SPECPOL - World Model United Nations

With many job opportunities in construction for events like the coming 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics, the number of
migrant workers in Brazil is expected to rise.
with respect to working conditions and wages. As
Brazil and more broadly become viable destinations
for migrant workers, they will have to develop means
of addressing these issues.
In addition, countries serving as the sources of
migrant labor are experiencing their own changes.
For instance, in Northern Africa, rising unemployment
rates have driven many residents to seek work
elsewhere. Once settled, the workers send back
remittances, which, due to their volume, have become
very important to the economies of these nations. 67
With the onset of the worldwide economic downturn,
these countries remain dependent on remittances
that are shrinking with wages. As such, the future
of labor migration from this region remains unclear,
especially when considering the recent instability
of the region. The solutions that governments and
the united Nations implement to address concerns
surrounding labor migration will undoubtedly have
far-reaching consequences for the people relying on
the money supplied by foreign workers as well as the
countries to which the workers travel.
Past uN Action
From its inception, the United Nations has
recognized the importance of migration and workers’
rights and has adopted numerous resolutions and
created various committees to try to find a solution
to the inequitable treatment of migrant workers. The
topic of migrant labor is dealt with almost exclusively
by the International Labor Organization (ILO), which
operates as a UN agency with 185 member states.
Convention 97, drafted in 1949, deals with specific
matters pertinent to labor migration. It calls for
information to be accessible to migrants regarding
labor policies and asserts that migrant laborers
should have access to public labor recruitment
services, healthcare, equal wages, and other benefits
on par with those of local workers. It also specifically
admonishes the promotion of illegal immigration or
trafficking.
Following Convention 97, in 1975, Convention 143
was passed. It dealt primarily with migrants in abusive
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