Promoting and Protecting the Rights of Migrant Workers The Role of National Human Rights Institutions 2.2. Core labour standards and other relevant conventions All core ILO labour rights – known as the Fundamental Conventions of the ILO and enshrined in the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work – apply in equal measure to all migrant workers. Adopted in 1998, the Declaration states in its Preamble that the ILO “should give special attention to the problems of persons with special social needs, particularly the unemployed and migrant workers, and mobilize and encourage international, regional and national efforts aimed at resolving their problems, and promote effective policies aimed at job creation”. Article 2 of the Declaration states that: all Members, even if they have not ratified the Conventions in question, have an obligation arising from the very fact of membership in the Organization to respect, to promote and to realize, in good faith and in accordance with the Constitution, the principles concerning the fundamental rights which are the subject of those Conventions, namely: (a) freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining; (b) the elimination of all forms of forced or compulsory labour; (c) the effective abolition of child labour; and (d) the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation. The eight conventions considered “fundamental” by the ILO include: • Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (C-29) • Freedom of Association Convention, 1948 (C-87) • Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (C-98) • Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (C-100) • Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (C-105) • Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (C-111) • Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (C-138) • Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (C-182). There are other ILO standards that are directly relevant to rights of migrant workers.111 Of particular importance are the Private Employment Agencies Convention, 1997 (C-181) and the Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (C-189). The Private Employment Agencies Convention, 1997 provides guidance for designing a legal framework to address illegal recruitment practices and trafficking of human beings, especially women and children. It applies to all private employment agencies and all categories of workers, including migrant workers, but excludes the recruitment and placement of seafarers from its coverage (article 2(2)). Some of the Convention’s key provisions include: • that member States ensure that private employment agencies treat workers without discrimination on the basis of race, colour, sex, religion, political opinion, national extraction, social origin, or any other form of discrimination covered by national law and practice, such as age or disability (article 5) • the protection of worker’s privacy in processing worker’s data (article 6) 111 For a list of other relevant standards, see the ILO Multilateral Framework on Labour Migration: Non-binding principles and guidelines for a rights-based approach to labour migration; 2006; Annex I; pp. 33-34. 44 | Chapter 4: The International Labour Organization and migrant workers