The ILO investigates possible labor violations in international medical programs in Cuba

The Independent Cuba Trade Union Association (ASIC) applauded the decision of the International Labor Organization (ILO) to ask the Cuban regime with accounts about the situation of the leading Cuban doctors in the so -called internationalist missions, in several nations.

«That the ILO expert commission has been involved in this matter and is asking for what is happening with doctors abroad, that says the worrying situation,» Iván Hernández Carrillo, General Coordinator of the ASIC told Martí News.

Employer and workers organizations have the possibility of presenting observations about the way in which the respective countries comply with the obligations emanating from the ratified agreements.

In 2024, Cuba had to account for the forced labor agreement and in this context it was where ASIC inserted its criticisms about medical missions and other types of collaborations abroad, in which, according to its criteria, slave labor force is used.

From the complaints of the Independent Trade Union Group, the ILO Expert Commission asked the Government to provide information on the measures that guarantee respect for the conditions of Cuban doctors to provide their services abroad determined in the signed agreements ”by the Public Health Ministries of Cuba and those of the interested countries.

In particular, he asks him to indicate the established mechanisms to which these doctors can resort in case of breach of the accepted working conditions or violations of their freedoms and rights in the country of reception.

In this sense, the entity claims to the Cuban government to provide the number of doctors who have made complaints about abusive practices and the measures taken in this regard; The number of doctors who have requested the anticipated purpose of their contracts abroad and if the sanctions contemplated in the Criminal Code have been applied to doctors who have decided to leave their mission.

According to the independent trade unionist, the fact that the Commission of Experts, is investigating, under the agreement number 29 of forced labor, the case of Cuban doctors in missions abroad, «indicates that there is clear evidence that the regime is trafficking with these professionals and is subjecting them to forced labor.»

For practical expert and labor legislation, Joel Brito, the ILO position in this particular «is of vital importance, since the ASIC, first, continues to break the monopoly of the Central of Workers of Cuba (CTC) and the Cuban regime in international organizations.»

At the same time, the ASIC «is a reliable source of information and credibility and has recognition from the organisms of the United Nations structures,» he added.

The independent body, in charge of examining the application of ILO agreements, protocols and recommendations, «wants the regime to provide information on medical missions and guarantee respect for working conditions, such as direct payment to each professional and collective bargaining,» said Hernández Carrillo.

The report encourages the Government to continue its efforts to investigate people for sexual and labor exploitation, but indicates that, despite having previously requested comments on this case, the ILO has not received an answer.

The Cuban government promotes these missions as an act of international solidarity and an effort to guarantee access to health for all in developing countries. Several international organizations have denounced this practice as modern slavery and human trafficking.

The Secretary of State of the United States, Marco Rubio, traveled in March to Jamaica, Guyana, Surinam, Barbados, Haiti and Trinidad and Tobago, states in which he addressed the trafficking of Cuban doctors and the concerns of the United States about it.