Migrant agricultural workers: a comparative analysis of both policy and COVID-19 response in Thailand, Italy, and Canada

Abstract

International migrant workers play an increasingly important role in the global economy and labor markets. As of 2017, there were 164 million migrant workers around the world, representing 4.7% of all workers. Although found in a variety of sectors, both the Global North and South rely heavily on migrant agricultural workers to fulfill domestic labor shortages in the agricultural sector. This paper explores migrant agricultural worker policies and demand in Thailand, Italy, and Canada and compares the policy responses to COVID-19 and the subsequent treatment of migrant agricultural workers in these three countries. Using the documentary method, we first develop detailed cases of each country’s migrant agricultural worker policies, demand, and response to COVID-19. Then a comparative analysis is conducted between Thailand, Italy, and Canada to identify emerging themes in policy, COVID responses, and migrant agricultural worker treatment. Despite the critical importance of migrant agricultural workers to each country to agricultural economies and food security, many workers still face policy challenges and mistreatment that were exacerbated by COVID-19. This work highlights the need for governments and policymakers to create new inclusive policies that guarantee improved labor, health, and safety standards and quality of living for all migrant agricultural workers, guaranteeing their basic human rights.

Reframing the wicked problem of pre-harvest burning: A case study of Thailand's sugarcane

“…To solve the problem, migrant workers from Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar were taken up [ 94 ]. The outbreaks of Covid-19 prohibited worker immigration which exacerbated a labor shortage [ 95 ]. On the other side, labor problems may reflect poor working conditions.…”

“…Sugarcane farming relies upon intensive workforce especially during the harvesting. Labor problems including a shortage of laborers may reflect unpleasant working conditions, unfair wages and poor welfare [ 95 , 96 ]. As research and development in the green technology takes time, labor is still required during the transition.…”

Migrant farmworkers: Resisting and organising before, during and after COVID‐19

“…Foreign workers are employed via bilateral or multilateral agreements, through employer‐driven programmes or by informal means like being undocumented or having other forms of precarious status (like asylum‐claimant) (Augère‐Granier, 2021; Corrado & Palumbo, 2020; Richardson & Pettigrew, 2022; Venkatesh, 2019). Agricultural guest worker programmes now exist across continents in countries with vastly different political economies (Martin, 2016).…”

“…Migrant/foreign farm labour has become a quintessential feature of many high‐income countries such as the United States, Canada, Germany, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands (Basok & George, 2021; Della Rosa, 2021; Fratsea & Papadopoulos, 2020; Perrotta, 2015; Schneider & Götte, 2022; Siegmann et al, 2022) but also of non‐high‐income ones like Costa Rica (using workers from neighbouring Nicaragua), the Dominican Republic (workers from Haiti) and South Africa (workers from Zimbabwe and other southern African nations) (Christiaensen et al, 2021; Corrado & Palumbo, 2020; Martin, 2016; Venkatesh, 2019). Some countries like Thailand, the Dominican Republic, South Africa and Mexico function as both receiving and sending countries (Ferraro & Weiderman, 2020; Ramón et al, 2022; Richardson & Pettigrew, 2022; Simmons, 2010).…”

Health, social and legal supports for migrant agricultural workers in France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Canada, Australia and New Zealand: a scoping review

“…Scholars have defined these complexities and interconnection as a system of 'humanitarian exploitation' to describe how 'humanitarian government is functional both to the regulation of the migrant workforce and to the maintenance of the industrial agri-food system. ' (23)(24)(25)(26).…”