countries. See International Labour Organization (ILO) (2009), “Decent Work for Domestic Workers”, Report IV(1), International Conference, 99th session, 2010. 2 Convention, art. 2. Article 3 of the Convention excludes from its scope of application a number of categories of workers, including certain employees of international organizations and of States, investors residing outside of their State of origin, whose status are regulated by general international law or specific agreements; students and trainees; and seafarers and workers on offshore installations who have not been admitted to take up residence and engage in a remunerated activity in the States of employment. Moreover, refugees and stateless persons are only included under the Convention if such application is provided in national legislation (art. 3(d)). 3 Convention, art. 1. 4 Convention, Part III. 47