On the occasion of International Migrants Day 2025, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has reiterated that a human rights-based migration regime is essential for social justice and democracy.

In a public statement with UN credit, the ITUC has urged governments to implement the commitments of the Global Compact for Migration (GCM) to ensure safe, orderly and regular migration.

As the second International Migration Review Forum (IMRF) in May 2026 approaches, the ITUC says that governments must implement migration policies that respect workers' rights and labor standards. It also notes that trade unions around the world have played an active role in strengthening labor migration governance, ending exploitation and ensuring equal treatment for all workers in line with the principles of the ‘New Social Deal’.

According to the ITUC, migration is currently being used by far-right and authoritarian forces as a weapon to divide society, weaken democratic institutions and blame migrants. It has warned that this is an attack on democracy itself. The ITUC believes that migrant workers face abuse and poverty due to violent raids, arbitrary detention, illegal expulsions, exploitative recruitment processes and employer-linked labour schemes. 

ITUC Secretary-General Luc Triangle said, “Migrants are not a threat. They are workers, families and members of our communities. Democracy is weakened when human rights are denied on the basis of migration status.”

On International Migrants Day, the ITUC called on governments to reject the politics of fear and division and commit to a rights-based migration regime. “Together, we can build a future where every worker, regardless of their migration status, is treated with dignity and respect,” the statement said.

To ensure rights-based migration governance, the ITUC calls on governments to put labour rights at the heart of migration systems, ratify and implement international labour standards, including ILO Conventions 97 and 143 on migration, and ensure freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining. It also calls for the elimination of recruitment fees, fair recruitment systems, the elimination of human trafficking and forced labour, regularisation programmes and the elimination of exploitative temporary work schemes.

The ITUC also calls for ending discrimination and racism against migrants, ensuring migrants' access to social protection systems, implementing a living wage, preventing wage theft, ensuring access to justice and addressing the root causes of forced migration, such as poverty, conflict, inequality and climate change.