Maria Khristianie I Rubias

The Rights of Migrant Workers

I. INTRODUCTION
The impact of economic globalization on the lives of poor Filipinos is so
devastating, and the need for jobs so pressing, that despite the horrifying stories of
injustices suffered by Filipino migrant victims, Filipino workers cannot be dissuaded
from leaving the country in search of overseas employment. The threat of living in
perpetual poverty, unemployment, and misery drove some to leave their families to work
abroad. Today, many years later, these are still the same threats that push a lot of us to
brave the violence against migrant workers abroad just to have the chance to find these
better albeit elusive opportunities.
It is estimated that one (1) out of ten (10) Filipinos resides over 90 million as of
the latest census in 2012, this translates to more than nine (9) million Filipinos working
and/or living abroad. There is probably no country in the world where there is no
Filipino. Even in the small islands of the Caribbean, one can find Filipino restaurants
and money remittance centers. Truth to tell, the main reason for the countrys healthy
dollar reserve is the remittances from the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs). They are
called the modern day heroes. Indeed, when one chooses to live in a strange land,
outside his comfort zone and away from his loved ones and contributes to the countrys
economy, he deserves the countrys gratitude.
In their situation, migrant workers are a class of people that need special
protection for their human rights. They are a class of people who are temporarily and
partially outside the mantle of coverage of their home countrys protection and have to
rely on the protection of the country where they are currently based. Even if they are not
citizens of that country, they are part of a labor force that runs and contributes to the
economy of that country. In many cases in the Middle East, Filipino workers are
instrumental in the building of cities and making homes comfortable. In countries such
as the United Staes, Filipino workers contribute to the health and well-being of the
nation. Thus, it is important that international laws be in place for this special class of
people.

II. LAWS PROTECTING THE RIGHTS OF MIGRANT WORKERS.

International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant
Workers and Members of Their Families (Adopted by General Assembly
resolution 45/158 of 18 December 1990)

Taking into account the principles embodied in the basic

instruments of the United Nations concerning human rights, in
particular the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial

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The Rights of Migrant Workers

Discrimination, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of

Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights of
the Child,

Taking into account also the principles and standards set forth in
the relevant instruments elaborated within the framework of the
International Labour Organisation, especially the Convention
concerning Migration for Employment (No. 97), the Convention
concerning Migrations in Abusive Conditions and the Promotion of
Equality of Opportunity and Treatment of Migrant Workers (No.143),
the Recommendation concerning Migration for Employment (No.
86), the Recommendation concerning Migrant Workers (No.151),
the Convention concerning Forced or Compulsory Labour (No. 29)
and the Convention concerning Abolition of Forced Labour (No.
105), Reaffirming the importance of the principles contained in the
Convention against Discrimination in Education of the United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization,

Recalling the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman

or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the Declaration of the
Fourth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and
the Treatment of Offenders, the Code of Conduct for Law
Enforcement Officials, and the Slavery Conventions,

Recalling that one of the objectives of the International Labour

Organisation, as stated in its Constitution, is the protection of the
interests of workers when employed in countries other than their
own, and bearing in mind the expertise and experience of that
organization in matters related to migrant workers and members of
their families,

Recognizing the importance of the work done in connection with

migrant workers and members of their families in various organs of
the United Nations, in particular in the Commission on Human
Rights and the Commission for Social Development, and in the
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the
World Health Organization, as well as in other international
organizations,

Recognizing also the progress made by certain States on a

regional or bilateral basis towards the protection of the rights of
migrant workers and members of their families, as well as the

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The Rights of Migrant Workers

importance and usefulness of bilateral and multilateral agreements

in this field,

Realizing the importance and extent of the migration phenomenon,

which involves millions of people and affects a large number of
States in the international community,

Aware of the impact of the flows of migrant workers on States and

people concerned, and desiring to establish norms which may
contribute to the harmonization of the attitudes of States through
the acceptance of basic principles concerning the treatment of
migrant workers and members of their families,

Considering the situation of vulnerability in which migrant workers

and members of their families frequently-find themselves owing,
among other things, to their absence from their State of origin and
to the difficulties they may encounter arising from their presence in
the State of employment,

Convinced that the rights of migrant workers and members of their

families have not been sufficiently recognized everywhere and
therefore require appropriate international protection.

The Philippine state has popularized the idea of Filipino migrants as the country's
'new national heroes', critically transforming notions of Filipino citizenship and
citizenship struggles. As 'new national heroes', migrant workers are extended particular
kinds of economic and welfare rights while they are abroad even as they are obligated
to perform particular kinds of duties to their home state. Thus as suggested, this trans
nationalized citizenship, and the obligations attached to it, becomes a mode by which
the Philippine state ultimately disciplines Filipino migrant labor as flexible labor.
However, as citizenship is extended to Filipinos beyond the borders of the Philippines,
the globalization of citizenship rights has enabled migrants to make various kinds of
claims on the Philippine state. Indeed, these new transnational political struggles have
given rise not only to migrants' demands for rights, but to alternative nationalisms and
novel notions of citizenship that challenge the Philippine state's role in the export and
commodification of migrant workers.

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 Maria Khristianie I Rubias
The Rights of Migrant Workers

Submitted To:
ATTY. NIEL INVENTADO
Professor

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