The Definition of ‘Migrant Worker’ in International Law: Adequacy and Gaps

Abstract

This paper critically examines the conceptualization of a migrant worker in international law. It emphasizes the importance of definitional clarity for understanding the concept of a migrant worker in particular. The paper further contests the qualification of certain categories of migrants as migrant workers under ILO Convention No. 97 concerning Migration for Employment and the UN Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families, 1990, arguing they prima facie fail to require the ‘attainment of the status of a worker’ for any migrant to qualify as a migrant worker, which should be the prerequisite for validating someone as a worker, using a doctrinal legal research approach.