Canada blasted by UN for continuing to allow ‘contemporary forms of slavery’

 

Leonel Nava, from Tlaxcala, Mexico, came to Canada as a temporary worker after the birth of his second child, and is currently on a farm in British Columbia. He describes long, grueling work days — “they mistreat you, they shout at you, often they insult you.”

Back in Mexico, Neva’s job on a chicken farm did not allow him to adequately support his growing family. He landed in B.C. 2014, “knowing no English, nothing about field work, and having never left Mexico before.”

While the work allows him to provide for his children, his experiences are seldom positive. Conditions vary from farm to farm, but, according to Nava, most workers report long working hours, often six or seven days a week, mistreatment, and low-quality lodging are the standard. And because of the power imbalances inherent to the relationship between workers and farmers, few workers dare complain.

“You leave everything you know behind to be exploited,” says Nava.

And Nava’s experience echoes what a UN representative heard during a recent 14-day visit to Canada. He says that thousands of temporary workers in Canada are subjected to “contemporary forms of slavery.”

Leonel Nava is a temporary worker from Mexico currently on a farm in British Columbia.

UN Special Rapporteur Tomoya Obokata says temporary foreign agricultural workers, because of the limitation of their visas, are amongst the most vulnerable to the phenomenon.

“I am deeply disturbed by the accounts of exploitation and abuse shared with me by migrant workers,” he says in a statement, adding that many migrant workers face “contemporary forms of slavery, as they cannot report abuses without fear of deportation.”  (more...)

Canada blasted by UN for continuing to allow ‘contemporary forms of slavery’