Cnn
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Migrant workers in Canada were exposed to shocking “abuses and discrimination” while working as part of the country’s foreign workers’ program (TFWP), according to a new Amnesty International report.
In the report published Thursday, Amnesty criticized the structure of the TFWP of Canada, which allows employers to hire migrant workers for jobs mainly remunerated in all sectors, including agriculture, food processing, construction and ‘hospitality.
The organization of human rights said that workers were vulnerable to abuse thanks to “harmful provisions” in the program, including closed work permits that bind workers to one employer who controls both their migration status and working conditions.
Amnesty interviewed 44 migrant workers from 14 countries for the report, mainly what he called the world South, most workers reporting unpaid wages and excessive hours. Some workers told Amnesty that their contracts had stipulated no day of rest.
Many workers have declared that they had discriminated against work, in particular by being responsible for the most difficult physical jobs. Some workers have said they had serious injuries or developed medical conditions due to dangerous working conditions.
A woman from Cameroon, Bénédicte, told Amnesty that she had undergone racist psychological and sexual abuses in the hands of her employer while working on a two -year closed work permit on a farm.
After leaving the farm in July 2018, his employer canceled his work permit, leaving Bénédicte with an irregular migration status. “I did not expect to be a slave here,” she told Amnesty.
Another worker told Amnesty that he was facing “severe forms of control” by his employer.
Miguel, a Guatemalan migrant worker with a two -year -old visa under the TFWP, told Amnesty that he had been threatened and monitored. He said that his boss had confiscated his passport and placed cameras in the container where he lived and the garage where he worked.
“The abuses subject by migrant workers in Canada are deeply disturbing, especially for a country that claims to be a leader when it comes to protecting human rights,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, principal director of Research, plea, policies and campaigns in Amnesty International, says.
Amnesty also said that many workers have declared to live in inadequate housing conditions, some claiming that they had no drinking water in their accommodation.
An official of Amnesty International Canada, Ketty Nivyabandi, called on Canada managers to implement reforms to “put the program in accordance with the human rights obligations of Canada – and, finally, to respect the rights of workers ».
The Canadian government told CNN that it was aware of the amnesty report.
“The Government of Canada takes the security and dignity of temporary workers very seriously and has taken strong measures to protect workers,” said Nancy Caron, immigration spokesperson, refugees and citizenship Canada (IRCC).
“During his stay in Canada, temporary foreign workers have the same employment standards, rights and protections under federal, provincial and territorial law as Canadian and permanent residents.”
She added that the government “was continuously taking measures to strengthen its temporary foreign workers’ programs”, including programs to help workers obtain private health insurance, a line of assistance to report reprehensible acts and ” open work ”to allow temporary foreign workers to change employers.