It is a major cause for concern that so many migrant workers return home with serious occupational diseases, says a signed article in Workers' Daily. An excerpt follows:

According to the health department of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, upon their return home, many local migrant workers were found to be seriously ill with occupational diseases.

A total of 7,804 cases of pneumoconiosis were reported in the autonomous region by the end of last year, with about 300 cases being newly diagnosed every year.

Although this is just a regional report, it shows the new trend of occupational diseases in the country, with migrant workers being the main victims.

Occupational diseases not only cause huge problems for those who suffer from them, they are also a heavy burden on patients' families, the State, enterprises and society.

Therefore, governments and trade unions at all levels have given much attention to the prevention and treatment of occupational diseases. But some enterprises are trying to shirk their responsibility, with many disease-ridden migrant workers being a direct consequence of this.

Urban workers can expect to receive some compensation if they suffer from occupational diseases, but this is not the case for most of their rural counterparts.

If they have not signed a labour contract or bought insurance, which is often the case, their employment rights will not be recognized after they contract an occupational illness.

These migrant workers have to shoulder this heavy burden on their own, which is extremely unfair. These workers return home losing their ability to work and having to pay for their medical treatment. They become a burden on their poverty-stricken families, who then require government assistance.

Migrant workers often do hard and dangerous jobs in cities. The chances of them contracting occupational diseases are very high. They should be the key subjects of occupational disease monitoring. Special attention should be given to them to ensure that they sign labour contracts, and their employers should be urged to buy insurance for them. Labour departments and trade unions should take up their responsibilities in this regard. Enterprises should not transfer their responsibilities onto the workers, government or society.

(China Daily June 5, 2006)