Part I International laws and mechanisms 2. DEFINING MIGRANT WORKERS AND THEIR FAMILIES The most comprehensive definition of a migrant worker is provided in the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families (“the Convention on Migrant Workers”). Article 2.1 of the Convention on Migrant Workers defines a migrant worker: … as a person who is to be engaged, is engaged or has been engaged in a renumerated activity in a State of which he or she is not a national. Article 2 also distinguishes between particular categories of migrant. These include “frontier worker”, “seasonal worker”, “project-tied worker”, “itinerant worker”, “seafarer” and “self-employed worker”; categories which have been excluded from other international standards developed in the past, including ILO conventions specific to the rights of migrant workers. Part V of the Convention sets out the rights that apply to these particular categories of migrant workers. In particular, the definition of “self-employed worker” “recognizes the large number of migrant workers who operate a small family business by themselves or with other family members.”16 These definitions apply across all regions of the world. In addition, the Convention recognizes migrant workers as social entities and extends recognition of rights to members of their families. Article 4 provides the following definition: The term “members of the family” refers to persons married to migrant workers or having with them a relationship that, according to applicable law, produces effects equivalent to marriage, as well as their dependent children and other dependent persons who are recognized as members of the family by applicable legislation or applicable bilateral or multilateral agreements between the States concerned. Photo by Richard Messenger. 16 Guide on Ratification: International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families; International Steering Committee for the Global Campaign for Ratification of the Convention on Rights of Migrants; 2010; p. 17. Chapter 1: The international legal framework on the rights of migrant workers and members of their families | 3