Migrant workers, especially those with irregular administrative status, are victims of multiple violations of their human rights, in countries of destination where they are often exploited by employers, as well as countries of transit. In the Gulf states, migrant workers are trapped by the sponsor ("kafala") system which ties them to their employers and prevents them changing jobs or even leaving the country. In the Dominican Republic, Haitian agricultural workers on sugar cane plantations have no social protection. In Russia, repression against migrant workers mainly from Central Asia is growing, with arbitrary arrests, violence and deportations.
The Convention on the protection of the rights of all migrant workers and members of their families, adopted by the United Nations in 1990, has been ratified by increasing numbers of states but by none of the member states of the European Union.