E/CN.4/2006/73 page 12 54. Abuses and human rights violations that occur in the context of irregular migration are many and can include: 55. • Situations of smuggling and trafficking of persons, in many cases involving women and children • Violations of the right to life and the right to personal integrity that occur in the exercise of border control • Various forms of abuses of economic, social and cultural rights committed by private individuals with impunity, such as long working hours, payment of salaries well below minimum wages established by law, and harsh and hazardous working conditions, among others; such situations can particularly affect women migrants • Various inadequacies in expulsion processes such as violations of the right to liberty and security, in particular when migrants are held in administrative detention, violations of the right to a fair hearing, inadequate conditions of detention and lack of protection for vulnerable persons, such as unaccompanied children, and ill-treatment. All of these issues are of central importance and merit further examination. 56. Another issue of serious concern are the many reports received of serious human rights violations committed in the context of legal migration, often in the situations of temporary migration. In this context, complaints regarding abusive conditions of work can have some similarities to those of persons in an irregular situation. However, cases relating to situations of legal migration usually also refer to certain very specific problems, such as the deduction of wages in order to pay mediation fees to private recruitment agencies and changes made in host countries to provisions of contracts previously agreed upon. Common complaints include long working hours without overtime pay, payment of wages well below those agreed upon at the moment of employment, illegally charged fees, the refusal to pay salaries due and the denial of paid vacation leave. In a number of cases, migrant women and men have also complained of mistreatment and restrictions on freedom of movement, including detention by their employers. The situation of women migrants has often presented particular problems, including complaints of sexual abuse. In many cases workers are submitted to hazardous working conditions. For example, migrant workers who have received a visa (H2B) for temporary employment in the United States, such as the so-called pine workers (pineros), have complained of many abuses, particularly regarding work accidents and injuries. 57. The actions of private recruitment agencies, such as the charging of large fees and placing migrants in employments where they are subjected to abusive working conditions, have often been the subject of complaints and is a question that deserves closer consideration. 58. Practices of subcontracting work as means of avoiding labour responsibilities by the main employer make it particularly difficult for migrant workers to claim their rights in the face of abuse.