This article outlines the applicability of international human rights principles to undocumented migrants residing in the European Union (EU). It examines three areas critical to protection of the human rights of all migrants: health, education, and employment. In each of these areas, the article identifies specific standards and principles that apply to the protection of migrants and contrasts current situations where these rights are not being protected. In doing so, the article attempts to identify through a human rights lens the limitations existing between the local level, where the unprotected status of these migrants is most evident, and the political level, where laws and policies concerning irregular migration are developed. It highlights several examples of innovative solutions and effective strategies developed by civil society actors often excluded from the political spheres of influence, yet who succeed in overcoming the barriers which impede the realization of vulnerable migrants' innate dignity. It also proposes remedial policy lines and/or practical responses and identifies the key tenets for an effective remedy to the situation facing undocumented migrant workers. Through an informed exploration of this policy debate, so often blurred with criminalizing terms and dehumanizing images, the article affirms the urgent need to fully integrate human rights principles, standards, and goals into each aspect of the policy responses of the EU and its Member States to irregular migration. © UNHCR [2010]. All rights reserved.

[No Keywords available]

international migration education civil society European Union social policy employment human rights migrant worker