GENEVA, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- Fair treatment for the world's 150 million migrant workers is in everyone's interest and requires labor migration to be well-governed, International Labor Organization (ILO) Director-General Guy Ryder said Monday.
In a statement for World Day of Social Justice on Feb. 20, he said the ILO is focusing on the world's 150 million migrant workers, many of whom face exploitation, discrimination and violence and lack even the most basic protections.
This is particularly true for women, who make up 44 percent of migrant workers, said the ILO head. "Most migration today is linked, directly or indirectly, to the search for decent work opportunities," said Ryder.
But he noted that many migrant workers end up trapped in jobs with low pay and unsafe and unhealthy working conditions, often in the informal economy, without respect for their labor and other human rights.
Migrant workers often have to pay high recruitment fees to get a job, on average over a year's wages and this makes them highly vulnerable to forced labor and child labor, said Ryder.
"Migrant workers like all workers are entitled to fair treatment and fair treatment for migrant workers is also key to preserving the social fabric of our societies and to sustainable development," he said.
If labor migration is well-governed, fair and effective, it can deliver benefits and opportunities for migrant workers, their families and their host communities, says the ILO.
It can balance labor supply and demand, help develop and transfer skills at all skill levels, contribute to social protection systems, foster business innovation, and enrich communities both culturally and socially, said Ryder.
He said that good governance will foster strong cooperation across migration corridors and regions.
It should be guided by international labor standards, in particular, the fundamental principles and rights at work and the relevant ILO and UN Conventions.
The ILO is encouraging the adoption of fair labor migration governance frameworks at all levels -- global, regional and national.
ILO said that in 2016 the UN General Assembly decided to develop a Global Compact on Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration to improve the governance of migration, to address the challenges and to strengthen the contribution of migrants to sustainable development.
