E/CN.4/2005/85/Add.4 page 8 had also been complaints about the detention conditions of Peruvians who had been expelled and deported, alleging that they received inadequate food, were detained with common prisoners and held for periods exceeding the 72-hour maximum established in the Convention on the Transit of Persons, Vehicles, Maritime and River Vessels and Aircraft (annex II of the 1998 Agreement). The Special Rapporteur received detailed information on some of these cases, including cases of mass expulsions8 and the sexual aggression of a Peruvian woman held in Machala prison (in Ecuador) on 17 May 2004. The Ombudsman’s Office in Tumbes corroborated this information and stated that this situation had led the Peruvian Ombudsman to sign a cooperation agreement with his Ecuadorian counterpart in July 2004, in order to consolidate their efforts to protect the human rights of the citizens of both countries. 24. The Peruvian consuls in Loja and Macará told the Special Rapporteur that they were not informed of the detentions carried out by the Ecuadorian authorities nor were they given copies of the expulsion decisions. They said that during expulsion and deportation the travel documents of Peruvian migrant workers were marked or destroyed by the Ecuadorian authorities. It has been reported that on one occasion in Tumbes, Peruvians who had been expelled or deported did not lodge complaints so that they would be able to go back to Ecuador to work. Peruvian-Chilean border 25. Peruvian emigration to Chile intensified during the 1990s, when Chile became one of the destinations of choice because of its economic stability and development. The main feature of this emigration is that it is predominantly female; Peruvian women who emigrate to Chile are looking for jobs to enable them to support their families and, generally speaking, they easily find work in domestic service. Some of the women who emigrate to Chile and work in domestic service have nursing certificates but cannot find a job in Peru. 26. The Special Rapporteur visited the town of Tacna, the destination of Peruvians from the neighbouring high Andean regions looking for jobs; if they do not find work there, they go to Arica or Iquique in Chile. From Tacna, the nearest border crossing is at Santa Rosa (Peru)-Chacalluta (Chile); between 8,000 and 9,000 persons pass through it daily, the majority of whom are retail traders who return to Peru the same day. The rest are unskilled workers who are hired at the bus terminal in Arica for work in domestic service, construction or agriculture. The women and girls are employed in domestic service for about US$ 100 per month, and, generally speaking, return to Tacna at weekends. During the week, some of them leave their children in lodgings while others take them with them. According to testimonies compiled during the visit, migrant workers from Peru do not lodge complaints despite the frequent abuses and aggression they experience in order to be able to continue going to Chile to work. The Special Rapporteur heard testimonies from Peruvian migrant workers in an irregular administrative situation working in domestic service, machine shops and farms in Arica. 27. Peruvians can enter Chile with their identity document as far as Arica, where a safe conduct allows them to remain up to seven days. After this, there is a second immigration check before they reach Iquique, where they are asked for their passports, duly stamped at the border post, and required to prove possession of travel money consisting of US$ 30 in cash for each day of their stay; this requirement has generated a lucrative black market in “money renting”. Illegal