Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2021, published 110th ILC session (2022)

Equality of Treatment (Accident Compensation) Convention, 1925 (No. 19) - Haiti (Ratification: 1955)

While recognizing the difficult situation experienced by the country, the Committee notes with deep concern that the Government’s report, which has been due since 2013, has not been received. In light of the urgent appeal made to the Government in 2019, the Committee is proceeding with the examination of the application of the Convention on the basis of the information at its disposal.

Article 4 of the Convention. Mutual assistance among States which have ratified the Convention. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that many Haitian workers present in the Dominican Republic do not have social security coverage, including with regard to employment accidents. The Committee therefore invited the Government of Haiti, together with the Government of the Dominican Republic, to including labour migration and the access of migrant workers to social security as priority themes of dialogue between the two countries.

The Committee notes, from the information contained in the National Social Protection and Promotion Policy (PNPPS), that men and women migrant workers who commute over the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic are in a situation of social vulnerability. The PNPPS also refers to the discriminatory treatment suffered by these workers, partly as a result of the absence of identification as transborder residents and migrant workers commuting across the border, and places emphasis on the reinforcement of the labour inspection services as a priority action to resolve the situation. The Committee recalls that, by ratifying the Convention, Haiti and the Dominican Republic undertook, under the terms of Article 4, to afford each other mutual assistance with a view to facilitating the application of the Convention and the execution of their respective laws and regulations on workers’ compensation. It therefore invites the Government to implement this provision in practice with a view to ensuring the access of transborder commuting workers to the protection envisaged by the Convention. The Committee requests the Government to inform it of any progress achieved in this regard.