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
labor 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.

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.

Review

“Migrant Workers offers the most comprehensive survey of international instruments for the protection of the rights of migrant workers and members of their families available to date. It should be of interest to human rights advocates, policy makers and students of international law....The book should be widely used for many years to come.”—The American Journal of International Law
“This book is a much needed, comprehensive survey of international human rights law and of relevant national legislation enacted by the major migrant-receiving nation-states....This is an excellent library reference volume and is a book of considerable interest to all scholars of migration and of international law.”—International Migration Review

Ryszard Cholewinski was a reader in Law at the University of Leicester from 1992 to 2005. He now works at the International Organization for Migration.