This archive report was first published on 1 October 2019.
Published on October 1, 2019, the US State Department has imposed visa restrictions on Cuban officials accused of exploiting doctors sent on Havana's overseas medical missions.
The officials, working under instructions from President Raul Castro's administration, subject the health workers to exploitative labor practices, including long work hours without rest, meager wages, unsafe housing, and restricted movement.
According to the State Department, the Cuban regime has profited up to $7.2 billion a year from these practices, which also include withholding passports and closely watching doctors outside of work.
“Profiting from the work of the Cuban doctors has been the decades-long practice of the Castros, and it continues today,” a statement from the department reads.
Approximately 50,000 Cuban healthcare professionals are currently working abroad in more than 60 countries, with Kenya being one of the beneficiaries, having received 100 specialist medics last year despite protests from the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Union.
The US has documented indicators of human trafficking in Cuba's overseas medical missions each year since the 2010 Trafficking in Persons Report, and remains deeply concerned about these abuses.
