Document Details

2011

Committee on the Protection of the Rights of all Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families

CMW/C/GC/1

12

Committee on the Protection of the Rights of all Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families

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21. Immigration law. Laws regulating the conditions of entry and stay in countries of employment are often a source of specific vulnerabilities for migrant domestic workers. Overly restrictive immigration laws may lead to higher numbers of migrant domestic workers who are non-documented or in an irregular situation, and thus particularly vulnerable to human rights violations. Even for workers with a documented or regular migration status, similar vulnerabilities arise where immigration laws tie their status to the continued sponsorship of specific employers. Consequently, migrant domestic workers may risk deportation if they try to escape an abusive employment relationship or seek legal remedies against their employers.

53. States parties should avoid making the immigration status of migrant domestic workers conditional on the sponsorship or guardianship of a specific employer, since any such arrangement may unduly restrict the liberty of movement of migrant domestic workers (article 39) and increases their vulnerability to exploitation and abuse, including in conditions of forced labour or servitude (article 11).

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Occupations in services - Domestic work

International Organizations