Brussels, 08/12/2010 (Agence Europe) - The member states of the EU should ratify the United Nations Convention on migrant workers without delay, says the Greens/EFA Group. “I call on all member states to ratify the convention. We are forever hearing about migrants being exploited in the EU, in the fields of agriculture, construction or health”, said the German MEP Franziska Keller on Wednesday, pointing out that the Convention celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. “We cannot content ourselves with watching migrants who are unpaid, or poorly paid, and have no roofs over their head or social rights. For the time being, we have a utilitarian approach, taking everything they can give us but giving them nothing in return. This needs to change with an approach based on rights”, added the MEP, who held a press conference with Abdelhamid El Jamri, the chairman of the UN committee on migrant workers. At his press conference, the “December 18” collective, which is a member of the European Platform for Migrant Workers' Rights (EPMWR), reported back on its campaign, which has collected more than 5,000 signatures in the 27 member states and beyond over the last six months. This petition will be presented to Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme, along with an open letter. One of the successes of this campaign saw the presentation of a written declaration calling on the member states of the EU to ratify the said convention. This declaration was presented by the MEPs Cornelia Ernst (GUE/NGL), Franziska Keller (Greens/EFA), Sylvie Guillaume (S&D) and Sonia Alfano (ALDE), and may be signed on Monday 13 December at the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg. “We will continue to bring this subject to the attention of the European Parliament and call on the Commission to put pressure on the member states to ratify this crucial UN Convention”, Keller concluded. (B.C./transl.fl)