Other victims suffered appalling injuries following the operation of dilapidated farming equipment or machinery and the horrific events often involved tractors with power take off shafts that frequently left vulnerable migrants disabled and permanently disfigured. This is aggravated by rampant intimidation with frequent accounts of sexual harassment and relentless abuse, which is underpinned by an autocratic and militaristic culture of fear. A young German backpacker died whilst working for Barbera Farms on a tomato plantation near Childers in December The cause of death was not released but following an extensive investigation and regulatory authority prosecution, the company pleaded guilty to breaching work health and safety legislation.
It operated a labour intensive and contingent workforce but failed to supply drinking water for its employees and manage the risk of dehydration and heat stress. In November , a Belgian tourist collapsed on a farm near Ayr in North Queensland whilst picking watermelons. The victim was transported to hospital and died the following morning from suspected heat stroke. More recently, an extensive clandestine investigation involving a strawberry farm in regional Queensland revealed many undesirable consequences pertaining to the federal government Seasonal Worker Programme and its complementary Pacific Labour Scheme.
This is exacerbated by a broken and easily manipulated working visa system. During the ordeal, the vulnerable migrant endured repeated sexual advances from the subcontractor, which included offers to live on his property with a significant increase in remuneration.
Covino Farms in eastern Victoria is a principal supplier to many leading supermarkets. Over recent years the organisation received numerous provisional improvement notices relating to work health and safety misdemeanours and a significant fine following breaches of environmental legislation. The organisation operates a vegetable farm and packing facility, which employs several hundred permanent and casual employees near Longford in the Gippsland region of Victoria. On the 31 st December , a vegetable packer engaged by a contingent labour hire provider was struck by a forklift and crushed by falling lettuce crates.
The victim received multiple physical injuries, which included a dislocated shoulder, fractured pelvis and extensive bruising. In Shepparton on 7 th November , a young Irish backpacker received appalling injuries whilst cleaning beneath a moving conveyor belt, which was used to deliver pears for packing and distribution.
The young girl lost all her hair and an ear was ripped off when the scalp was torn from her head after she became entangled in a packing conveyor rotating drive shaft. The victim was rushed to a local hospital, stabilised and then transferred via air ambulance to Melbourne for further treatment. Most of the produce was supplied to major supermarkets and the grower was acknowledged as the horticulture farmer of the year at a recent media event, which was attended by Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews.
The findings stunned the local community with almost one hundred illegal immigrants found working in the packing sheds and many others breached prescribed requirements on their working visas. Several people were eventually arrested and charged with illegal labour hiring offences. In dozens of farm workers from Vanuatu were engaged under the federal government Seasonal Worker Programme via Agri Labour Australia , a Brisbane based recruitment agency. Evidence indicates the inequitable arrangements were effectively serfdom or vassalage and often involved intimidation, underpayment and wage theft that was aggravated by unsafe working conditions , which included exposure to hazardous chemicals.
The aggrieved litigants launched legal action against the labour hire company covering exploitation and gross underpayment. Agri Labour Australia strongly denied the accusations and did not concede to the allegations. The claim was eventually settled via undisclosed financial arrangements , which also enabled the plaintiffs to return to Australia and participate in the program if any future opportunities transpired.
Across the Bass Strait in Tasmania dozens of migrant berry pickers were frequently engaged by the Costa Group using a contingent labour hire provider under the federal government Seasonal Worker Programme. Almost 80 itinerants were discovered sharing a five bedroomed flophouse at La Trobe near Devonport in northern Tasmania. The substandard accommodation was arranged by the independent recruitment provider.
It was equipped with dormitory sleeping arrangements and the Dickensian conditions were aggravated by an unreliable waste water treatment system that generated a persistent malodorous stench from the property. Several residents and neighbours expressed serious concerns with the local council regarding building and fire safety regulations. Further west along the Bass Highway in Burnie , the former Brooklyn primary school, which is owned by the incumbent mayor , was converted into makeshift living quarters for migrant fruit pickers who were engaged across several plantations in the region operated by the Costa Group.
The local alderman leased the refurbished school to an independent labour provider and was quite satisfied with the accommodation arrangements and condition of the property.
More recently, a survey and subsequent report from the former National Union of Workers documented the experiences of temporary migrants engaged in the picking and packing of fruit across farms and plantations throughout the Goulburn Valley and Sunraysia regions. This contrasts with the alabaster patina of perfection that often embellishes the mediocre performance of our supermarket duopoly.
It depicts a foreboding miasma of intimidation, rampant exploitation, underpayment and wage theft, which is underpinned by a festering autocratic culture of corporate malfeasance, fear and dishonesty.
The majority of labourers were engaged under contract labour hire arrangements and paid in cash without any payslips detailing superannuation payments or income tax deductions. Most of the findings reflect and align with the ABC Four Corners investigation entitled Slaving Away , which juxtaposes the plight of temporary migrants in a first world country under third world bondage.
The spectre of Tom Joad has been rattling in many board room cupboards and the associated risks will significantly increase during the imminent harvesting season , especially amidst the COVID pandemic.
Wesfarmers shareholders recently sanctioned the demerger of its Coles Group but retains a minor investment in the organisation, which will further obscure or even attenuate its statutory duty of care.
The incumbent chairperson with Safe Work Australia is currently a nonexecutive director with Wesfarmers. Meanwhile, a recent overhaul of legislative requirements in Australia via the Australian Industrial Chemicals Introduction Scheme enables industry to classify certain chemicals, without any public disclosure or statutory notification. It will include many herbicides, pesticides and other agricultural or horticultural chemicals.
The revamp was sanctioned by the federal minister for disease amidst a neoliberal maelstrom that inevitably favours corporate and state interests over public safety. Its trajectory is rather ominous, especially considering the recent wave of class actions across the United States and successful court decisions covering the use of glyphosate, which is currently classified as a non-hazardous substance by Safe Work Australia.
Moreover, the following International Labour Organization conventions covering the use and handling of chemicals remain unratified by our federal government:. Our federal and state governments have conspired with the major corporate retailers and will never waste a crisis.
There is no requirement to join any dots, it is simply painting by numbers and regulatory or policy capture prevails. A far more intense, inequitable and dystopian version of capitalism beckons via creative destruction using artificial intelligence and suprasurveillance.
Following the COVID pandemic the new normal will generate an enormous increase in online shopping with extended credit, cashless payments and home deliveries from remote warehouses using subjugated Uber drivers, who will inevitably be replaced by drones or autonomous vehicles.
This significantly reduces overheads, substantially increases profits and provides shareholders with a healthy return on investment.
Meanwhile, property developers will eventually convert the redundant inner city and suburban shopping malls into residential apartments. Mercenary and socially autistic senior executives have embarked on a prolonged race to the bottom , which is supported by a feudal system of indentured servitude and vassalage.
It is often juxtaposed in supermarket aisles via beguiling billboard iconography with avuncular farmers and contented growers gleaming over a bounty of barrels or handcarts packed with fresh organic produce.
This exerts relentless pressure to drive down prices and reduce overheads, which significantly increases the risk of serious injury or death, especially amongst migrant farm labourers at the bottom of the supply chain. The Pacific Labour Mobility Scheme enables approved employers to recruit workers from participating Pacific Island countries when sufficient local labour is unavailable.
The average length of time incarcerated in the host country Australia, New Zealand, or the United States was four years, with most serving less than two years in prison prior to deportation. Thirty-seven percent have been investigated or charged following deportation; of those, almost half have served prison time, according to a United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural UNESCO study. The average length of time living outside of Samoa or Tonga prior to deportation was just over 20 years.
In the Marshall Islands, criminal deportees were mostly men between 25 and 30 years of age. Aggravated felony was the final charge description for most individuals deported to the Marshall Islands, followed by crimes involving moral turpitude. Sixteen percent reported being investigated or charged with a criminal offense following deportation; of those, 12 percent were incarcerated in the Marshall Islands.
The average length of time living outside of the Marshall Islands was 14 years. Reintegration barriers for individuals deported for criminal offenses are significant, as social welfare programs are often unavailable. Community support networks developing from family ties and communal living provide the critical safety-net role in the Pacific. This community social net provides for people who cannot support themselves due to age, illness, or other circumstances through the redistribution of resources.
Individuals who have been deported for criminal offenses have not, for the most part, grown up within these communities, and although family ties may exist, they do not guarantee access to this form of social support. Ill health, unemployment, and a lack of income may therefore be difficult issues for deportees who face limited or no access to social support networks. Social dislocation upon arrival and throughout settlement is also a key factor affecting reintegration and the attainment of employment or education; many deportees, particularly those in Samoa and Tonga, reported poor local language skills and cultural connectedness.
A deportation record can be a tremendous disadvantage in gaining meaningful employment, particularly in a region with small labor markets and significant unemployment or underemployment. Marginalization and discrimination from local communities that express shame, fear, and rejection of deported individuals represent another significant reintegration issue.
There is a perception that individuals deported for criminal offenses are inherently corrupt and will continue their criminal activity. Deportees with tattoos and who may have belonged to gangs report being victimized, particularly through over-policing and discrimination when attempting to meet basic necessities such as securing accommodation.
While Pacific-wide statistical data are not available for the number of women deported to the region, the small number of female deportees who participated in national studies represents a vital source of information. These women indicated being exposed to sexual and physical violence from an early age. Women deported for criminal offenses have been identified as an at-risk group by international organizations such as UNESCO, due to their increased vulnerability to gender-based violence and sexual or labor exploitation particularly in unprotected informal sectors such as domestic work.
Female deportees may also face restricted access to income-generation activities due to limited familial or community links. The strategy to reintegrate criminal deportees has been two-fold: at one end, a law enforcement approach that sees programmatic aid tied to specific law and justice outcomes, and at the other, an approach based on social integration.
National governments, civil-society organizations CSOs , and regional and international organizations have undertaken various initiatives within these approaches. At the country level, Tonga and Samoa have led the way, establishing government-mandated initiatives to coordinate and provide services to individuals deported for criminal offenses. Tonga paved the way in with a high-level workshop on deportation that resulted in support for social welfare activities such as income generation, counseling, and family reunification to assist with reintegration.
However, limited financial assistance, lack of community support, and internal restructuring ceased the operations of the two CSOs providing reintegration services: the Ironman Ministry Inc. In , Samoa advanced work on the issue through the Office of the Attorney General, which established a Criminal Deportee Task Force to coordinate national law enforcement activities.
Currently, it is engaging donors and other partners to seek further funding for its activities. In , a PIFS scoping study found a lack of national policies and coordination mechanisms among governments for managing criminal deportations, the stigmatization of deportees by receiving communities, and a lack of community services for deported individuals. In , the PICP undertook a Criminal Deportees Project to determine the impact of deported individuals on criminal activity; internal recommendations on how this could be minimized were made to PICP member countries.
The phenomenon of criminal deportation to the Pacific is likely to continue into the foreseeable future as noncitizen populations of Pacific Islanders remain in Australia, New Zealand, and the United States, and host countries continue to prioritize criminal removals. As a result, the Pacific region will continue to receive individuals who have been deported for criminal acts. Continuing financial and technical provision to build mechanisms that support deportees through the period of arrival and re integration in Pacific Island countries will assist in enabling individuals to become responsible, contributing members of their communities, and in preventing possible continued involvement in criminal activities.
They are thus not formally considered immigrants. ABS TableBuilder. Available Online. Department of Labour, Immigration New Zealand. Deportations and Removals. Duke, Michael. Migration Information Source , May International Migration Law: Glossary on Migration. Geneva: IOM. Leask, Anna. Samoa, India and China top deportation list. The New Zealand Herald , October 25, Pereira, Natalia. Pereira, Natalia and Siobhan McNamara.
0コメント