Human Rights Foundation claims exploitation of Cuban medical workers

ALTHOUGH currently in the spotlight owing to a new US policy which threatens to terminate the visas of government officials for hosting Cuban medical missions, the programme has been flagged by several non-governmental organisations and human rights groups in the past for repressive rules and forced labour.

One such group is the New York-based Human Rights Foundation (HRF) which published a report in 2022.

The report found Cuba's medical missions violated several of the practitioners' rights including privacy, freedom of expression, freedom of association, and freedom of movement.

As evidence, the report cited from the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Trade and Investment's Disciplinary Regulations for Cuban Civilian Workers Serving Abroad as Collaborators (Resolution No 168).

According to the regulations, while workers were on a mission they were prohibited from forming relationships with people whose actions were contrary to the principles of Cuban society, have links to people who have contrary views of the Cuban revolution, living with unauthorised people, having romantic relationships unless reported to supervisors, travel to areas outside of where they are assigned to work among.

"Cuba clearly designed Resolution No168's restrictions on mobility to prevent doctors from having the means and the opportunity to 'desert' the medical missions. Cuban handlers and local collaborators further ensure doctors' compliance by subjecting them to constant surveillance, forcing them to spy on their own colleagues and inform Cuban authorities of any intentions their co-workers might have to 'abandon' the mission.

"As an added measure to prevent desertions, the Cuban government issues medical workers a special passport that precludes them from travelling anywhere but Cuba and their assigned host country. Cuban supervisors often retain doctors' passports upon their arrival in the host country."

The report said with Cuba's healthcare system run entirely by the government, medical practitioners feel pressured to go on missions to advance their careers or avoid losing their jobs. It said Cuban doctors also needed to have special permission to leave the country and did not provide academic qualifications to the doctors so they could get jobs outside of the country.

"This tactic renders Cuban doctors unable to demonstrate their qualifications to practice outside Cuba. As a result, their only option to work overseas is through the government's medical missions."

It said doctors also received a salary of around US$70 to US$75 per month which the foundation said was not enough to live off of, further pushing them toward medical missions to earn a liveable wage.

The report said the medical missions were Cuba's largest source of foreign income, earning an average of between US$6 billion to US$8 billion annually. The report said at least 75 per cent of the fees paid to doctors go to the Cuban government with the workers receiving between nine to 25 per cent.

The HRF argued that host countries were obligated to block the Cuban laws from being applied to medical workers in their country owing to several treaties.

"It is important to note that it is an accepted principle of international law that treaties apply to all individuals within a state's jurisdiction, including non-citizens. As such, we can argue that host countries also have human rights obligations to all individuals living in their territory, including Cuban medical workers. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which most host countries have ratified, protects the rights to freedom of expression and association, liberty, and movement.

"The International Covenant on Economic and Social Rights which recognises the right to just and favourable conditions of work and to an adequate standard of living, enjoys almost universal ratification.

"Equally important, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights contains freedom-of-speech and movement protections, including the right of all individuals "to leave any country" and to return to their birth country. As a result, host countries have an international law obligation to prohibit Resolution No 168 from taking place in their territories, ensuring effective anti-trafficking and human rights protections for Cuban doctors."

Other organisations flagging the programme include Human Rights International in 2020 and on January 20 by the US Office to Monitor the Trafficking in Persons.

The programme has once again come under scrutiny as the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on February 25 the expansion of an existing Cuba-related visa restriction policy that targets forced labour linked to the Cuban labour export programme. In it, he threatened to revoke the visas of government officials whose countries are recipients of Cuba's medical missions and their immediate relatives.