Life without rights. (The Immigrant Experience--Non-Permanent).

Tens of thousands of migrant workers put up with poor working conditions to ease their poverty back home.

Farmers in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia and Southwestern Ontario rely on them. Without non-permanent migrant workers many crops, such as tobacco and fruit, might never get picked.

Migrant farm workers travel from Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad, Mexico, and small Caribbean Islands to work on Canadian farms from eight weeks, to eight months. Most come because of poor economic conditions at home; they can make enough money in Canada to feed and house their families. But, the life of a migrant worker is not great.

According to Chris Ramsaroop, at the Canadian Labour Congress, the migrant farm workers are not covered by the Employment Standards Act. This means they have no legal way to challenge unsafe working conditions or even unfair treatment by employers. There have been efforts to raise awareness of the lack of rights among migrant workers, but people who kick up a fuss are often sent back home. It's a safe bet that workers labelled as troublemakers will not get hired in future years.

Another group of nonpermanent residents is domestic workers. Usually women, these people are given permission to live in Canada on a temporary basis to work as maids, nannies, and housekeepers. They come to Canada under something called the Live-In n Caregivers Program. No doubt many of these arrangements Work out well, but some that come to light border on slavery. Monica Urrutia, of the National Alliance of Philippine Women in Canada, has spoken out on behalf of female migrant workers. "Domestic workers," she has written, "are not even covered under the basic employment standards uniformly across Canada, and sometimes not at all in several provinces! Reports of verbal and physical abuse, rape, overwork, underpay, long hours, and illegal work with little or no protection in return make the domestic worker one of the most vulnerable workers in Canadian society."

Non-permanent residents include foreign students at Canadian schools, colleges, and universities. Then, there are professionals and technicians on temporary, work assignments with Canadian businesses.

Rounding out the nonpermanent resident-group are refugee claimants, who have asked Canada to give them a home on the grounds they will suffer persecution if returned to the country of their birth. They are allowed to stay in Canada temporarily while the government investigates their claims. Many of them are found to be false claimants and are returned to their Country of origin.

At any given time, there are about 150,000 to 200,000 nonpermanent residents in the country.

MIGRANT RIGHTS

The International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families establishes standards of protection for all migrant workers and members of their families. It has been adopted by the United Nations but it remains a long way from becoming a significant measure. By late 2002, 19 countries had ratified the Convention. When 20 states have ratified it, the Convention becomes law, but it only applies to those countries that have given ratification. Not one developed nation has ratified the Convention, none has even taken the first step of signing it.

Websites

Global Campaign for Migrant Workers' Rights--http:// www.migrantsrights.org/

Filipino Migrant Workers--http://www.kalayaancentre. org/http://www. kalayaancentre.org/