The International Convention on the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families in the Context of International Migration Policies: An Analysis of Ten Years of Negotiation

This article is an effort, by one of the drafters, to analyze the factors affecting the creation of a new international instrument, like the UN Convention on Migrant Workers. The analysis may be characterized as “participative sociology.” The factors chosen for the analysis are: the effects of the time span of drafting upon the content and structure of the instrument; the effects of the migratory phenomenon and the resulting political context; the effects of the method of work upon the drafting process; the nature of the UN as the forum for negotiation; the effects of the participating personalities; and the effects of the vested “national interests.” Through illustrative examples, comparative analysis and a juxtaposition of the various factors, the complexity of the process and of the instrument itself may be better understood and some generalizations can be drawn with respect to similar drafting processes of international legal instruments. In the conclusion, the most significant features of the Convention are summarized.