Colleagues, hope you are well.
Please do find copied below links and full text to the third installment of another three stories by Emily Dugan at The Guardian on the forced labour risks in the UK government’s seasonal worker scheme, with the focus on Indonesian and Nepali workers recently migrating to the UK.
I also include the 1st and 2nd installment stories below at the bottom of the message for reference.
Kind Regards, Andy Hall
Indonesians wait on UK farm jobs after paying deposits of up to £2,500
Exclusive: Workers say they have been charged to guarantee a job – which may be illegal – and have not yet had an interview
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/sep/25/indonesians-wait-on-uk-farm-jobs-after-paying-deposits-of-up-to-2500
Indonesian man who paid £1,000 for UK farm job
Analysis: Seasonal workers left at risk of exploitation
A seasonal worker picking grapes
A seasonal worker picking grapes in Hampshire. More than 1,200 Indonesians have been placed on British farms this year by AG Recruitment working alongside Al Zubara Manpower. Photograph: Luke MacGregor/Alamy
Emily Dugan
@emilydugan
Sun 25 Sep 2022 15.00 BST
Indonesians dreaming of working in Britain are understood to have paid deposits of up to £2,500 to a Jakarta agency to “guarantee” jobs on UK farms that have not yet materialised.
Labour experts say a deposit is considered a work-finding fee, which is illegal in the UK and Indonesia.
One worker told the Guardian he made a £1,000 down payment in July to a Jakarta agency to guarantee an agricultural job with a British recruiter, but he had not even had a job interview.
He said he was one of several people left unemployed and out of pocket on the hope of a farm job in the UK.
“We stopped working to be able to seriously follow the recruitment process for a new and better job. Now we are unemployed and our fate is increasingly unclear,” he said.
Official Indonesian government documents from late August suggest about 170 workers were stranded in Indonesia having been assigned jobs on 19 farms across the UK.
Most have been unemployed for several months, waiting on jobs they believed were imminent, and almost all have been given visas to come to the UK.
It is understood there are plans to bring some of these workers to Britain, despite it being so far into the harvest season.
It follows revelations in the Guardian that Indonesian labourers harvesting berries on a farm that supplies Marks & Spencer, Waitrose, Sainsbury’s and Tesco had reported facing thousands of pounds in charges from unlicensed brokers in Bali to work for a single season in the UK. Brexit and the war in Ukraine have pushed desperate recruiters and farms to search for labour thousands of miles away.
A presidential taskforce in Indonesia is investigating the circumstances of the recruitment of fruit pickers after experts said the high fees alleged could leave workers at risk of debt bondage.
The Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority is investigating whether any UK laws were broken.
Andy Hall, an independent migrant rights specialist who investigates issues of forced labour in supply chains in Asia, said: “There is no legal basis either under Indonesian or UK laws to charge money to workers as a recruitment fee, whether it’s called a deposit or not. At the time a deposit is taken from a candidate, it’s an illegal recruitment fee.”
He said the risks of debt bondage leading to forced labour and the involuntary departure of a worker overseas against their will would increase significantly if deposits were taken from workers rather than prospective employers or clients.
The Indonesian workers already in Britain were supplied by AG Recruitment, one of four UK agencies licensed to recruit using seasonal worker visas. AG denied any wrongdoing and said it knew nothing about Indonesian brokers charging fees or deposits.
AG had no previous experience in Indonesia and sought help from Jakarta-based Al Zubara Manpower, which in turn went to brokers on other islands who charged exorbitant fees to the people they introduced, according to one Al Zubara agent.
So far, more than 1,200 Indonesians have been placed on British farms this year by AG working alongside Al Zubara, the Guardian has learned.
Of these, 207 came from Bali, where Al Zubara has no office and relies on brokers to supply candidates. A further 102 are from Lombok, where the reliance on brokers is understood to be similar.
The managing director of AG Recruitment, Douglas Amesz, said AG only went to Al Zubara for help with advertising and to establish the demand letter, which gives formal permission to recruit workers.
But adverts seen by the Guardian give Al Zubara email addresses for applications, and under local laws only an Indonesian-licensed manpower agency can recruit. Local official paperwork suggests Al Zubara undertook the recruitment, though Amesz strongly denies this.
Now an Indonesian government source says workers report Al Zubara encouraging them to pay deposits of up to 50m rupiahs (£2,500) to guarantee a job in the UK. Many are understood to be waiting to speak to AG.
One worker who had not yet been interviewed by AG or signed a contract said he had been encouraged by Al Zubara to make a down payment of about £1,000 to show his interest and guarantee a job in Britain.
He said he knew others who had done the same, and the Guardian has seen receipts for two such payments. “We know that plenty of candidates are crying every day, waiting for news from AG,” he said.
Amesz said: “The making of any form of payment, termed as a deposit or otherwise, to Al Zubara (AZ), or any party, in the form of a work finding fee is illegal both in the UK and in Indonesia and is not condoned by AG in any way. Our contracts with AZ specifically make clear that no such practices would be tolerated, and that AZ is to abide by local and English law. We also made clear to each worker directly, when I conducted the recruitment in Indonesia, that they should never pay for a UK job and to report any such approaches.”
Al Zubara charges £2,500 for farm jobs in the UK, according to documents seen by the Guardian. The fees include flights and visas. Multiple labourers said they faced thousands of pounds in extra charges from Indonesian brokers who brought them to Al Zubara and promised substantial earnings. Al Zubara has been contacted numerous times for comment.
David Camp, the chair of the Association of Labour Providers, of which AG is a member, said: “The GLAA’s responsibility is to conduct a full investigation and determine whether or not Al Zubara was supplying workers to AG. Al Zubara has no GLAA licence and it is a criminal offence to operate as a gangmaster without a licence or enter into arrangements for the supply of workers with an unlicensed gangmaster.”
AG has strongly denied any suggestion that AZ was contracted to recruit for AG. Amesz said he did the recruiting directly in Indonesia, and that “AZ were contracted by AG to carry out services in Indonesia to help us establish the demand letter (for the work pathway) and subsequently to provide local advertising via job boards. The contracts with AZ specifically made clear that they were not to subcontract the work to third parties, nor were they to apply charges to the workers.”
AG blamed Indonesian bureaucracy for delaying the allocation of work permits. Al Zubara had its licence to recruit to the UK temporarily suspended in the week after the Guardian published its first story.
AG had been intending to hire from Ukraine before war broke out and had to scramble for large numbers of workers in a new market at short notice.
Amesz said AG was aware of workers in Indonesia waiting to come to the UK and he had interviewed “all remaining workers to establish their individual circumstances”. He said he had interviewed candidates still in Indonesia about “what, if any, payments the workers have made and to who”.
Andrew Opie, the director of food and sustainability at the British Retail Consortium, said: “Our members are aware of these allegations and remain extremely concerned. They are urgently investigating possible breaches of the scheme with suppliers.
“It is clear recruiting seasonal workers has become more challenging, particularly with the loss of Ukrainian workers, and retailers will work in partnership with farmers, scheme operators, enforcers and the government this autumn to ensure all labour rights continue to be protected.”
A Tesco spokesperson said the supermarket welcomed investigations in both countries, and it was “vital that any illegal fees are repaid in full”.
’Our fate is unclear’: Indonesian man who paid £1,000 deposit for UK farm job – Intan says he paid more than a month’s wages from his old job to guarantee his place, but remains unemployed
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/sep/25/our-fate-is-unclear-indonesian-man-who-paid-1000-deposit-for-uk-farm-job
Indonesians wait on UK farm jobs after paying deposits of up to £2,500
Analysis: seasonal workers at risk of exploitation
Grape harvest at a UK farm
One advert said wages in the UK would be up to £1,500 a month. Photograph: Luke MacGregor/Alamy
Emily Dugan
@emilydugan
Sun 25 Sep 2022 15.00 BST
The Instagram advert boasted “Job vacancies United Kingdom” above an image of plump lettuces and the promise of wages more than double most desk jobs in Indonesia.
When Intan (not his real name) saw it on his phone in Jakarta this summer, he couldn’t resist. He was no farmer but, with a wife and children to support, the economics were unarguable.
The ad was from Al Zubara Manpower, a Jakarta-based agency working with a British firm, AG Recruitment to find people to come to the UK to work as fruit pickers.
Over the summer, AG brought more than 1,200 Indonesians on seasonal worker visas to farms supplying most major supermarkets. But not everyone who showed an interest has made it to Britain.
In June, Intan says, he formally signed up with Al Zubaara, and he says the Indonesian agency told him that if he “really wanted the job” he could make a down payment to “guarantee” his place. He paid about £1,000 and hoped that soon he would be on his way.
The money was a lot – more than a month’s wages in his decent job in Jakarta – but the advert said wages in the UK would be up to £1,500 a month, and earlier posts had promised even more.
He says he was told by Al Zubara that he would have a meeting with AG’s managing director, Douglas Amesz, at the start of August to get him signed up and sorted with a visa. But Amesz never came.
Intan had already quit his job and was eager to get going. But as the weeks went by, no job or meetings with British recruiters materialised.
Amesz said he was unaware of this situation and never had any plans to come to Indonesia in August. He also said that a work finding fee, “termed as a deposit or otherwise”, was “illegal both in the UK and in Indonesia and is not condoned by AG in any way”.
Intan says there are many others like him waiting to come to the UK. “We know that plenty of candidates are crying every day, waiting for news from AG recruitment,” he says.
About 170 workers that had been given visas and assigned to British farms were still in Indonesia waiting to go in late August, according to documents.
Amesz said AG was aware of workers in Indonesia waiting to come to the UK and said he had interviewed “all remaining workers to establish their individual circumstances”. He said “bureaucracy in Indonesia” had delayed work permits for many, and that he had interviewed them about “what, if any, payments the workers have made and to who”.
Yet Intam has never spoken to Amesz, suggesting that Al Zubara has continued to look for more people since Amesz’s last visit to Indonesia earlier this year.
Amesz said he did the recruiting directly in Indonesia, and that “AZ were contracted by AG to carry out services in Indonesia to help us establish the demand letter (for the work pathway) and subsequently to provide local advertising via job boards. The contracts with AZ specifically made clear that they were not to sub-contract the work to third parties nor were they to apply charges to the workers.”
AG was given a licence in Indonesia to recruit 2,000 workers, which may explain why Al Zubara continued to advertise even after 1,200 had already arrived.
Some British farms are understood to be nervous of taking on workers after the Guardian reported that some had described taking on debts of up to £5,000 to unlicensed foreign brokers. Others now need fewer workers after the hot, dry summer resulted in a low-volume harvest.
Workers such as Intan who have not yet met Amesz or any representative of AG still hope that a solution can be found, “because some of us really desperately want to work there,” Intan says.
He adds: “We stopped working to be able to seriously follow the recruitment process for a new and better job. Now we are unemployed and our fate is increasingly unclear.”
Analysis – Rapid expansion of visa scheme leaves seasonal workers at risk of exploitation
Emily Dugan
Experts say scheme’s rules urgently need significant changes to prioritise worker protection
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/sep/25/rapid-expansion-of-visa-scheme-leaves-seasonal-workers-at-risk-of-exploitation
Indonesians wait on UK farm jobs after paying deposits of up to £2,500
Indonesian man who paid £1,000 for UK farm job
Fruit on a farm
As farms have struggled to find workers, millions of pounds worth of food has gone to waste.Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images
Sun 25 Sep 2022 15.00 BST
As farms began to panic about a likely shortage of labour caused by Brexit, the seasonal worker visa was presented as a panacea.
Just 2,500 people came to Britain in a pilot of the scheme in 2019. But when the predicted shortage came to pass the following year, it was expanded rapidly, before an assessment of the pilot could be concluded.
About 40,000 people will come to the UK under the seasonal worker scheme this year, and there are increasing concerns that the hastily constructed programme puts workers at risk of labour exploitation.
When the government review of the pilot was finally slipped out on Christmas Eve last year, it had some concerning polling from workers. It showed 29% of labourers said operators did not adhere to contractual agreements, almost half did not receive a contract in their native language, and 15% said their accommodation was not safe, comfortable, hygienic or warm.
During the Conservative leadership race, Liz Truss signalled her intention to expand the scheme, pledging: “We will make it easier for farmers and growers to access the workers they need, with a short-term expansion to the seasonal workers scheme, while working with industry to address longer-term skills shortages.”
A recent report from the Association of Labour Providers said the Home Office and Defra had not engaged with industry experts in establishing the rules, leaving workers vulnerable to exploitation.
David Camp, the chair of the Association of Labour Providers, said: “The scheme rules need significant amendment. Defra and the Home Office need to work with the industry, to work with experts in responsible recruitment, and properly define a scheme that puts worker protection at its heart.
“This scheme should be a model of good practice. In reality, it is making some workers vulnerable to exploitation. This needs to change, and fast.”
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine made the shortage created by Brexit more critical. Ukrainians made up two-thirds of all workers arriving on seasonal worker visas in 2021, with almost 20,000 working on British farms.
When war broke out before the picking season was due to start and the number of Ukrainians using that visa route dwindled, recruiters had to look much further afield. There is a reported rise in farm workers arriving from Indonesia, Nepal, Vietnam, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.
Despite this, farms have still struggled to find workers. The National Farmers’ Union estimated recently that as much as £60m worth of food was wasted in the first half of 2022 because of a lack of pickers.
Indonesia to investigate claims fruit pickers in UK seasonal agricultural workers scheme charged thousands to work in Kent Exclusive: Taskforce begins work after labourers told Guardian they faced huge debts to unlicensed brokers in Bali https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/aug/29/indonesia-to-investigate-claims-fruit-pickers-charged-thousands-to-work-in-kent?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
Emily Dugan
Published: 15:00 Monday, 29 August 2022
Date: Sun, 14 Aug 2022 at 19:27
Subject: Guardian 14th Aug 2022: Revealed – Indonesian workers on UK farm ‘at risk of debt bondage’ (3 stories)
Colleagues, hope you are well.
On 4th July 2022, information was disseminated about a group of Indonesian migrant workers departing to the United Kingdom under the UK’s seasonal temporary agricultural workers scheme. See: Hundreds of Indonesian Migrant Workers Departed to Great Britain https://bisnis.tempo.co/read/1608254/ratusan-pekerja-migran-asal-ri-diberangkatkan-ke-inggris-raya and for video see https://youtu.be/U_DurU_olTY
Concerns were raised about allegedly unethical and costly recruitment for these workers, potential forced labour risks resulting from debt bondage (due to considerable loans taken out by workers to pay recruitment costs) and inaccurate statements about job prospects and potential earnings in relation to this migration.
The relevant UK government departments including the GLAA, Home Office and FCDO (UK Embassy in Jakarta) were informed of these concerns, as were related Indonesian authorities responsible for safe migration.
Emily Duggan at the Guardian (UK) has conducted a detailed investigation into this issue and her three stories on this issue are linked here:
- Revealed: Indonesian workers on UK farm ‘at risk of debt bondage’ https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/aug/14/uk-farm-workers-kent-debt-indonesian-brokers (14th August 2022)
- ‘My family need my support to eat’: how Indonesians came to work on a Kent farm https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/aug/14/how-indonesians-came-work-kent-farm-debt (14th August 2022)
- Why UK farms are recruiting fruit pickers from 7,000 miles away https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/aug/14/why-uk-farms-recruiting-fruit-pickers-from-7000-miles-away (14th August 2022)
It is hoped Indonesian and UK authorities responsible for safe migration and for combating forced labour and human trafficking will promptly investigate the allegations surrounding unethical recruitment and related labour and human rights violations concerning this situation as raised in the article below.
Please note, for a similar story written recently on alleged abuse of Nepali workers recruited in Nepal for work in the UK’s seasonal agricultural workers scheme, do also see https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2022/may/27/migrant-fruit-pickers-charged-thousands-in-fees-to-work-on-uk-farms-investigation-shows (May 27th 2022)