Combating the Exploitation of Migrant Workers
PDF of Study Guide: https://www.munuzh.ch/s/Study-Guide_-Combating-the-Exploitation-of-Migrant-Workers.pdf
Country sign up: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1vUDtwmVVUBfqBam2VomuZ3ucobjbNain/edit?usp=share_link&ouid=101789240227469325634&rtpof=true&sd=true
Introduction to the committee
The UN General Assembly (UNGA) is the main policy-making body of the UN. As all member states are part of this committee and have an equal vote, it provides a unique setting for multilateral discussions on issues that the international community faces.
Background
The United Nations defines a migrant worker in the 1990 International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families as:
“A 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.”
The definition covers all kinds of work like skilled, unskilled, permanent, seasonal, formal, or informal. It applies regardless of the worker’s legal status in that country.
Subcategories of migrant workers recognized in UN instruments and ILO conventions include Seasonal workers (employed for part of the year), frontier workers (live in one country, work in another), project-tied workers (work only for a specific project), self-employed migrant workers and undocumented/irregular workers, who are particularly vulnerable to exploitation due to lack of legal protection.
Today, over 169 million people are estimated to be migrant workers worldwide (ILO, 2021). Migrant workers often fill essential but undervalued roles in construction, agriculture, domestic work, and service industries.
Different positions
Although there is broad consensus that migrant workers should be protected from exploitation, states differ significantly in priorities and approaches.
European Context:
In Europe there are both large labor importers, like Germany, France, Italy, Spain and exporters Romania, Poland, Bulgaria. Migrant workers from Eastern Europe often face exploitation in Western European sectors such as agriculture, meat-processing, and seasonal work. Western European states emphasize fair labor standards but often fail to enforce them. The pandemic exposed their essential role, for example in agriculture but also their precarious conditions. Reports highlight wage theft, unsafe housing, lack of health insurance, and union exclusion. Within the EU, debates center on balancing free movement with stronger protections. Eastern European states also raise concerns about “brain drain”, a phenomenon where highly educated or trained individuals leave the country in mass numbers.
Gulf Region Context:
Millions of South Asian and African workers migrate to Gulf states, like Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait for construction, domestic work, and hospitality jobs. The Kafala system historically is a sort of sponsorship program which tied workers to a specific employer, creating conditions ripe for forced labor. Systemic abuse and passport confiscation are widespread. The International Trade Union Confederation estimates that there are millions of workers in these states who are effectively slaves. The 2022 World Cup in Qatar brought international attention particularly in the construction sector and criticism of this system. Reforms were supposed to improved mobility and wage protections, but most international organisations like Amnesty International claim that the reforms do not improve the working conditions much. Most Gulf states defend their sovereignty and emphasize gradual reform rather than international monitoring.
Labor-Sending Countries
Most migrant workers are from South Asian, African or Latin American countries like Bangladesh, India, Philippines, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Mexico, Guatemala. These countries often depend heavily on remittances (money and goods sent by foreign workers back to their families and communities in their home countries). These countries push for stronger international protections and advocate for bilateral labor agreements ensuring minimum wages, grievance mechanisms, and safe working conditions. Irregular migration routes cause further issues like human trafficking and extortion.
Other nations with global influence
Other big global actors like the USA and China generally support international labor standards but prioritize bilateral agreements that secure their own economic interests.
The USA hosts over 10 million undocumented migrant workers, primarily from Latin America. Migrants are vital to U.S. agriculture, hospitality, and care work, yet often excluded from formal labor protections. Under Donald Trump, U.S. migration policy took on a far more restrictive and security-driven character, prioritizing border control, limiting legal work visa programs, and framing migration largely as a security threat, which has influenced attitudes in the whole world.
China is both a labor-receiving and a labor sending country. They host many migrant workers particularly in construction, manufacturing, and domestic service. Enforcement of labor rights for foreign workers remains weak. Significant numbers of Chinese workers are employed abroad, often in large-scale infrastructure projects in Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East.
What has already been done
The protection of migrant workers has been on the UN’s agenda for decades. Key milestones include:
● 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
It states that “everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work, and to protection against unemployment.” This was the foundation for later conventions.
● 1949 ILO (International Labour Organization) Migration for Employment Convention:
One of the earliest binding treaties addressing migrant workers. It regulates recruitment, employment conditions, and equality of treatment with nationals.
● 1975 ILO Migrant Workers Convention:
Focused on irregular migration and aimed to protect migrant workers from abusive conditions. It also focuses on combatting smuggling and human trafficking
● 1990 UN International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families:
Comprehensive treaty guaranteeing fundamental rights regardless of legal status. This convention is ratified by 59 states, mostly labor-sending countries, but not by major receiving states such as the U.S, western European or gulf states.
● 2014 ILO Protocol to the Forced Labour Convention:
Strengthened measures against modern slavery, forced labor, and trafficking. It came into force in 2016.
● 2018 Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM):
First intergovernmental agreement on migration at the global level but it is only a “non-binding cooperative framework” It specifically calls for “fair and ethical recruitment” and protection of migrant workers against exploitation.
Questions a resolution could answer
● How should the international community address exploitative practices like wage theft, debt bondage and unsafe housing?
● How can the UN strengthen enforcement of migrant worker protections?
● Should international monitoring be mandatory for high-risk countries or industries?
● How can bilateral labor agreements be made fairer and more transparent?
● Should the Kafala system and similar structures be phased out completely, and how?
Key Questions when researching your country’s position
Does my country rely on migrant workers domestically or export a large share of workers abroad?
Has my country ratified ILO and UN conventions regarding migrant workers?
What bilateral labor agreements has my country signed
Does my country support monitoring mechanisms for migrant worker rights?
Some country suggestions
● European Union States
○ Germany
○ France
○ Italy
○ Spain
○ Poland
○ Romania
○ Bulgaria
● Gulf States
○ Qatar
○ Saudi Arabia
○ UAE
○ Kuwait
● Labor-Sending Countries
○ Nepal
○ Bangladesh
○ India
○ Philippines
○ Ethiopia
○ Nigeria
○ Venezuela
○ Guatemala
○ Mexico
● Other
○ USA
○ China
