E/CN.4/2001/83/Add.1
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advice and social assistance services. The NGOs dealing with complaints should arrive at a
working agreement, which would achieve effective protection of the human rights of persons
who are undocumented or who are or have been victims of human trafficking or conditions of
servitude.
78.
With regard to conditions of detention, the Special Rapporteur found that, generally
speaking, conditions of hygiene in the centres were satisfactory, except for Celebrity Inn in
Toronto. However, she is concerned at the treatment received by detainees from the security
guards at the centres. Without entering into personal considerations, she is concerned that the
guards are trained to deal with different kinds of problems. In this respect, she sees the codes of
conduct which are currently being drafted to regulate the centres as a very positive development.
79.
A further concern of the Special Rapporteur is the lack of contact between detainees
awaiting a decision on their case and their consular authorities. Although she found that
telephone directories listing the consulates were available to detainees in the detention centres,
most of the detainees interviewed were either unaware of the fact or did not understand the
system, or else did not respond to the calls of the consulates when the latter manifested
themselves. The Special Rapporteur believes it is a question of information, which is more up to
the persons dealing directly with the detainees, since the Government has already provided
guidelines to make these services available.
80.
The Government should be commended for its caregivers programme, which clearly sets
out the rights of persons covered by this type of programme. She believes, however, that despite
the clarity of the programme, situations occur which are not covered and which leave
beneficiaries in a vulnerable position with respect to employers who do not abide by the rules of
the programme. The Special Rapporteur would favour a well-targeted information campaign on
the rights of these workers, emphasizing that the work is decent and decently acquired and
specifying the workers’ rights since, when contracts are concluded privately, the workers are in
many cases kept in ignorance of their rights.
81.
The Special Rapporteur is concerned about a number of shortcomings that appear in the
realization of the rights of temporary agricultural workers. While encouraging the Government
of Canada to continue with this type of programme, the Special Rapporteur would ask it to take
the necessary steps to prevent this type of worker being abused by employers. She advocates
giving more emphasis to the dignity of this type of work and making it easier for those covered
by this type of programme to report any abuses to which they are subjected, by preventing
employers from coercing employees as a means of forestalling such complaints.
B. Recommendations
82.
Taking into account all the information she was able to gather during her visit to Canada
and after analysing the cases submitted to her, the Special Rapporteur wishes to make
recommendations to the Government, to civil society and to the migrants themselves, as called
for by the resolutions that gave rise to her mandate.