A/HRC/26/35 hurdles: they may not be entitled to compensation for work accidents, or fear detection by Government authorities by claiming compensation, or have difficulties proving the existence of a work relationship. 7. Restrictions on the right to medical care 42. Some migrants find access to health services difficult, inter alia due to the distance and lack of transportation. If they are sick, they may still be required to work. Some cannot access subsidized health care because their employers do not provide them with identity cards. The Special Rapporteur has received information indicating that, as a result of the economic crisis, many migrants have lost their jobs, and thus their residency status, and as a consequence are denied access to the public health-care system to which they have been contributing. 8. Indecent living conditions 43. Many migrants live in housing which lacks basic infrastructure and services including sanitation, electricity, potable water and adequate health-care services. The Special Rapporteur has seen shocking living conditions of migrant workers he encountered. The migrants, some with irregular migration status, lived in abhorrent conditions, in overcrowded houses, without proper sanitation. The Special Rapporteur learned that the wages received were often not sufficient to maintain an adequate standard of living. Some migrants are promised housing by their employers, but find out upon arrival that no housing accommodation has been made available. 9. Difficult access to social security benefits 44. The Special Rapporteur has received information indicating that many migrants are not provided with social security benefits. Migrants frequently risk losing entitlement to social security benefits in their home country due to their absence, and at the same time they may encounter restrictive conditions under the social security system of their country of employment. Portability of social security for migrants who wish to return to their home country is also problematic. Social security is particularly difficult to access for irregular migrants. While irregular migrants are often not able to participate in contributory schemes, they still contribute to financing social protection schemes by paying indirect taxes. Also, temporary migrants have difficult access to social security, due to long residency requirements. 10. Restrictions on the freedom of association 45. The right to organize and engage in collective bargaining is essential for migrants to express their needs and defend their rights, in particular through trade unions and labour organizations. However, some countries reserve the right to form and join associations and trade unions for their own nationals. The Special Rapporteur believes this is sometimes linked to the authorities’ fear of migrants becoming more powerful and demanding their rights. In some countries, irregular migrants are prohibited from joining trade unions. The Special Rapporteur has been made aware of a case of denying legal status to a migrant trade union, due to the fact that its membership included irregular migrants. He has also been made aware of migrant trade union leaders who have been arrested and deported, or denied entry to a country despite having valid travel documents. 11. Trafficking and forced labour 46. The Special Rapporteur has been made aware of cases of migrants who are recruited by means of deception, for the purpose of economic and sexual exploitation. When the work is exacted (including through deception or false promises on the type of work, and 10