The International Labour Organisation and the New International Order

This chapter examines the origins of the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) 1975 Convention concerning Migrations in Abusive Conditions and the Promotion of Equality of Opportunity and Treatment of Migrant Workers, emphasising the ILO’s ambitions and challenges in addressing migration policy during the 1970s. The study is based on published documents from the ILO institutions and primary sources from the Historical Archives of the ILO in Geneva. It reveals divergent perspectives between labour-exporting countries in the South, prioritising migrant rights, and labour-importing countries in the North, mainly concerned with migration control. It also traces the ILO’s struggle to reconcile these differences. It concludes that the Convention, though limited in impact and ratification, introduced crucial issues in international migration governance.