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own workforce, which prevents animosity towards the migrant
community.
The integration process needs to be embedded in a legal
framework that protects migrants from prejudicial and
discriminatory practices. It is indispensable for a migrant to feel
secure and to have recourse to legal means in order to be able to
become fully integrated in the host society. It is the responsibility
of the country of destination to devise a comprehensive legal
structure that protects the human rights of migrants and enforces
anti-discriminatory principles.
Several participants urged a stronger legal structure that gave
affirmative rights to migrants, especially in social service areas.
Other participants felt that safeguarding basic rights sufficed as
legal protection for migrants and the issuance of affirmative rights
may galvanize resistance to immigration and integration within
the host society.
The laws of the host society can also establish decent labour
standards and codify basic human rights. By enforcing these labour
standards in all sectors of the economy, including agriculture and
domestic work where migrants are often employed, inadequate
working conditions that infringe on human dignity are deterred.
Several participants expressed support for the ratification of the
International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All
Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.
Given changes in migratory patterns, with permanent
settlement and citizenship acquisition no longer the main priority
for many migrants or host societies, other, more flexible legal
arrangements need to be found. Certain civic privileges, such as
property rights and voting rights at the communal level, could be
extended to migrants without necessarily requiring or leading to
full-fledged citizenship. Long-term refugees settled in Tanzania,
for instance, are granted land rights. By receiving access to
agricultural and residential plots, refugees become self-sufficient
in food production and thus less dependent on Tanzania’s social
services.
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