CYIL vol. 10 (2019)

DIANA CUCOS CYIL 10 ȍ2019Ȏ The definition which is adopted is important because, as a legal definition, it is the determination of a status which indicates whether an individual is eligible or ineligible to claim certain rights associated with status. According to the European Committee on Migration, “the term “migrants” is used … to refer, depending on the context, to emigrants, returning migrants, immigrants, refugees, displaced persons and persons of immigrant background and/ or members of ethnic minority populations that have been created through immigration”. 7 The International Organization for Migration (IOM) defines migrant as a term “to cover all cases where the decision to migrate is taken freely by the individual concerned for reasons of “personal convenience” and without intervention of an external compelling factor”. 8 The two definitions above reflect the conventional distinction between voluntary and forced migrants. In the case of voluntary migration, people leave their home of their own choice, mainly because of so-called “pull factors”, such as better career opportunities, even though their options from which to choose are sometimes very limited. 9 Forced migration is mostly the result of “push factors”, such as persecution, or war, or starvation, when people flee violations of their fundamental rights. However, the contemporary phenomenon of migration is distinguished by the simultaneous presence of push and pull factors. Many migrants leave their country for both economic reasons and to escape human rights abuse. Even economic migrants may be considered forced migrants, when they flee situations in which their economic rights are violated. 10 The IOMdistinguishes labour migrants from economic migrants. 11 “Labour migrants” are defined as those who move for the purpose of employment. “Economic migrants” represent a broader group that includes people entering a state to perform economic activities, such as investors or business travellers, but can be understood also in a narrower sense similar to the category of “labour migrants”. The IOM defines several subgroups of migrant workers, including business travellers, contract migrant workers, established migrant workers, highly skilled migrant workers, emigrating investors, project-tied workers, seasonal migrant workers and temporary migrant workers. The International Labour Organization (ILO) instruments define a “migrant for employment” as “a person who migrates from one country to another with a view to being employed otherwise than on his own account, and includes any person regularly admitted as a migrant for employment”. 12 Citizenship is also an important criterion of labour migration. The International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families (CMW) defines a migrant worker as “a person who is to be engaged, is engaged or has been engaged in a remunerated activity in a state of which he or she is not a national”. 13 This definition stipulates that “migrant” does not refer to refugees, displaced or others forced 7 European Committee on Migration homepage. Available at: http://www.coe.int/t/dg3/migration/European_ committee_on_Migration/default_en.asp. 8 International Migration Law, Glossary on Migration, 2 nd Edition, IOM, 2011. Available at: https://publications. iom.int/system/files/pdf/iml25_1.pdf. 9 https://www.coe.int/en/web/compass/migration#3. 10 Ibidem. 11 USHER, E., Migration and labour. In: USHER, E. (ed.) Essentials of migration management: a guide for policy makers and practitioners . Geneva: United Nations Publications, 2004. 12 Article 11, ILO Convention No. 143 (1975). 13 Article 2, CMW (1990).

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