Migrant Farm Workers: International Labour Organization

International Labour Organization: Imagine getting injured at work, and instead of going to a hospital or seeing your health-care provider, you are deported from Canada. This is why we, as health professionals, are outraged by the Ontario governments intentions to challenge an independent tribunal decision to provide OHIP coverage for injured migrant workers , according to The Star. The International Labour Organization identifies agriculture as a leader in workplace accident rates, along with mining and construction. Migrant farm workers suffer terrible working and living conditions. Exposure to dangerous chemicals and pesticides, and working in extreme temperatures for prolonged hours are just some of the occupational hazards migrant farm workers face on a daily basis. Musculoskeletal injuries are some of the most common injuries seen at migrant health clinics. Migrant farm workers often live in crowded accommodation with little in the way of sanitation facilities provided by employers and are isolated from communities as well as separated from their families. Additional exploitative conditions include daily experiences of racism, being tied to employers with restrictions on where they can live and work, being denied access to permanent residency and basic rights such as unionization and voting . As health professionals, we recognize that exploitation leads to poor health and In December 2005, Javier Alonzo de Leon experienced a stroke provoked by a workplace accident . His employer attempted to deport him instead of ensuring that Javier received the appropriate medical care he needed. Community pressure prevented Javiers deportation but a few days later, he experienced a second full stroke that left him with lifelong disability preventing him from working in the same way. Javier was a seasonal agricultural worker from Mexico who did not have access to provincial health coverage in British Columbia. He is now back in Mexico without proper medical attention or financial support . The Ontario government is seeking to end health-care coverage for Kenroy Williams and Denville Clarke, two Jamaican migrant farm workers who were seriously injured in a car accident along with seven others while being driven by their employer in August 2012. One of the nine passengers was killed in this car accident in Oakland, Ont. As a result of the exploitative nature and disabling conditions of migrant labour in Ontario, migrant workers are at a greater risk of injuries and death . (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.