MIGRANT workers in the UK are amongst the most vulnerable in Europe due to Government refusal to ratify a UN treaty guaranteeing their human rights, according to Green MEP Jean Lambert.
Mrs Lambert, whose London constituency has one of the highest densities of migrant workers in Europe, will call on foreign secretary Jack Straw to ratify the 1990 UN 'Convention on the Rights of Migrant Workers and their Families' at a conference organised to mark World Human Rights Day tomorrow (Tuesday, December 10).
She told the UNA-UK organised conference: "London, like much of the UK, is dependent on migrant workers to provide key public services such as health and education.
"Yet the Government has consistently refused to acknowledge the true value of their contribution - or to grant them the same basic humans rights guarantees as the rest of us.
"This is shameful - especially in light of Tony Blair's public commitment to human rights and the international rule of law. Human Rights Day presents the Government a perfect opportunity to ratify the 1990 Convention and to demonstrate its stated commitment to human rights is based on substance - not mere spin."
The Human Rights Day conference, 'Migrant Workers: Who Benefits?', has been organised by the UNA-UK and takes place at Church House, Westminster, between 9am and 4.30pm.
Other keynote speakers include UNA-UK chair Sir Richard jolly, Patrick Taran, of the International Labour Organisation, Don Flynn of the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants and Dr Anne Kershan, director of Queen Mary University's Centre for Study of Migration.
ENDS
For more information please contact
Ben Duncan on 020 7407 6280 or 0776
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