The Porous Border Woven with Prejudices and Economic Interests. Polish Border Admission Practices in the Time of COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has severely restricted global movement, thus affecting migration processes and immigrants themselves. The paper focuses on the evaluation of bordering procedures and practices introduced by the Polish government in the time of the pandemic. The aim is to highlight the duality in the admission processes at Polish borders between labour and forced migrants, which have been driven, as I argue, by economic interests and the xenophobic attitudes of the government. The paper is based on interviews with experts assisting migrants during the pandemic in Poland, whose direct contact with thousands of clients has allowed them to acquire broad knowledge of how the new legal provisions have affected different groups of immigrants. The data confirms that the Polish border is very porous. It has been almost completely closed to asylum seekers, especially those fleeing from Muslim countries, for whom the only option is to cross the border illegally. Only one exception was made for Belarusians, who were cordially welcomed at the border while escaping persecution in their home country in the wake of their protests against Lukashenko’s regime. Economic migrants, on the other hand, exist on the other side of the spectrum. For immigrant workers, borders have remained open throughout the whole pandemic. Moreover, some further measures facilitating their arrival were introduced, such as de facto lifting of quarantine for seasonal farm workers.

Low practice of malaria prevention among migrants and seasonal farmworkers in Metema and west Armacheho districts, Northwest Ethiopia

Background More than hundreds and thousands of migrants and seasonal farm workers move from the highlands (relatively low malaria endemicity areas) to the lowlands (higher malaria endemicity areas) for the development of the corridor of the Amhara region during planting, weeding, and harvesting seasons in each year. Seasonal migrant workers are at high risk of malaria infection. Therefore, evidence of their knowledge level and practice in the prevention of malaria during their stay would be important. Objective The aims of this study was to assess the knowledge and practice of malaria prevention and associated factors among migrants and seasonal farm workers in Northwest Ethiopia. Method A cross-sectional study was conducted from October to November, 2018 in Metema and West Armacheho districts, northwest Ethiopia. A sample of about 950 migrants and seasonal farm workers were included using two stages of cluster sampling technique. Interview administered structured questionnaire was used. Both bi-variable and multivariable binary logistic regressions were applied to identify predictors of malaria prevention. Result The overall good knowledge of malaria (those participants who scored more than 60% of correct response for knowledge related questions) was 50.2% with 95% CI (47.0–53.0) and the overall good practice of malaria (those participants who practiced more than 60% for practice related questions) was 27.2% with 95% CI (244.3–29.9). Age (AOR = 0.51(95%CI; 0.33–0.80)), level of education (AOR = 0.55(95%CI; 0.32–0.94)), using mass media as a source of information (AOR = 2.25(95%CI; 1.52–3.32)) and length of stay at the farming site (AOR = 0.59(95%CI; 0.44–0.79)) were significantly associated with knowledge of malaria prevention. Knowledge (AOR = 6.62(95%CI; 4.46–9.83)), attitude (AOR = 2.17(95%CI1.40–3.37), use of mass media (AOR = 1.64(95%CI; 1.30–2.60)) and the length of stay (AOR = 1.93(95%CI; 1.35—2.77)) in the farming area were significantly associated with practice of malaria prevention. Conclusion The practice of malaria prevention among migrant and seasonal farm workers was low. The programmers and implementers should design tailored malaria intervention programs and strategies for these hard to reach population.

COVID-19 and International Labor Migration in Agriculture

Two thirds of the 272 million international migrants in 2019 were employed in the destination country. Demographic and economic inequalities between countries, combined with globalization that reduced barriers to migrants, were expected to continue to increase the number of international migrant workers. Covid-19 closed many national borders to non- essential travelers, with limited exceptions. Seasonal farm workers were one of the notable exceptions, suggesting that many governments do not expect local workers to fill seasonal farm jobs despite record-high unemployment rates. For agriculture, the longer term effects of the pandemic include faster mechanization, more guest workers, and rising imports. Responses are likely to vary by commodity and be shaped by government policies. This article provides a review of the distribution and activities of the world’s 164 million international migrant workers in 2017, including the 111 million in high-income countries. The analysis focuses on the North American migrant worker and the differences between their integration in the agricultural industries. American agricultural systems are integrating in the sense that Canadian blueberries, Mexican avocados and U.S. meat trade freely, but the farm workforces in each country are increasingly Mexican.

Occupational Health and Safety Standards of Foreign Seasonal Farm Workers: Evaluation of Personal Protection Measures, Policies and Practices

Health and safety standards are paramount to all agricultural workers and more so to the foreign seasonal farm workers. European, North American and Oceanic agricultural sector heavily depends on the foreign workers migrating temporarily to carryout seasonal agricultural work that are not attractive to local citizens. The aim of this chapter is to critically analyze existing workplace health and safety measures, policies and practices of Foreign agricultural workers with a secondary focus on Canadian public health standards that applies to COVID-19 pandemic control and beyond. During the pandemic, many countries opened international labour migration as a measure of economic recovery. Recent news media reported two Caribbean workers in the Canadian Agricultural sector, had died of COVID-19 complications. The basis of this chapter is the research based evidence that the author carried out on occupational health and safety standards of the population of foreign seasonal farm workers using a multi-method data collection: a scoping review of existing standards, policies and practices and personal interviews with seasonal agricultural workers and their employers. This chapter provides a critical analysis of data from multiple sources and from multiple jurisdictions to uncover gaps and malpractices of existing occupational health and safety practice standards for illness and injury prevention of foreign seasonal farm workers.

Legaspi, Cesar Torrente (1917–1994)

Cesar Legaspi was a Filipino painter known as one of the 13 Moderns, a group of emergent artists whose work, according to artist-art educator Victorio Edades, was an alternative to the classicism and nostalgia-laced realism popular during the pre-World War II juncture of American colonialism in the Philippines. Along with peers Hernando Ocampo and Vicente Manansala, Legaspi was part of a generation of artists whose early image making engaged with questions of distortion, and the liberties artists could take in construing reality. In the early 1950s, these painters were regarded as the neo-realist triumvirate. While they produced works dealing with the same everyday subject matter as conservative artists of the period, they unselfconsciously took from other stylistic traditions that they encountered through research and peer exchanges. In doing so, they worked towards more individuated ways of rendering subjects, finding affinities with Cubism, Surrealism, and Expressionism. In the post-World War II period, the Neo-Realists manifested a cynicism toward the urbane, which they resolved visually in different ways. A well-known work of Legaspi’s from this period, Gadgets II (1949), depicts the mutant fusing of man and machine in an age where the industrial was both feared and mythologized. This work, alongside pieces imaging the working class (including stevedores, grave diggers, beggars, seasonal farm workers, and internal migrants) is associated with his early proletarian or proto-social realist phase.

HIV prevalence and related risk behaviours in female seasonal farm workers in Souss Massa Draa, Morocco: results from a cross-sectional survey using cluster-based sampling

ObjectivesTo determine prevalence of HIV and HIV-related behaviours in female seasonal farm workers (FSFWs) in two provinces of Souss Massa Draa (SMD) region in Morocco. SMD has a higher burden of HIV compared with other parts of Morocco and is characterised by a substantial aggregation of FSFW.MethodsWe carried out a cross-sectional HIV biobehavioural survey using cluster-based sampling of farms in the provinces Chtouka Aït Baha and Taroudant Ouled Teïma in 2014. HIV testing was done using the Determine HIV-1/2 rapid test and reactive specimens were tested using ELISA and western blot. Collected data were post hoc weighted for region-based stratification and adjusted for clustering effects using complex survey functions of SPSS (V.21).ResultsAmong those eligible to participate, the response rate was 92.8%. HIV prevalence was 0.9% (95% CI 0.4% to 2.4%) among 520 recruited participants. A high proportion of respondents (67.7%) had no education. Ever having sex was reported by 79.8% and among these, 12.7% ever exchanged sex for money or goods. Sixty-one per cent reported condom use at most recent commercial vaginal sex in the past 12 months. STI symptom recognition was found to be low because 62.4% and 46.8% of FSFW could not report any STI symptoms in men and women, respectively. Twenty-seven per cent of respondents had an HIV test in the past 12 months. In multivariable analysis, those with primary or higher education (adjusted OR (aOR)=2.38, 95% CI 1.33 to 4.27) and those who participated in an HIV educational session at their workplace (aOR=11.00, 95% CI 3.99 to 30.31) had higher odds of ever been tested for HIV.ConclusionsAlthough we found a relatively low HIV prevalence among FSFW in SMD, HIV interventions should be intensified, in particular, in a subgroup of women who are involved in sex work.