A migrant worker is a person who migrates within a home country or outside it to pursue work. They usually do not have the intention to stay permanently in the country or region in which they work. Migrant workers who work outside their home country are also called foreign workers. They may also be called expatriates or guest workers, especially when they have been sent for or invited to work in the host country before leaving the home country.
The International Labour Organization (ILO) defines a migrant worker as a person who migrates from one country to another (or who has migrated from one country to another) with a view to being employed other than on his own account, and includes any person regularly admitted as a migrant for employment. The United Nations Convention on the Protection of the Rights of all Migrant Workers and Members of their Families 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 citizen.
Migrant workers often face challenges to and abuse of their human and labor rights in the workplace due to discrimination against them. This can occur in many ways, such as unfair recruitment practices, trafficking or smuggling workers across borders for work, and entering the worker into forced labor in the new destination. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), the number of international migrant workers totaled 169 million in 2021, constituting nearly 5% of the global workforce.
