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There are approximately 95 million people in the world who work or seek paid employment in countries they are not citizens of. They are referred to as migrant workers in layman terms. Migrant workers frequently lack security and safety, leaving them exposed to discrimination, poverty, and socio-cultural disadvantages. Each year, many migrants choose to leave their countries of origin; however, an increasing number of migrants are forced to leave their homes for a variety of reasons, including poverty, a lack of access to healthcare, education, water, food, housing, and the consequences of environmental degradation and climate change, as well as the more conventional drivers of forced displacement such as persecution and conflict.

The United Nations, the International Labor Organization, and regional organizations have all focused on protecting migrant workers. This has resulted in the adoption of certain significant international and regional standards governing migrant workers. While migration can be a positive and empowering experience for many, it is becoming increasingly clear that a lack of human rights-based migration governance at the global and national levels is resulting in routine violations of migrants' rights in transit, at international borders, and in the countries to which they migrate. Migrant workers in transit are subject to a variety of human rights violations, including becoming poor or stranded in the transit nation, as well as lacking legal protection and being unable or unwilling to seek protection from the transit country. Migrant women in transit frequently encounter gendered kinds of discrimination and abuse, and children are especially vulnerable, whether travelling alone or with their family or caregivers.

Arriving at an international border does not stop the human rights violations that migrants face. Migrants face human rights violations across land, sea, and air borders all around the world, including unlawful profiling, torture or ill treatment, gender-based violence, unsafe interception procedures, and prolonged or arbitrary imprisonment. Human rights violations against migrants can include economic, social, and cultural rights like the right to housing, health care, and education, as well as civil and political rights, such as arbitrary arrest, torture, or a lack of due process. Laws that discriminate against migrants and ingrained prejudice or xenophobia are frequently strongly associated with the denial of their rights.

One of the most common issues migrant workers encounter is discrimination. In terms of pay, job status, and advancement, discrimination is widespread. Additionally, migrant workers may experience racism and discrimination in health care centers as well, with doctors refusing them access to healthcare, which has several negative effects on migrant workers but primarily discourages them from seeking medical attention later. Furthermore, by denying migrant workers basic rights, the state engages in ignorance-based indirect discrimination. For instance, migrant workers in many nations are unable to organize to collectively bargain for improved wages and working conditions because national law forbids them from joining trade unions. There is also a strong correlation between human rights abuses and the mental health of migrant workers.

In addition to being isolated from their loved ones and the welfare state when they relocate to their new countries, migrant workers are frequently denied the same rights as domestic workers and are more susceptible to abuse, exploitation, and occasionally even involvement in human trafficking. They are also frequently ignorant of local laws, languages, and customs. Additionally, migrant workers are disproportionately susceptible to marginalization, exploitation, and discrimination–they frequently work and live in the shadows, are frightened to voice their concerns, and are denied their basic liberties and human rights. Construction, mining, and sexual slavery are among the "3Ds" (dirty, dangerous, and degrading) that migrant workers are far more likely to work in.