Migrant Workers in International Human Rights Law

This book examines the plight of migrant workers and their families in countries of employment, and the protection which they receive under international human rights law. It focuses on their economic, social, cultural, political and residence rights, and also contains a detailed case-study on their legal situation in Europe.

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Migrant workers and their families outnumber refugees and displaced persons, but are given far less attention when it comes to the international protection of their rights. Indeed, to be an economic migrant today carries with it a stigma in a word where barriers to voluntary international migration are growing ever higher. This timely work evaluates the international protection of the rights of migrant workers and their families in countries of employment focusing on their economic, social, cultural, political, and residence rights. The book begins with an overview of international labour migration and its relationship to the right to development. It examines the rights of migrant workers as aliens in general international human rights law as well as the specific efforts and measures of the International Labour Organization and the United Nations. The final part contains a comprehensive case study of the multifarious standards adopted under the auspices of the Council of Europe and the European Union to protect this increasingly vulnerable group of human beings.