Caritas is urging governments to sign the International Convention for the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.

The convention marks its 20th anniversary this month.

Caritas says migrants and especially women migrants face abuse and exploitation in the work place.

A Caritas conference on the 'Female Face' of migration earlier this month in Senegal reiterated the need for greater protection of women migrants.

The Conference gathered 100 participants from 49 countries, including experts from the Pontifical Council for Migrants and Itinerant People and High Level Church representatives, Bishops Conferences, the ILO, IOM, academia, partner organizations and Caritas organizations in Saly/Senegal from the 30th of November until the 2nd of December.

Participants said the convention acted as a global standard on the protection of migrants. They urged for its urgent ratification and implementation by governments.

Martina Liebsch, Policy director of Caritas Internationalis said: “Migration is global. It is time to have international standards for the protection of migrant workers and especially migrant women, who are often discriminated against.

"Talking about migration without taking into consideration the needs of women falls short of reality."

Caritas calls on governments to:

• Provide affordable, safe and legal migration opportunities for women, for example by abolishing recruitment fees.
• Regulate sectors in which women work in order to avoid abuse and exploitation, for example not tying the work permit to one employe.
• Erode the power of traffickers and smugglers, for example by not making the protection of their victims only dependent on their cooperation with law enforcement.

Caritas applauds the Migrant Workers Committee for promoting the rights of migrant workers and members of their families.

From Caritas blog: "A step forward in the protection of migrant domestic workers: UN adopts General Comment on Migrant Domestic Workers"

Please call Michelle Hough (English) on +39 06 69879721/+39 334 2344136 or hough@caritas.va with any requests.