United Kingdom Archives - Andy Hall

Independent 3rd June 2025: Farms and supermarkets could pay to bring foreign farm workers to UK, government-commissioned report says

Andy Hall — Tue, 03 Jun 2025 08:37:20 +0000

Independent 3rd June 2025: Farms and supermarkets could pay to bring foreign farm workers to UK, government-commissioned report says

Exclusive: It would cost employers £850-1,500 to bring each worker to the UK, study into seasonal worker visa finds.

Original Source: The Independent – Emiliano Mellino and Holly Bancroft – 3rd June 2025

British farms and supermarkets could tackle the exploitation of fruit and vegetable pickers by paying their travel and visa costs, according to a government-commissioned report. The report, undertaken for the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra), follows growing allegations of mistreatment of migrant workers on the seasonal worker visa, including a legal challenge brought by an Indonesian fruit picker against the UK government for human rights breaches.

Tens of thousands of workers come to the UK every year on a six-month visa from as far as Chile and the Philippines, and some accrue thousands of pounds of debt before they arrive, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation.

The potential policy runs counter to tough new immigration rules announced by Sir Keir Starmerl that make it harder for workers and students to come to Britain. But it would bring the UK closer in line with other countries, such as the United States, where employers are required to bear the costs of workers’ recruitment and travel.

70 per cent of workers on the seasonal worker scheme had accrued debt to come to the UK, according to a Defra-commissioned study(Getty)

Currently, a handful of operators are licensed by the Home Office to recruit farm labourers and can issue a certificate of sponsorship that can be used to secure a seasonal worker visa from the Home Office. But the workers are left to pay for it and for the cost of travel to the UK.

The study commissioned by Defra into the ‘Employer Pays Principle’, seen by The Bureau of Investigative Journalism and The Independent,proposes four alternative options to government, which would see recruiters, farms, retailers and consumers bear the costs instead.

In response to this story, a Defra spokesperson said the government “has no plans to impose the Employer Pays Principle for seasonal workers”, but The Independent understands the government will review the study and consider learnings alongside industry partners.

In the first proposed model, recruiters would have to cover the costs upfront and would then charge farms higher fees for the service. In the second option, recruiters would still cover the costs but they could then apply to a government or industry fund to be reimbursed. In the third, the worker would cover their costs, but then be reimbursed on arrival to the UK, and in the fourth, the costs covered by the recruiters would be passed on in full down the supply chain, via farms and supermarkets, to consumers.

The study, written by consultancy Alma Economics, estimates a range of £850-1,500 that would be paid for by employers for each worker on the seasonal workers’ scheme.

It also estimates fruit and vegetable growers will face the highest financial cost from options one and three. The first model could result in 70 out of 827 farms experiencing losses, compared to 43 in the second proposal, 57 for option three, and zero for the final scheme.

Consumers would pay between one and three pence per week more for fruit and vegetables picked under the scheme, the research estimates. Making the employer pay for the recruitment would cost £43.1 million in total and eliminate debt for 18,200 workers.

The research cites a report which said 70 per cent of workers on the scheme had accrued debt to come to the UK.

One seasonal farm worker, Elize*, has been travelling from South Africa to work on British farms for several years. She has often had to borrow nearly £2,000 from acquaintances to cover her travel and visa costs, at times being charged interest rates of around 20 per cent.

Migrant fruit pickers often accrue debt before they come to the UK to work, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation. (National Crime Agency)

She says not having to pay travel and visa costs would help get out of a cycle of having to choose between taking on high-interest loans, or barely eating throughout the year in order to save enough to afford flights to the UK.

The report, which consulted supermarkets, farmers and recruiters, said that stakeholders supported making operators cover the costs and then pass them down the supply chain.

While the study said farmers were reliant on the seasonal worker scheme because they believed “UK workers often lack the skills and motivation” needed to pick fruits and vegetables, they largely opposed overseas workers having their recruitment costs covered.

Many worried it would threaten “worker commitment”, since the current system provides “strong incentives to work hard” to clear debts.

However, most retailers were in favour of introducing the employer pays principle as were some scheme operators, the report said.

Meanwhile, worker representative bodies and human rights organisations welcomed the proposals but thought wider reforms were needed to ensure it improved worker welfare.

Eleanor Lyons, the government’s independent anti-slavery commissioner, called on the government to act and highlighted these workers’ increased vulnerability.

“This has an incredibly detrimental impact on the victims who can be forced to work excessive hours, trapped in debt bondage, and in incredibly challenging conditions,” she said “The government needs to act now to provide more protection for seasonal workers, the risks to them are clear and there must be more safeguards.”

A National Farmers Union spokesperson said: “The NFU is aware that Defra is conducting a study modelling the economic impacts of the Employer Pays Principle. This is part of a larger agriculture sector-wide ongoing discussion on enhancements to seasonal worker welfare in the UK. Seasonal workers are of the upmost importance to the production of UK food, fruit and vegetables in particular.

7th Dec 2024: Gaurdian – Agency that brought heavily indebted Indonesian farmworkers into UK seasonal workers scheme loses licence

7th Dec 2024: Guardian – Agency that brought heavily indebted Indonesian farmworkers into UK seasonal workers scheme loses licence

A British recruitment agency that brought Indonesian farmworkers to the UK owing debts of thousands of pounds to foreign brokers has had its licence revoked by the labour exploitation watchdog. AG Recruitment was once the largest supplier of international labour to British agriculture, bringing more than 1,450 Indonesians to pick fruit to supply British supermarkets in 2022.

Original Source: Guardian by Emily Dugan – 7th December 2024

Exclusive: AG Recruitment found not to have acted ‘in a fit and proper manner’ by labour exploitation watchdog

After revelations in the Guardian that farmworkers supplied by AG had taken on debts of up to £5,000 after paying unlicensed third parties in Indonesia, the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) announced an investigation. AG said it had known nothing about charging by third parties and had warned farmworkers not to pay for jobs.

‘If you want to abuse your farmworkers, that’s fine’: UK modern slavery watchdog’s funding cut

More than two years after the GLAA investigation was announced, its findings have still not been published. It said on Tuesday that it had stripped AG of its licence for failing to “act in a fit and proper manner”.

AG said the investigation had cleared it of wrongdoing and that the licence was revoked because of a previous decision by the Home Office.

Last year, the Home Office took away AG’s licence to operate as a seasonal worker sponsor over allegations that farmworkers recruited by them had overstayed their visas.

Douglas Amesz, AG’s managing director, said of the GLAA investigation: “They found nothing. It took a very long time, and it was very detailed. There was no wrongdoing.”

Amesz admitted that farmworkers he recruited had paid fees to third parties but said that he had done his best to prevent this. “Third parties get involved – unscrupulous people doing the wrong thing. That’s what happened. I had no knowledge of it.”

He added: “I can’t influence what I can’t see and what I can’t touch and that’s what happened in Indonesia. It’s happening now, still.”

Commenting on agricultural recruitment overseas, he said: “Indonesian farmworkers, boy, oh boy, talk about corrupt. You know, eastern Europe’s corrupt. They’re all so corrupt. All the countries that we recruit from, there’s a high level of corruption and they just get better at it.”

When asked whether the farmworkers he recruited who had paid fees to unlicensed brokers should be compensated, he said “on the one hand, I don’t”, because he told them in person “that they should never pay fees, that they should report it, that it’s against the law in the UK and no one should ever pay for a job … I told them all not to do it but they went and did it anyway.”

When asked if it was true that no farmworkers had yet received compensation for fees paid to unlicensed brokers for jobs, Amesz said he could not comment.

Andy Hall, a migrant rights specialist, said: “Despite this important licence revocation, which resulted from the Guardian’s groundbreaking investigation and media coverage, none of the vulnerable migrant victims have received any remediation.”

Hall added: “Worse than that, as we saw with the UK food sector’s ill-informed recruitment from Indonesia again this year, the retailers, farms, scheme operators and more importantly the government have yet to learn any lessons from this scandal.”

The company is understood to have been added to the GLAA’s revocation register on Friday but lost its licence on 13 November. Amesz said he had initially appealed against the decision to revoke AG’s GLAA licence but had withdrawn the appeal on deciding to leave the recruitment industry altogether.

Amesz said it had faced an “unjust process” and that he and his wife had “been through hell and back”. He added: “AG is not being dissolved as a business, but we don’t operate any longer.”

A spokesperson for the GLAA said: “When an allegation is received, the GLAA will conduct a thorough investigation and this includes working with other government departments and enforcement agencies … AG Recruitment and Management’s licence was revoked after our investigation found there to be a breach of 1.1 of our licensing standards, which states: ‘The licence holder, Principal Authority and any person named or specified in the licence must at all times act in a fit and proper manner.’”

A breach of its licensing standards can include contravening any “requirements and standards of other regulatory authorities,” including UK Visas and Immigration.

The spokesperson added: “Following our decision to revoke, this decision was appealed, and later withdrawn by the licence holder. The GLAA strives to ensure that we operate a robust licensing scheme, and we will investigate any allegations reported to us regarding a breach in our standards.”

Additional Reading:

15th November 2024: TBIJ – Seasonal workers find no hope in employment tribunals

13th Nov 2024: Diplomat – Indonesian Workers Say They Faced Modern Slavery in the UK. Who Is Responsible?

29th Oct 2024 SCMP: He left Indonesia, seeking a better life in the UK. All he found was debt and despair

Grocer NEWS 16th October 2024: Agri HR Ends Indonesian UK Seasonal Worker Scheme Recruitment Amidst Exploitation and Legality Concerns

8th Sept 2024: The Guardian – Number of seasonal workers seeking help after being sacked by UK farms doubles in the past year

8th Sept 2024: The Guardian – ‘Targets are unrealistic’: sacked fruit picker tells of treatment on Kent farm

6th Sept 2024: Aljazeera – Indonesian fruit-pickers say seasonal work in UK left them drowning in debt

ITV EXCLUSIVE 5th Sept 2024: Seasonal workers on British farms being given ‘unhealthy and dangerous’ accommodation

24th August 2024 TBIJ: ‘We sacrificed everything we had’: seasonal workers in UK left without jobs after Home Office decision

6th August 2024: Fruitnet – Indonesian picker allegations highlight risk of exploitation for seasonal workers

31st July 2024: BBC Indonesia –‘I’m at my wits end’ – The fate of Indonesia’s aspiring seasonal fruit pickers who have yet to be sent to the UK (translated from Bahasa)

21st July 2024: Guardian Exclusive Investigation – Indonesians who paid thousands to work on UK farm sacked within weeks

16th July 2024: Financial Times – UK food sector should cover migrant workers’ upfront costs, advisers say

Independent 2nd June 2024: Vulnerable workers coming to UK in post-Brexit deal at risk of bullying and sexual harassment, report finds

Independent 29th May 2024: UK ministers pressed ahead with seasonal worker visa scheme for migrants despite UN experts’ warning of forced labour and human trafficking risks

Bureau of Investigative Journalism 29th May 2024: Government expanded visa scheme weeks after UN raised alarm over people trafficking

BHRRC 23rd May 2024: UK – Leading supermarkets asked to meet costs of implementing the Employer Pays Principle across supply chains by civil society group (see 9th May 2024 below); incl. company responses

Bloomberg 22nd May 2024: Fruit Picker Who Said Her Hands Bled From Work Sues UK Employer

Seasonal Worker Scheme Taskforce Update 17th May 2024: SWS Taskforce update on Employer Pays Principle study

GROCER 10th May 2024: SOURCING Workers’ groups call on supermarkets to pay seasonal labour fees – The groups said there are risks farmers will be unable to comply to new rules

Guardian 9th May 2024: UK Government says employers may be required to pay travel and visa costs for people getting seasonal worker visas

9th May 2024: Landworker’s Alliance and Allies call for UK supermarkets to pay recruitment related fees and costs for migrant workers

April 30th 2024: BBC World –England again employs seasonal fruit pickers from Indonesia (translation)

The Grocer 30th Apr 2024: Growers brace for up to £90m in additional seasonal worker costs in UK in move towards internationally compliant zero cost responsible recruitment model for vulnerable migrant workers

3rd April 2024: Financial Times (London) UK employment – Britain’s seasonal worker scheme leaves many migrants in debt, research finds

3rd April 2024: Independent – Migrant fruit pickers saddled with debts of up to £5,500 to come to UK through government scheme

26th January 2024: UK Seasonal Worker Scheme Modern Slavery Issues: Indonesian seasonal fruit pickers landed in debt bondage challenges Home Office

26th Jan 2024: ATLEU – UK government fails to protect workers from trafficking and exploitation

26th Jan 2024: ATLEU – Challenge to government’s Seasonal Worker Scheme

25th Jan 2024 Home Office: UK government survey on experiences of seasonal workers scheme confirms the exceptionally high levels of issues (confusion, fees etc) faced by Indonesian and Nepali workers in 2021/2022

24th Jan 2024: ATLEU – Seasonal worker recognised as a potential victim of trafficking

20th Jan 2024 Independent: Migrant fruit picker may have been modern slavery victim under Home Office scheme, government finds

12th January 2024: UK government ‘breaching international law’ with seasonal worker scheme, says UN envoy

2nd Dec 2023 Independent: Nepali Migrant fruit picker who ‘struggled to buy food after being underpaid by British farm’ sues employers

6th Nov 2023: UK government complicit in exploitation of farm workers – Bureau of Investigative Journalism

FLEX 26th Oct 2023 – Seasonal Workers’ Rights; Who’s Responsible?

25th Oct 2023: DEFRA Former Secretary – Seasonal Worker Scheme should be taken away from Home Office to prevent continued abuses.

20th Sept 2023: Worker interest groups’ statement on leaving the UK ‘Seasonal Worker Scheme Taskforce’.

27th July 2023 Maplecroft: UK’s Seasonal Worker Scheme Raising Human Rights Concerns in the Food Sector.

21st July 2023: Vulnerable UK migrant workers at risk as audits of farm recruiters stall

23rd June 2023 – ‘They’re afraid’: Seasonal farm workers in the UK face poor conditions and visa hurdles.

17th March 2023 BHRRC Blog Series: UK Seasonal Worker Scheme Endangers Vulnerable Foreign Workers. (My Op Ed)

16th March 2023: Labour agencies to face supermarket scrutiny over foreign worker exploitation claims in UK seasonal worker scheme.

11th March 2023: ‘UK Seasonal Workers Scheme Taskforce’ to fund audits to prevent worker exploitation.

23rd February 2023: Farm workers on UK seasonal visas to be guaranteed 32 hours a week

13th Dec 2024: UK Court of Appeal confirms allegations of forced labour and dangerous conditions for migrant workers at Malaysian factory ATA, making products for Dyson, can be heard in UK Court

Andy Hall — Fri, 13 Dec 2024 14:23:21 +0000

13th Dec 2024: UK Court of Appeal confirms allegations of forced labour and dangerous conditions for migrant workers at Malaysian factory ATA, making products for Dyson, can be heard in UK Court

LONDON, Dec 13 (Reuters) – Two dozen migrant workers who allege they were subjected to forced labour at a Malaysian factory ATA while making parts for British vacuum cleaner manufacturer Dyson can sue the company in London, the Court of Appeal ruled on Friday.

The 24 workers from Nepal and Bangladesh, one of whom has died and whose estate brought the case, sued Dyson Technology Ltd, Dyson Ltd and a Malaysian subsidiary in 2022.

Original Source: Reuters – 13th December 2024

The claimants were workers for Malaysian firm ATA Industrial or its sister company and made components for Dyson products.

Their lawyers say the workers had money unlawfully deducted from their wages and were sometimes beaten for not meeting onerous targets, alleging in a lawsuit at London’s High Court that the Dyson companies were ultimately responsible.

Dyson, whose Malaysian subsidiary cancelled its contract with ATA in 2021, denies the claimants’ allegations and argued that any lawsuit should be brought in Malaysia rather than Britain.

Last year, the High Court threw the case out and ruled that the workers could sue in Malaysia.

But the Court of Appeal overturned that decision, saying in a written ruling that London was “clearly and distinctly the appropriate forum” for the cases to be heard.

“This was a procedural hearing to determine where the main case should ultimately be heard,” a Dyson spokesperson said.

“The High Court was right last year in its carefully considered ruling that it should be heard in Malaysia and we disagree with today’s appeal decision,” the spokesperson added, explaining that Dyson was reviewing its legal options.

The company – founded by James Dyson, the inventor of the bagless cleaner – employs around 2,500 people in Britain, including at its R&D centre in Malmesbury, west England, having announcedin July that it was cutting about 1,000 jobs.

Reporting by Sam Tobin; Editing by Catarina Demony

—

Leigh Day Press Release 13th Dec 2024: Court of Appeal confirms allegations of forced labour and dangerous conditions at Malaysian factories making products for Dyson can be heard in UK

Limbu v Dyson Court of Appeal – PR.pdf PRESS RELEASE Download

The Court of Appeal has today ruled that a legal case brought by migrant workers against
Dyson regarding allegations of forced labour and dangerous conditions at two Malaysian
factories, which made electronics products for Dyson, can be heard in the English courts.

The claim against Dyson is being brought by 23 migrant workers and the estate of one
deceased migrant worker who worked at factories operated by two supplier companies
ATA Industrial and Jabco in Johor, Malaysia, where many Dyson products were made. The factories were operated by ATA and Dyson denies that it is responsible for any unlawful
acts of ATA Industrial and Jabco.

Limbu v Dyson Court Judgement Full.pdf Download

The group of Nepalese and Bangladeshi workers worked at the factory for between three
and nine years. They allege forced labour, false imprisonment, assault, battery, cruel and
degrading treatment and exposure to extremely hazardous working conditions and abusive
living conditions.

In 2023 the High Court ruled the case should be heard in Malaysia and not in England after
Dyson, which now has its HQ in Singapore, challenged the right of the English courts to hear the claims. Dyson argued that there was not a sufficient connection to the UK for it to be heard here, pointing to the fact that any alleged wrongdoing happened in Malaysia and Malaysian law applies. Dyson also argued that since the claimants will have access to justice in Malaysia, the claims should be heard there.

A Court of Appeal hearing was held on 26 and 27 November 2024, with the workers arguing
the claims should be heard in the English courts as they relate to alleged harm caused by
decisions and policies made centrally by Dyson UK companies and personnel. The
claimants also argued that there is a substantial risk that they would not be able to access
justice in the Malaysian courts, in part owing to their inability to fund a legal claim and
obtain suitable legal representation who would be prepared to take on their case in
Malaysia.

The Court of Appeal accepted the claimants’ arguments and overturned the High Court
ruling, confirming that the claim can proceed in the High Court in London.

The Court of Appeal found the High Court judge had made a number of errors, including
failing to take account of the fact that the two “principal” protagonists, the Dyson UK
defendants, were domiciled in England and therefore those defendants “can reasonably
expect, and be expected, to meet claims against it in such courts” (paragraphs [34]-[37]).

In light of these numerous errors, the Court of Appeal reconsidered the issue of the appropriate forum and decided that the claims can proceed in the English High Court, onthe basis that:

the impoverished claimants would be unable to fund their claims in Malaysia and
Malaysian NGOs and lawyers could not be expected to fill the funding gap
(paragraphs [63] to [64]);
the majority of the most important documents and witnesses would be located in
England not Malaysia (paragraphs [66] to [67]);
the claimants would be unable to attend hearings in person in Malaysia for fear of
arrest by immigration authorities due to visa breaches during the period in which they allege they were trapped in modern slavery (paragraph [68]); and
there would be inequality of arms between the parties in Malaysia (in comparison to
England where the claimants have obtained experienced legal representation) as
“there is a huge imbalance between the impoverished and vulnerable claimants and
the well-resourced and commercially experienced defendants, and the allegations are of very serious human rights abuses, there is a particular need to ensure equality of arms in the conduct of litigation if justice is to be served” (paragraphs [75] and [59]).

The civil negligence claim is being brought against three Dyson companies within the Dyson Group: Dyson Technology Limited and Dyson Limited, based in Malmesbury in Wiltshire, and Dyson Malaysia in Johor Bahru near to the ATA Industrial and Jabco factories.

The next step will be for the English High Court to hear submissions from the parties as to
how the claims should be managed, and to set a timetable for the remainder of the
proceedings up to a liability trial.
The claimants are represented by partner Oliver Holland of law firm Leigh Day, with
barristers Marie Louise Kinsler KC and Tom Fairclough of 2 Temple Gardens and Edward
Craven of Matrix Chambers.

One of the claimants, Dhan Kumar Limbu, said:
“When I started this case with my colleagues, I was hopeful that UK law would support our
claim. The UK Courts have established a benchmark for justice for vulnerable people like
me, allowing our voices to be heard. I would like to thank everyone who has supported our
claim with their endless effort.’’

Leigh Day partner Oliver Holland said:
“The Court of Appeal’s decision ensures our clients have the opportunity to seek justice in
a forum where they believe they will have a fair chance of holding Dyson accountable for its
alleged role in the abuses they suffered and the horrendous conditions they were made to
work in. This case also underscores the importance of multinational corporations ensuring they have full knowledge of the conditions in their global supply chains.

“Our clients are pleased that the Court of Appeal has allowed these claims to proceed. However, they have suffered significant delay due to the Defendants’ attempt to prevent the claims being heard in the English courts – they now want their claim to be resolved as
soon as possible in the hope that they can get something back for what they lost and move
on with their lives.”

Andy Hall, Independent Migrant Worker Rights Specialist, said:
“The Appeal Court’s decision to accept jurisdiction in the migrant workers’ forced labour claim
against Dyson means the workers now have an important legal channel to pursue their claim.

“Given these workers haven’t been able to achieve justice and compensation regarding their
alleged abuse in Malaysia, they hoped the UK courts would enable their case to be heard in the English courts. The UK justice system, in the end, has not disappointed them.

“The decision of the Court of Appeal has sent a strong signal that companies cannot escape
responsibility for the treatment of their workforce by outsourcing their production to countries where migrant workers find it difficult to access justice and remediation.”

Background
The claimants, who are all represented by law firm Leigh Day, were employed at the
factories, which predominantly produced products for Dyson’s vacuum cleaner, lighting,
haircare, heaters and fan ranges. ATA Industrial was Dyson’s largest ‘box-build’ (the
complete assembly of a customer’s finished product) partner, supplying around one third of its global ‘box-build’ production.

The former workers allege that Dyson had known about allegedly unlawful conditions since
at least November 2019 when they were notified by whistleblower Andy Hall.

Additionally, they argue that the exploitation and dangerous working conditions faced by migrant workers in Malaysian factories has been widely reported for over a decade and is something that Dyson should have been aware of. Dyson disputes that it had knowledge of any wrongdoing since 2019 and says in 2019 it investigated Mr Hall’s claims and determined they were not substantiated.

In their legal claim, the workers argue that Dyson was unjustly enriched as a result of the
allegedly unlawful, exploitative and dangerous conditions at the factory. They argue that Dyson is liable for the alleged breaches of their legal rights due to the company’s knowledge of the alleged unlawful practices at the ATA factory and because of their alleged assumption of responsibility through numerous public statements regarding their policies and procedures for detecting and preventing forced labour and exploitation in their supply chains, and the audits they conducted of the Malaysian factories to ensure compliance
with these policies.

Court of Appeal holds that claims concerning alleged forced labour of migrant workers should be heard in England

Published: 13th Dec 2024 and sourced from HERE

The Court of Appeal has allowed an appeal by 24 impoverished migrant workers against an order of the High Court which held that claims concerning alleged subjection to forced labour should be heard in Malaysia, rather than England.

The Claimants are impoverished migrant workers from Bangladesh and Nepal. They allege that they were trafficked to Malaysia, where they were subjected to forced labour and exploitative and abusive living and working conditions (and, in the case of some of them, detention, beatings and torture) while employed by two Malaysian companies (ATA Industrial (M) Sdn Bhd and Jabco Filter System Sdn Bhd) which manufactured components and products in the supply chain of the Dyson Group. The Claimants have brought claims in tort and unjust enrichment against three companies within the Dyson Group: two are domiciled in England; the third is domiciled in Malaysia. The claims allege that the Defendants are legally responsible for the abuse and exploitation which the Claimants were allegedly subjected to during their employment by ATA and Jabco (which are not part of the Dyson Group). The Defendants deny that they are responsible for any of the Claimants’ alleged exploitation, abuse or mistreatment. The Defendants deny any liability to the Claimants and have stated that they intend to defend the claims vigorously.

In October 2023, the High Court held that Malaysia was the more appropriate forum for the claims to be heard and that there was no real risk that the Claimants would be unable to access justice there. The High Court therefore ordered that the claims could not proceed in England. In a judgment delivered on 13 December 2024, the Court of Appeal (the Master of the Rolls, Popplewell LJ and Warby LJ) unanimously allowed the Claimants’ appeal against that determination. The Court of Appeal held that the High Court’s judgment involved multiple errors of principle and reached conclusions which were plainly wrong. The Court of Appeal went on to hold that, contrary to the conclusion reached by the judge, England is clearly the more appropriate place for the case to be tried. In reaching this conclusion, the Court of Appeal held (amongst other things) that the domicile of the Defendants, the location of the issues in the case, practical convenience and equality of arms all favour a trial in England. The Court of Appeal also held that, in view of the Claimants’ extreme poverty, there was a serious risk that they would be unable to bring claims in Malaysia. The Court of Appeal therefore ordered that the claims should continue in the English courts.

Edward Craven represented the successful claimants/appellants, together with Marie Louise Kinsler KC and Tom Fairclough (2TG), instructed by Leigh Day.

The Court of Appeal’s judgment is available here. A summary of the judgment is available here.

29th August 2024 Channel 4 News: Dyson abandons libel claim against Channel 4 News report on Dyson/ATA Malaysia alleged migrant abuse saga

By Andy Hall / 29/08/2024

Channel 4 and ITN today confirm that Dyson abandons libel claim against Channel 4 News, after over two years of court proceedings.

Original Source: Channel 4 News – 29th August 2024

Dyson sued Channel 4 and the makers of the programme, ITN, after the programme reported on appalling conditions in factories in Malaysia where Dyson products were being manufactured.

In February 2022, Channel 4 News’ investigations team revealed how a group of migrant workers, recruited by Dyson’s contractor ATA IMS from countries including Nepal and Bangladesh to make appliances for Dyson, were taking legal action alleging exploitative working and living conditions.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/JuVQ6vOFAmE?feature=oembedStory released on Channel 4 News: 29th August 2024

It reported how concerns about forced labour conditions at ATA had been flagged to Dyson as far back as 2019; concerns Dyson categorically denied until September 2021 when an extensive audit revealed serious abuses at the factory. ATA also denied the allegations.

Before the broadcast, Channel 4 News put the allegations formally to Dyson who responded by warning that if the programme ran the allegations, it could be liable for billions of pounds of damages. Confident of its journalism, Channel 4 News broadcast the story.

A protracted and costly two-year legal battle that followed has now come to an end, after the programme submitted its lengthy 184-page defence to the High Court.

Sir James Dyson’s individual claim over the report was struck out back in 2022, after the High Court ruled the allegations of exploitation of workers at a factory that used to supply goods to his firm did not defame him.

Campaigners have today hailed the outcome as a victory for public interest journalism.

In a joint statement, Channel 4 and ITN said:

“Channel 4 and ITN confirm that the company has abandoned its claim against the programme, two years after it investigated appalling conditions in Malaysian factories where their products were made.

Despite prolonged and costly court proceedings, Channel 4 News was determined to defend its fair, accurate, and duly impartial reporting. The freedom to report without fear or favour is essential to both the industry and a thriving democracy.

Today’s outcome underscores the vital role of robust, independent investigative reporting that is clearly in the public interest and sets an important precedent for the future of investigative journalism in the UK.”

In a statement to Channel 4 News ahead of its broadcast tonight on the case, Dyson said:

“We strenuously deny the false claims made by Channel 4 News in its broadcast. It is ATA – an independent manufacturer – that must answer questions about its treatment of its workers in Malaysia. The comoany will never condone the mistreatment of workers anywhere in the world and defends its reputation when it is necessary.”

“It is categorically wrong to describe this defamation action as a SLAPP. This was a legitimate complaint against false claims made in a broadcast which harmed Dyson’s reputation. Like anyone, they are allowed to exercise its right and defend its reputation through the Courts.”

Speaking to Channel 4 News for its reporting on the case today, Charlie Holt of the UK Anti-Slapp Coalition said:

“These legal tactics are used by anyone who seeks to block accountability. We’ve seen them used by Russian oligarchs, by corporations such as Dyson, and other powerful figures. And they’re used against a range of different communities seeking to exercise their democratic rights to speak out and advance accountability.”

“These lawsuits represent a form of legal bullying which are designed to force the target to retract their criticism. And they do that by using the litigation process to harass, intimidate and drive up costs.”

Meanwhile, Dhan Khumar Limbu and 22 other former migrant workers continue to fight for compensation from Dyson which denies any liability. Dyson is vigorously fighting their claim – and the next hearing will be at the Court of Appeal.

Channel 4 News’ report of February 2022 is available to view again here.

Background Reading:

29th August 2024 Channel 4 News (YouTube Video): Dyson abandons libel case against Channel 4 News over Malaysia worker investigation

26th June 2024 For Immediate Release Leigh Day (London) Press Statement: Migrant workers get permission to appeal decision that their case against Dyson (ATA Malaysia forced labour allegations) should not be heard in the English Courts

15th Dec 2023: Dyson v Channel 4 & ITN – trial of preliminary issues

20th Oct 2023: UK High Court Rejects Alleged Forced Labour Claims by Migrant Workers Against Dyson – Comments by Andy Hall

10th Oct 2023: Dyson hoovers up on appeal against Channel 4 and ITN

26th July 2023: Dyson wins right to pursue exploitation libel claim versus Channel 4 News

10th July 2023: Allegations of forced labour and dangerous conditions at Dyson Malaysian factory

Press Release 9th Nov 2022: Migrant workers issue legal claim against Dyson for alleged forced labour and abusive working conditions.

Bloomberg/Press Association 31st Oct 2022: Sir James Dyson’s Libel Claim Against Channel 4 Dismissed by Judge

Telegraph (UK) 11th Oct 2022: Dyson to fight lawsuit alleging use of forced labour at Malaysian supplier’s factory

Guardian 6th Oct 2022: James Dyson sues Channel 4 for libel over news report on Malaysian ATA EMS factory migrant worker forced labour claims brought in UK court

Reuters 12th Feb 2022: Dyson faces UK forced labour compensation claims from former workers at Malaysian supplier ATA

Channel 4 News 10 Feb 2022: Exclusive Channel 4 News Video Report 18m 52s – Dyson faces UK legal action over ‘forced labour’ and exploitation at Malaysian ATA Supplier

https://www.youtube.com/embed/vJaHQNrh0tM?feature=oembedOriginal Channel 4 report on Dyson/ATA saga

Leigh Day Press Release 10th Feb 2022: Dyson accused of forced labour and dangerous conditions by migrant workers in Malaysian factory

Unite Press Release 11 Feb 2022: Calls for Dyson supply chain reform following Malaysia abuse allegations

The post 13th Dec 2024: UK Court of Appeal confirms allegations of forced labour and dangerous conditions for migrant workers at Malaysian factory ATA, making products for Dyson, can be heard in UK Court appeared first on Andy Hall.

8th Sept 2024: The Guardian – Number of seasonal workers seeking help after being sacked by UK farms doubles in the past year

Andy Hall — Sun, 08 Sep 2024 23:13:39 +0000

8th Sept 2024: The Guardian Number of seasonal workers seeking help after being sacked by UK farms doubles in the past year

The number of farm seasonal workers seeking help with dismissal after travelling to work in British fields and orchards has soared over the past year, according to research.

Government warned ‘unobtainable targets’ Being Used to dismiss migrant fruit pickers at short notice.

Original Source: The Guardian by Emily Digan- 8th September 2024

The trend is thought to be in part because of pressure to meet picking targets, the challenges faced by farmers trying to stay profitable and an unintended consequence of new laws guaranteeing minimum hours.

The Worker Support Centre (WSC), which is based in Scotland but supports seasonal workers across the UK, said the number of people coming to them in June and July this year for help with dismissal issues was more than double that of the same period last year.

The problem may be the tip of the iceberg as workers who have just arrived in the country are very likely to be unsure how to seek help.

The WSC said it had been approached by 47 people for advice about dismissal between June and July, compared with 22 last year – and that 60 workers had raised concerns about high productivity targets with the organisation so far this year.

Caroline Robinson, the director of the organisation, said: “At the Worker Support Centre we regularly hear about workers being given very high picking targets and threatened with dismissal for not reaching them, as early as their second week into the job.

“Most workers incur debts to travel to the UK on the seasonal worker visa, a visa on which it is not possible to just leave the farm and find alternative work. The risks when workers lose their job are often so high that some will endure extremely difficult working conditions.”

In July the Guardian revealed that Indonesian fruit pickers who had paid thousands of pounds to come to work in Britain were sacked within weeks for not working fast enough. For those who spend large sums coming to the UK, dismissals before the end of a six-month visa raise the risk of returning in debt.

Many of those supporting workers believe a rise in dismissals is an unintended consequence of rules introduced this year requiring farms to guarantee at least 32 hours of work to those on seasonal visas. They say the change has made it less attractive for farms to keep workers who are slower, because they no longer have the option of using them for fewer hours.

Robinson said the government needed to act to make sure the visa did more to protect workers. “The practice of using dismissal threats and picking rates as a means of getting workers to compete with each other to reach what some say are unobtainable targets, within a visa system where people have very few choices but to submit, comes dangerously close to the definition of forced labour and is something to which this new government should rapidly turns its attention.”

In its mid-year report, the WSC said it was experiencing its hardest season of work yet, “with more daily contacts for assistance than at any other point in the history of our service”. The organisation also recorded that 12 workers described being sacked after raising complaints.

Adis Sehic, of the Work Rights Centre, a charity supporting migrants in precarious employment, said he believed a rise in dismissals was linked to the introduction of minimum hours. “There’s an incentive for [farmers] to make sure that everyone that is working on their farm is actually working and is also as productive as they can be. Unfortunately, there’s no regulation, at least in England, on productivity rates for seasonal workers. That’s set by farms and clearly changes daily, depending on what the weather’s like and conditions at the farm.

“So what we think is happening is that seasonal workers are arriving, they’re getting the training, they’re getting these targets, but after a couple of weeks, they’re getting dismissed because there’s no regulation on productivity.”

Alison Capper, the chair of British Apples and Pears, which represents UK growers of the fruit, pointed out the sample size of the research was relatively small and that there would always be some dismissals on farms.

Capper, who also runs an apple and hops farm and relies on seasonal workers using the visa, said: “I’m not surprised that there will be a small number of dismissals and issues around pay going on in the peak [of the soft fruit season].”

Capper said because the work was difficult and required high degrees of physical stamina and dexterity “there will always be a number of people to whom the work just isn’t suited”.

She said she did not believe the 32-hour minimum was a factor in dismissals, but that the pressure to be productive meant that it was impossible to “carry” significantly weaker pickers.

“There is a very strong need for farms to be able to deliver good productivity levels because of the pressure being born on pricing by their customers … it’s been very difficult during quite a significant period of inflation for growers to get an increase in the value of their produce from supermarkets. What that means is that the cost per kilo to pick is always under pressure.”

Capper said it was in growers’ interests to make their workplaces decent so that pickers returned each year but that those who were significantly too slow could not be kept on. “You will always have a small number of people who are picking below the average productivity level. If it’s just below, you live with it. But if it’s significantly below, you can’t afford to and actually, it’s not fair to the other workers either.

“No grower can afford to have workers picking crop at significantly below average productivity levels.”

A government spokesperson said: “The welfare of all visa holders is of paramount importance and decisive action will be taken if we believe abusive practices are occurring or the conditions of the seasonal workers route are not being met.”

“We have established clear requirements for organisations holding a sponsorship licence, emphasising those who benefit directly from migration are responsible for ensuring the immigration system is not abused.”

Guardian 8th Aug 2024: ‘Targets are unrealistic’: sacked fruit picker tells of treatment on Kent farm

Original Source: The Guardian by Emily Dugan – 8th August 2024

Kazakhstani man says he regrets coming to UK for seasonal work, but employer refutes account of his experience

It had been a sweltering morning picking cherries beneath plastic polytunnels in July when Ilyas finally lost his temper at the farm where he was working in Kent.

“We could hardly breathe in there,” he said. “It was very difficult to work because the weather was very hot.”

It was his first day harvesting the fruit, having spent several weeks thinning apple trees, and he says he was told he had not picked enough and was being sent back to the caravan early.

Not long after returning to the caravan, Ilyas’s contract was terminated and he was returned to Kazakhstan last month. He is one of a growing number of farm workers who have sought help with dismissal from the Worker Support Centre this season after travelling to work in British fields.

In a video recorded at the farm, Ilyas can be seen confronting a supervisor. He says “you treat us like animals” and that he had not signed up to “these unrealistic targets”.

Ilyas said the target was to pick about 15 boxes of black cherries a day and that each box contained between 6-7kg of cherries. He said that if about 10 cherries or more were bad within that then the whole box could be rejected.

In the video, recorded on 29 July, a supervisor tells him to stop filming and they argue. The supervisor tells him his work is finished for the day and when Ilyas asks why, the supervisor says “because you’ve not met targets today”.

The farm’s HR manager told the Guardian she believed Ilyas was removed from the fields to “diffuse the situation” due to his aggressive behaviour and that sending him home was “a last resort”.

Ilyas, 32, had been working on British farms since March after coming to the UK on a seasonal worker visa. As an educated IT worker, he was willing to try something different since he had the potential to earn more than double his Kazakhstani salary of about £830 a month.

Now he says he regrets the experience. “The targets are unrealistic and probably the aim of the managers was to squeeze everything possible in the shortest period of time.”

The farm, Mansfields in Kent, is one of the biggest in the country. It grows more than 25,000 tonnes of fruit each year over 1,200 hectares (3,000 acres) of farmland in several different sites.

Lee Port, the chief executive of Mansfields, said: “We use targets as much as possible as we need people to understand expectations from the moment they start working with us. On the first day of picking we communicate through training that the focus is on quality and that we would expect a first-time picker to pick around 50-60% of the target set.”

Port said the average across 250 staff was for three trays of cherries to be picked an hour and that Ilyas worked for 4.75 hours and picked an average of 0.8 an hour. He said experienced pickers were set the target of 3.5 trays an hour and that other new pickers in Ilyas’s team achieved an average of 1.5 trays an hour.

Port said Ilyas was picking “nearly half the expectation of a new picker and, when his performance had been raised as a concern and supervisors had tried to help with additional training earlier in the day, he started acting aggressively which continued throughout the morning”.

Port also said he had witness statements attesting to Ilyas “acting aggressively and demonstrating poor conduct”. He was issued a final warning as a result. He added: “If Ilyas hadn’t been aggressive he would not have been sent home.”

Port said of the polytunnels: “The working conditions are monitored daily, with risk assessments carried out by our health and safety departments. The cherry orchards are under plastic, but the fields are well-vented and staff start early to ensure optimum picking conditions for pickers and the fruit.”

Ilyas said he now has a job in Kazakhstan and has no intention of working on British farms again.

Port said workers were less productive as a result of the increased living wage. “One of the problems that we are seeing across industry is people happy with just hitting the minimum targets. When picking fruit in the orchards the staff have the opportunity to earn significantly more money on bonus, based on performance and quality of picking. With the living wage increasing as it has the staff are now happy with earnings and don’t seem to be as motivated.”

One of the reasons that Ilyas said he was not able to make as much money as he hoped was because of the amount he spent before coming to Britain. In addition to the cost of flights and visas, he said he had paid about $1,000 (£760) to a third party in Kazakhstan.

Ilyas said the company promised to find him work in the UK and that after about nine months of waiting it told him about Pro-Force, which recruited him and deployed him on several farms.

Pro-Force recruits at events in Kazakhstan and does not use third parties. But the company acknowledged that it regularly comes across scammers charging people to tell them about these events or, for example, to send them links to the Pro-Force website. It said when that happened it investigated and reported them to the Kazakh authorities.

Pro-Force said there was no log of Ilyas reporting that he made payments to a third party but it was investigating the company after the Guardian flagged it to them.

Pro-Force said: “Pro-Force places worker welfare front and centre of its operations and commits to such in its strategic objectives. The company has forged a reputation for doing so amongst peers and key industry stakeholders, in part due to the fact that it pioneers worker welfare initiatives such as the minimum 32 hours rule it introduced in 2019, and the UK’s first pilot employer pays principle scheme to take place in 2025.”

Asked about Ilyas’s case, Pro-Force said: “Though we are unable to comment on specifics, there were documented conduct and performance concerns with Ilyas – despite this, he was provided with two transfers prior to his final placement. An impasse was reached at his final placement where there had been concerns regarding his conduct and performance, and Ilyas left with only a matter of weeks remaining on his visa. Pro-Force is disappointed to hear of Ilyas’s dissatisfaction, and is committed to investigating his allegations should he provide us with the relevant information.”

Additional Reading:

6th Sept 2024: Aljazeera – Indonesian fruit-pickers say seasonal work in UK left them drowning in debt

ITV EXCLUSIVE 5th Sept 2024: Seasonal workers on British farms being given ‘unhealthy and dangerous’ accommodation

24th August 2024 TBIJ: ‘We sacrificed everything we had’: seasonal workers in UK left without jobs after Home Office decision

6th August 2024: Fruitnet – Indonesian picker allegations highlight risk of exploitation for seasonal workers

31st July 2024: BBC Indonesia –‘I’m at my wits end’ – The fate of Indonesia’s aspiring seasonal fruit pickers who have yet to be sent to the UK (translated from Bahasa)

21st July 2024: Guardian Exclusive Investigation – Indonesians who paid thousands to work on UK farm sacked within weeks

16th July 2024: Financial Times -UK food sector should cover migrant workers’ upfront costs, advisers say

Independent 2nd June 2024: Vulnerable workers coming to UK in post-Brexit deal at risk of bullying and sexual harassment, report finds

Independent 29th May 2024: UK ministers pressed ahead with seasonal worker visa scheme for migrants despite UN experts’ warning of forced labour and human trafficking risks

Bureau of Investigative Journalism 29th May 2024: Government expanded visa scheme weeks after UN raised alarm over people trafficking

Bloomberg 22nd May 2024: Fruit Picker Who Said Her Hands Bled From Work Sues UK Employer

Seasonal Worker Scheme Taskforce Update 17th May 2024: SWS Taskforce update on Employer Pays Principle study

GROCER 10th May 2024: SOURCING Workers’ groups call on supermarkets to pay seasonal labour fees – The groups said there are risks farmers will be unable to comply to new rules

Guardian 9th May 2024: UK Government says employers may be required to pay travel and visa costs for people getting seasonal worker visas

9th May 2024: Landworker’s Alliance and Allies call for UK supermarkets to pay recruitment related fees and costs for migrant workers

April 30th 2024: BBC World –England again employs seasonal fruit pickers from Indonesia (translation)

3rd April 2024: Financial Times (London) UK employment – Britain’s seasonal worker scheme leaves many migrants in debt, research finds

3rd April 2024: Independent – Migrant fruit pickers saddled with debts of up to £5,500 to come to UK through government scheme

26th January 2024: UK Seasonal Worker Scheme Modern Slavery Issues: Indonesian seasonal fruit pickers landed in debt bondage challenges Home Office

26th Jan 2024: ATLEU – UK government fails to protect workers from trafficking and exploitation

26th Jan 2024: ATLEU – Challenge to government’s Seasonal Worker Scheme

24th Jan 2024: ATLEU – Seasonal worker recognised as a potential victim of trafficking

20th Jan 2024 Independent: Migrant fruit picker may have been modern slavery victim under Home Office scheme, government finds

12th January 2024: UK government ‘breaching international law’ with seasonal worker scheme, says UN envoy

2nd Dec 2023 Independent: Nepali Migrant fruit picker who ‘struggled to buy food after being underpaid by British farm’ sues employers

6th Nov 2023: UK government complicit in exploitation of farm workers – Bureau of Investigative Journalism

FLEX 26th Oct 2023 – Seasonal Workers’ Rights; Who’s Responsible?

25th Oct 2023: DEFRA Former Secretary – Seasonal Worker Scheme should be taken away from Home Office to prevent continued abuses.

20th Sept 2023: Worker interest groups’ statement on leaving the UK ‘Seasonal Worker Scheme Taskforce’.

27th July 2023 Maplecroft: UK’s Seasonal Worker Scheme Raising Human Rights Concerns in the Food Sector.

21st July 2023: Vulnerable UK migrant workers at risk as audits of farm recruiters stall

23rd June 2023 – ‘They’re afraid’: Seasonal farm workers in the UK face poor conditions and visa hurdles.

17th March 2023 BHRRC Blog Series: UK Seasonal Worker Scheme Endangers Vulnerable Foreign Workers. (My Op Ed)

16th March 2023: Labour agencies to face supermarket scrutiny over foreign worker exploitation claims in UK seasonal worker scheme.

11th March 2023: ‘UK Seasonal Workers Scheme Taskforce’ to fund audits to prevent worker exploitation.

23rd February 2023: Farm workers on UK seasonal visas to be guaranteed 32 hours a week

6th Sept 2024: Aljazeera – Indonesian fruit-pickers say seasonal work in UK left them drowning in debt

Andy Hall — Fri, 06 Sep 2024 03:16:11 +0000

6th Sept 2024: Aljazeera – Indonesian fruit-pickers say seasonal work in UK left them drowning in debt

Original Source: Aljazeera by Aisyah Llewellyn – 6th September 2024

Indonesian fruit-pickers say they were fired within weeks of arriving at UK farm after failing to meet impossible targets during their seasonal work in the UK.

Medan, Indonesia – Indonesian fruit-pickers who paid thousands of dollars to travel to the United Kingdom to pick fruit say they face the prospect of returning home heavily in debt after being sacked for not meeting unrealistic targets.

Migrant worker Abdul said he departed for the UK in May with nine other Indonesians under the country’s seasonal worker scheme, which grants foreign workers six-month visas to work on British farms.

Hired by UK recruiter Agri-HR, Abdul was sent to Haygrove, a farm in Hereford, about 215km (135 miles) southwest of London.

“A friend of mine who had already been to the UK told me about the opportunity. He said I could make $65 per day picking fruit,” Abdul, who asked to use a pseudonym, told Al Jazeera.

Abdul, who made about $130 per month in his previous job as an ice cream seller in Central Java province, said he racked up about $4,000 in debt borrowing money from family and friends to pay fees to two Indonesian third-party organisations – a recruitment agency called PT Mardel Anugerah International and a workers’ hub called Forkom – as well as out-of-pocket expenses to travel to the UK.

Abdul said workers at Haygrove were expected to pick 20kg of cherries and strawberries per hour, which he found to be an impossible task due to the lack of fruit – a problem that only got worse as harvest season went on.

“We [the Indonesian workers] were always put at the edge of the plantations where there was little fruit. Several times, we were given trees that were not in good condition and we picked all the fruit there was, but we couldn’t do any more than that,” he said.

ITV EXCLUSIVE 5th Sept 2024: Seasonal workers on British farms being given ‘unhealthy and dangerous’ accommodation

Abdul said he and four other Indonesian fruit-pickers received three written warnings before they were sacked within five to six weeks of arriving at the farm.

He also alleged that other workers who had not met targets had not been let go.

“When they let us go, Haygrove just said, ‘Sorry, we didn’t want this either’, and gave us an official letter to say we had been sacked and our ticket back to Indonesia leaving the next day,” he said.

In a statement provided to Al Jazeera, Haygrove said the workers had been let go for poor performance and that it is “committed to fair employment practices and the well-being of all our workers”.

“On June 24, 2024, five Indonesian workers were dismissed following a thorough and fair disciplinary process due to consistently poor performance. These dismissals were conducted in accordance with our structured performance management procedures, which include multiple stages of feedback, training, and support,” the farm said.

The Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA), the UK’s main agency for investigating labour exploitation, earlier this year opened an investigation into the case.

According to GLAA licensing rules, “a licensing holder must not charge a fee to a worker for any work-finding services”. However, other costs such as travel and medical checks may be charged as long as they are voluntary.

“Additional goods or services must be optional and cannot be discriminated against if not taken up,” the rules state.

In a statement provided to Al Jazeera, GLAA said it was looking into the workers’ complaints.

“We are currently investigating the recruitment processes for a number of Indonesian workers in the UK and are working to establish the exact circumstances. At this time, we cannot comment further while the investigation is underway,” it said.

Cherries await harvest at an orchard in Tunisia [File: Mohamed Messara/EPA-EFE]

Haygrove said it takes allegations of misconduct “very seriously” and is fully cooperating with GLAA’s investigation.

“We were unaware of any illegal recruitment fees until concerns were raised by a third party and subsequently reported to the GLAA by Agri-HR. Haygrove has a zero-tolerance policy for such practices and is actively supporting the GLAA’s investigation,” the farm said.

“We emphasise that no issues have been raised directly by the Indonesian workers regarding their recruitment, accommodation, or working conditions at Haygrove.”

Following their dismissal by Haygrove, Abdul and two other workers decided to remain in the UK.

Abdul has since found work at another farm picking lettuce, although his six-month visa is due to expire in November, after which he will have to return to Indonesia.

PT Mardel told Al Jazeera that Indonesians wishing to take advantage of the UK’s seasonal worker scheme must be able to cover the cost of a visa, medical check, return plane tickets and insurance, along with other processing costs in accordance with provisions set by the Indonesian labour department.

“The estimated costs required are a maximum of 33 million Indonesian rupiah [$2,123],” a company spokesperson said. “The workers we have placed in the UK are all very happy that they can work there with very good salaries. The farms also pay great attention to their welfare,” the spokesperson said.

PT Mardel also said there was “no relationship between PT Mardel and Forkom”.

Forkom did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

Several other workers awaiting departure to the UK told Al Jazeera that they were also saddled with debt.

Ali, a seasonal worker applicant from Central Java province, said he was still waiting to go to the UK after Forkom told him he could depart in August last year.

“They said if I went to the UK, I would earn $65 per day picking strawberries. I had to stop work in Indonesia so that I could focus on getting all the documents together, but then I didn’t get to leave,” Ali, who asked to use a pseudonym, told Al Jazeera.

Ali said he is now about $1,300 in debt to his family.

“I’ve spent all my money. Before this, I used to buy secondhand goods and sell them on the side of the road. I had been doing that for 25 years and it was enough for me to pay for my family,” he said.

“All the information about the scheme was sent through Forkom, and they made promises that they did not keep. PT Mardel also said that we needed to transfer money to them in order to secure our work in the UK.”

“My wife and children are suffering because all our money is gone,” Ali said. “I can’t pay for my children’s school fees and their pocket money. The biggest effect has been on my family. I am always fighting with my wife now because we don’t have any money.”

In a statement sent to Al Jazeera, the Indonesian Embassy in London said it is aware of reports of Indonesian fruit-pickers being exploited in the UK.

“The Indonesian Embassy in London supports the Indonesian government’s efforts to ensure placement of Indonesian migrant seasonal workers to England in accordance with regulations and applicable laws in both countries,” the embassy said.

The embassy said that it was aware that 136 seasonal workers had arrived in the UK and been placed at seven workplaces in England as of 22 July 2024.

“The placement of the seasonal workers was in accordance with recommendations from the Indonesian Ministry of Manpower and verification and consultation with relevant authorities in the UK,” it said.

Addressing allegations of illegal fees being charged during the recruitment process, the embassy said it “supports investigations and law enforcement by the authorities in Indonesia and the UK, including pushing for an investigation by the GLAA”.

Cherries at New House Farm in Canterbury, England [Dan Kitwood/Getty Images]

Andy Hall, a labour rights activist who is supporting the Indonesian workers, said UK companies are increasingly turning to migrant workers because of Brexit.

“This means that they are now recruiting workers from far-flung destinations, but they do not want to pay their fees. If anything goes wrong, it is a really risky situation because the workers think they are going to earn lots of money,” Hall told Al Jazeera.

“It is the fault of the UK side. The system is broken and the actors are broken. They are lax and naive. They have set up a scheme where workers have to pay their own costs, but they could do it properly and, if they executed it properly, everything would be fine.”

Hall said supermarkets in the UK are a major part of the problem as they want to buy produce at the cheapest prices, which means that farms in turn do not want to pay the costs of recruiting workers.

“The farms do not want to pay recruiters, and the recruiters then expect the workers to pay for themselves,” he said. “Supermarkets are responsible for all this mess. They have the money to do this properly. It is all just a squeeze on price.”

Additional Reading:

24th August 2024 TBIJ: ‘We sacrificed everything we had’: seasonal workers in UK left without jobs after Home Office decision

6th August 2024: Fruitnet – Indonesian picker allegations highlight risk of exploitation for seasonal workers

31st July 2024: BBC Indonesia –‘I’m at my wits end’ – The fate of Indonesia’s aspiring seasonal fruit pickers who have yet to be sent to the UK (translated from Bahasa)

21st July 2024: Guardian Exclusive Investigation – Indonesians who paid thousands to work on UK farm sacked within weeks

16th July 2024: Financial Times -UK food sector should cover migrant workers’ upfront costs, advisers say

Independent 2nd June 2024: Vulnerable workers coming to UK in post-Brexit deal at risk of bullying and sexual harassment, report finds

Independent 29th May 2024: UK ministers pressed ahead with seasonal worker visa scheme for migrants despite UN experts’ warning of forced labour and human trafficking risks

Bureau of Investigative Journalism 29th May 2024: Government expanded visa scheme weeks after UN raised alarm over people trafficking

Bloomberg 22nd May 2024: Fruit Picker Who Said Her Hands Bled From Work Sues UK Employer

Seasonal Worker Scheme Taskforce Update 17th May 2024: SWS Taskforce update on Employer Pays Principle study

GROCER 10th May 2024: SOURCING Workers’ groups call on supermarkets to pay seasonal labour fees – The groups said there are risks farmers will be unable to comply to new rules

Guardian 9th May 2024: UK Government says employers may be required to pay travel and visa costs for people getting seasonal worker visas

9th May 2024: Landworker’s Alliance and Allies call for UK supermarkets to pay recruitment related fees and costs for migrant workers

April 30th 2024: BBC World –England again employs seasonal fruit pickers from Indonesia (translation)

3rd April 2024: Financial Times (London) UK employment – Britain’s seasonal worker scheme leaves many migrants in debt, research finds

3rd April 2024: Independent – Migrant fruit pickers saddled with debts of up to £5,500 to come to UK through government scheme

26th January 2024: UK Seasonal Worker Scheme Modern Slavery Issues: Indonesian seasonal fruit pickers landed in debt bondage challenges Home Office

26th Jan 2024: ATLEU – UK government fails to protect workers from trafficking and exploitation

26th Jan 2024: ATLEU – Challenge to government’s Seasonal Worker Scheme

24th Jan 2024: ATLEU – Seasonal worker recognised as a potential victim of trafficking

20th Jan 2024 Independent: Migrant fruit picker may have been modern slavery victim under Home Office scheme, government finds

12th January 2024: UK government ‘breaching international law’ with seasonal worker scheme, says UN envoy

2nd Dec 2023 Independent: Nepali Migrant fruit picker who ‘struggled to buy food after being underpaid by British farm’ sues employers

6th Nov 2023: UK government complicit in exploitation of farm workers – Bureau of Investigative Journalism

FLEX 26th Oct 2023 – Seasonal Workers’ Rights; Who’s Responsible?

25th Oct 2023: DEFRA Former Secretary – Seasonal Worker Scheme should be taken away from Home Office to prevent continued abuses.

20th Sept 2023: Worker interest groups’ statement on leaving the UK ‘Seasonal Worker Scheme Taskforce’.

27th July 2023 Maplecroft: UK’s Seasonal Worker Scheme Raising Human Rights Concerns in the Food Sector.

21st July 2023: Vulnerable UK migrant workers at risk as audits of farm recruiters stall

23rd June 2023 – ‘They’re afraid’: Seasonal farm workers in the UK face poor conditions and visa hurdles.

17th March 2023 BHRRC Blog Series: UK Seasonal Worker Scheme Endangers Vulnerable Foreign Workers. (My Op Ed)

16th March 2023: Labour agencies to face supermarket scrutiny over foreign worker exploitation claims in UK seasonal worker scheme.

11th March 2023: ‘UK Seasonal Workers Scheme Taskforce’ to fund audits to prevent worker exploitation.

23rd February 2023: Farm workers on UK seasonal visas to be guaranteed 32 hours a week

16th July 2024: Financial Times – UK food sector should cover migrant workers’ upfront costs, advisers say

Andy Hall — Tue, 16 Jul 2024 16:18:42 +0000

16th July 2024: Financial Times – UK food sector should cover migrant workers’ upfront costs, advisers say

The UK food sector should cover the upfront costs faced by migrant farm workers if it wants to keep access to the overseas labour it relies on, the government’s advisers on migration have said.

UK immigration: Migration Advisory Committee urges government to do more to stamp out abuses in seasonal worker scheme

Sourced from: Financia l Times Delphine Strauss and Oliver Telling – 16th July 2024

Farm workers coming to the UK are at risk of debt bondage because they often borrow money to cover flights and visas without knowing what they will earn, a report by the independent Migration Advisory Committee found.

To maintain current levels of food production, there was no immediate alternative given a lack of willing UK recruits to the seasonal worker scheme (SWS), the report published on Tuesday said, urging ministers to give industry certainty over the scheme’s future.

However, the report also said the industry and government had not done enough to stamp out abuses of workers’ rights in a scheme where they faced “an inherent imbalance of power” against employers.

The SWS allows UK growers to hire around 45,000 people a year on six-month visas.

The previous Conservative government said in May that the programme would run at least until 2029 but noted the aim would be to taper its size over time, while encouraging farmers towards automation.

Ministers should confirm visa numbers each year on a rolling basis, so the industry would in effect “have five years’ notice if the scheme were to be closed”, the MAC said.

Labour pledged before the general election on July 4 to reform the immigration system with a view to reducing overseas hiring, by making employers’ access to visas conditional on greater efforts to train UK workers.

However, it has not yet said what this will mean in practice or proposed any changes to the SWS.

But workers also need more certainty over how much they will earn, the committee added, calling for a guarantee of at least two months pay, to ensure they could recoup the costs of coming to the UK.

It urged the industry to accelerate action to move to an “employer pays principle”, so that recruitment and relocation expenses are borne by employers rather than workers.

An industry task force, including supermarkets, growers and recruiters, has said it will model ways an EPP model could work. But it has made slow progress because there is no consensus on how to share costs along the supply chain, given the tight margins imposed by retailers on UK growers.

The MAC said the task force needed to work faster and urged it to set a timeframe to present proposals. Ministers should then confirm the scheme’s continuation only if this timeframe was met, it said.

The committee noted that the government and employers needed to do more to inform workers of their legal rights and to enforce them through proactive inspections. It also called for a clearer process to refund income tax and help workers opt out of pension auto-enrolment.

Workers’ rights campaigners welcomed the committee’s recommendations. “All the risks of the seasonal worker scheme are on the workers, all the costs . . . It’s really important the government takes heed of this,” said Andy Hall, a migrant rights campaigner who has worked with the industry’s Stronger Together task force.

A government spokesperson said it would “carefully consider” the MAC’s findings and respond in “due course”.

Sophie De Salis, a sustainability policy adviser at the British Retail Consortium, said the task force’s study would be “a vital step” to understand how the EPP could be applied in practice.

It urged the government to adopt the MAC’s recommendations but also to scrap visa fees, arguing that these “heighten the financial risk to workers from the outset”.

The industry’s SWS task force said it acknowledged the committee’s call for its study to be conducted in a timely manner and was working closely with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the jointly-funded project.

Additional Reading:

Independent 2nd June 2024: Vulnerable workers coming to UK in post-Brexit deal at risk of bullying and sexual harassment, report finds

Independent 29th May 2024: UK ministers pressed ahead with seasonal worker visa scheme for migrants despite UN experts’ warning of forced labour and human trafficking risks

Bureau of Investigative Journalism 29th May 2024: Government expanded visa scheme weeks after UN raised alarm over people trafficking

Bloomberg 22nd May 2024: Fruit Picker Who Said Her Hands Bled From Work Sues UK Employer

Seasonal Worker Scheme Taskforce Update 17th May 2024: SWS Taskforce update on Employer Pays Principle study

GROCER 10th May 2024: SOURCING Workers’ groups call on supermarkets to pay seasonal labour fees – The groups said there are risks farmers will be unable to comply to new rules

Guardian 9th May 2024: UK Government says employers may be required to pay travel and visa costs for people getting seasonal worker visas

9th May 2024: Landworker’s Alliance and Allies call for UK supermarkets to pay recruitment related fees and costs for migrant workers

April 30th 2024: BBC World –England again employs seasonal fruit pickers from Indonesia (translation)

3rd April 2024: Financial Times (London) UK employment – Britain’s seasonal worker scheme leaves many migrants in debt, research finds

3rd April 2024: Independent – Migrant fruit pickers saddled with debts of up to £5,500 to come to UK through government scheme

26th January 2024: UK Seasonal Worker Scheme Modern Slavery Issues: Indonesian seasonal fruit pickers landed in debt bondage challenges Home Office

26th Jan 2024: ATLEU – UK government fails to protect workers from trafficking and exploitation

26th Jan 2024: ATLEU – Challenge to government’s Seasonal Worker Scheme

24th Jan 2024: ATLEU – Seasonal worker recognised as a potential victim of trafficking

20th Jan 2024 Independent: Migrant fruit picker may have been modern slavery victim under Home Office scheme, government finds

12th January 2024: UK government ‘breaching international law’ with seasonal worker scheme, says UN envoy

2nd Dec 2023 Independent: Nepali Migrant fruit picker who ‘struggled to buy food after being underpaid by British farm’ sues employers

6th Nov 2023: UK government complicit in exploitation of farm workers – Bureau of Investigative Journalism

FLEX 26th Oct 2023 – Seasonal Workers’ Rights; Who’s Responsible?

25th Oct 2023: DEFRA Former Secretary – Seasonal Worker Scheme should be taken away from Home Office to prevent continued abuses.

20th Sept 2023: Worker interest groups’ statement on leaving the UK ‘Seasonal Worker Scheme Taskforce’.

27th July 2023 Maplecroft: UK’s Seasonal Worker Scheme Raising Human Rights Concerns in the Food Sector.

21st July 2023: Vulnerable UK migrant workers at risk as audits of farm recruiters stall

23rd June 2023 – ‘They’re afraid’: Seasonal farm workers in the UK face poor conditions and visa hurdles.

17th March 2023 BHRRC Blog Series: UK Seasonal Worker Scheme Endangers Vulnerable Foreign Workers. (My Op Ed)

16th March 2023: Labour agencies to face supermarket scrutiny over foreign worker exploitation claims in UK seasonal worker scheme.

11th March 2023: ‘UK Seasonal Workers Scheme Taskforce’ to fund audits to prevent worker exploitation.

23rd February 2023: Farm workers on UK seasonal visas to be guaranteed 32 hours a week

Other stories on challenges of UK seasonal worker scheme

1. Working in the UK: Hundreds of Indonesian Citizens Escape, More Than 1,200 Workers from Indonesia Threatened to Cancel (BBC, 16th Feb 2023)

3. Indonesian former fruit pickers become illegal immigrants and asylum seekers in the UK – ‘This is the easiest shortcut’ (BBC, 26th Jan 2023)

4. Home Office accepts recommendations in Chief Inspector’s report on immigration system as it relates to the agricultural sector (Freeths, 16th Jan 2023)

5. Immigration: Investors warn food companies about risk of forced labour on UK farms (Financial Times 19th Dec 2022)

6. Investor statement on the UK Seasonal Worker Scheme (Public Investor Statement 19th Dec 2022)

7. Hundreds of Indonesian fruit pickers in UK seek diplomatic help (Guardian, 2nd Dec 2022)

8. Seasonal worker visa puts migrants at risk of exploitation, say supermarkets (Guardian, 2nd Dec 2022)

9. Seasonal fruit pickers from Nepal left thousands in debt after being sent home early from UK farms (Guardian, 13 th Nov 2022)

10. Indonesia to investigate claims fruit pickers in UK seasonal agricultural workers scheme charged thousands to work in Kent (Guardian, 29 th Aug 2022)

The post 16th July 2024: Financial Times – UK food sector should cover migrant workers’ upfront costs, advisers say appeared first on Andy Hall.

29th May 2024: UK ministers pressed ahead with seasonal worker visa scheme for migrants despite UN experts’ warning of forced labour and human trafficking risks

Andy Hall — Wed, 29 May 2024 15:19:12 +0000

29th May 2024: UK ministers pressed ahead with seasonal worker visa scheme for migrants despite UN experts’ warning of forced labour and human trafficking risks

UK ministers announced in May 2024 that the seasonal worker visa scheme would be extended until 2029. United Nations experts raised serious concerns about the risk of exploitation of migrant workers on UK farms with the Foreign Office just weeks before the visa scheme was extended.

Original Source: The Independent by Emiliano Mellino and Holly Bancroft

Migrant fruit pickers who come to the UK to work on farms are being saddled with debts before they arrive. Some have reported exploitation on the farms, including punishment for not meeting targets, discrimination, and poor living and working conditions.

The workers pay middlemen who help them get jobs through the government’s seasonal worker scheme, which has been extended to 2029.

In a letter sent in March to the foreign secretary David Cameron, and only recently made public, four UN special rapporteurs expressed concerns about reports of abuse taking place through the scheme.

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They said that, while the UK government recognises that migrants on the seasonal worker visa “may be more vulnerable and open to exploitation than other workers”, the oversight of the farms has been “insufficient”.

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They raised a number of individual cases, which they claimed “illustrate the general, underlying shortcomings in ensuring decent working and living conditions of migrant workers in the country”.

The UN special rapporteurs criticised regulators the Health and Safety Executive and the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority for not appearing to “have taken timely and adequate action”.

They criticised the way the visa scheme was set up, which the experts said was “stopping many workers from reporting exploitation”.

Four UN special rapporteurs expressed concerns about reports of abuse taking place through the UK’s seasonal worker visa scheme (The Independent )

The special rapporteurs, who are the UN’s independent experts on human rights issues, told the government they had similar concerns about the health and care worker visa.

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In early May, environment secretary Steve Barclay extended the seasonal worker visa for five years to 2029, citing the labour shortages in the farming industry.

A total of 43,000 visas are available in the horticulture sector in 2025, with another 2,000 visas for poultry, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) said.

Labour MP John McDonnell said urgent work is needed to stop exploitation in the farming sector.

He said: “Migrant workers are the most exploited section of what has become known as the precariat. Their exploitation and the appalling treatment they receive at the hands of often brutal profiteering employers verges on modern day slavery. We urgently need comprehensive strong legislation and enforcement to tackle this stain on our economy.”

Much of the UN letter focused on allegations of underpayment and poor working conditions at Haygrove Ltd, one of the UK’s biggest fruit producers, and the recruitment of workers by Fruitful Jobs, one of the government-licensed recruiters for the seasonal worker visa scheme.

In response to the UN letter, Fruitful Jobs said it could not comment on the concerns rapporteurs had with the wider industry, but refuted any allegations against Fruitful Jobs. It made clear that Fruitful Jobs does not request or facilitate any form of payment from migrant workers for recruitment services.

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Haygrove also disputed the allegations, saying that it treats workers well, adhering to all standards. Haygrove said that in a recent Home Office audit no evidence of wrongdoing, labour exploitation or modern slavery was found.

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Last year, a Bureau of Investigative Journalism investigation spoke to Latin American workers, employed at Haygrove, who claimed they were not paid for all the hours they worked, were punished by being denied work, and had faced bullying on the farm. One person said they were physically assaulted by a supervisor.

Haygrove, which has fruit-growing farms in the UK, South Africa and Portugal, has denied all the allegations. It refuted any allegation of bullying or discrimination, and said pickers were paid for all the hours that they worked. It said the company was not aware of the alleged incident with the supervisor as no formal complaint was raised but that it would investigate.

In the letter, the UN special rapporteurs said the Home Office decided that there were reasonable grounds to conclude that four workers employed by Haygrove could have been victims of modern slavery. In all four cases a final decision is pending. The special rapporteurs wrote that based on the information they received, some of the individuals would fall under the definition of victims of trafficking.

Haygrove said the UN experts’ views “give the false impression that there are serious and systemic issues with the way in which Haygrove’s seasonal workers are treated in the UK”, adding that it refutes such allegations “in the strongest terms”.

Haygrove said the reported concerns related to an isolated incident of discontent amongst workers in July last year. It added that, while the company recognised some workers on UK farms paid high fees to secure employment, this was not the case for workers recruited by Fruitful Jobs or working on Haygrove’s farms.

In its response, the government said it would not comment on ongoing investigations and that those who are “interested in the fair and unbiased application of the law” should “refrain from unhelpful public commentary or speculation”. It added that licensed recruiters known as “scheme operators” are responsible for placing workers on farms and ensuring their welfare. Failure to comply with rules “could” result in these recruiters losing their licences, it said.

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The seasonal worker visa scheme was launched in 2019 to address labour shortages in the agricultural sector, which were expected to be exacerbated by the UK’s exit from the European Union. The scheme was rapidly expanded from an initial 2,500 workers coming in the first year, to more than 30,000 last year. Earlier this month the government announced that the scheme would be extended until 2029.

Robyn Phillips, director of operations at the Human Trafficking Foundation, said addressing the exploitation of workers on certain visas, such as the seasonal worker visa, health and care visa and overseas domestic worker visa “must be a key consideration for a future government”.

The letter was signed by the special rapporteurs on contemporary forms of slavery, on the human rights of migrants, and on trafficking in persons, as well as the chair-rapporteur of the working group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises.

A government spokesperson said: “The seasonal worker route has been running for five years, and each year improvements have been made to stop exploitation and clamp down on poor working conditions while people are in the UK.

“We have a set of published requirements for organisations holding a sponsorship licence which make clear that those who benefit directly from migration are responsible for ensuring the immigration system is not abused. We will always take decisive action where we believe abusive practices are taking place or the conditions of the seasonal workers route are not met.”

Bureau of Investigative Journalism 29th May 2024: Government expanded visa scheme weeks after UN raised alarm over people trafficking

Original Source: The Bureau of Investigative Journalism by By Emiliano Mellino and Holly Bancroft – 29th May 2024

Experts wrote to David Cameron in March warning that workers on a UK farm could be victims of modern slavery

This story was published in partnership with:

Some migrant farm workers on a UK government visa scheme were allegedly trafficked to the country, according to United Nations human rights experts.

In a letter sent to David Cameron, the UK’s foreign secretary, four UN special rapporteurs said the government knew that workers were at risk of exploitation and its oversight of the farms had been “insufficient”. Weeks after receiving the letter, the government extended the scheme until 2029.

The letter detailed how migrant workers have reportedly been deceived about working and living conditions, and had faced abuses including discrimination, mistreatment, wage theft, low salaries and punishment for not meeting targets.

The laws and practices around the visa scheme made seasonal workers particularly vulnerable to exploitation, the experts said. They added that systemic change was needed.‘The appalling treatment of migrant workers verges on modern-day slavery’

“Given the conditions reported to us, we are concerned that [regulatory] entities do not appear to have taken timely and adequate action,” read the letter, which was sent in March and made public in mid-May.

Labour MP John McDonnell said overseas workers are among the most exploited people in the farming sector. He called for urgent protections for them.

“[Migrant workers’] exploitation and the appalling treatment they receive at the hands of often brutal, profiteering employers verges on modern-day slavery,” he said. “We urgently need comprehensive, strong legislation and enforcement to tackle this stain on our economy.”

Much of the UN experts’ letter focused on allegations of underpayment and poor working conditions at Haygrove Ltd, one of the UK’s biggest fruit producers, and Fruitful Jobs, one of the government-licensed recruiters for the visa scheme.

Last year, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) reported allegations that Latin American workers employed at Haygrove had not been paid for all the hours they had worked, had been punished by being denied work and had faced bullying on the farm. One person had been physically assaulted by a supervisor, colleagues said.

About 90 Haygrove workers staged a wildcat strike and some were told by the managing director of Fruitful Jobs that if they continued to protest, their visas would be revoked.

An open letter from organisations including the union the Landworkers’ Alliance has welcomed Sedex’s announcement but called for the cost to be borne by supermarkets rather than farmers “already struggling with financial pressures”. It argues that retailers “benefit from a greater proportion of the profits while shouldering less of the risk of production”.

9th May 2024: Landworker’s Alliance and Allies call for UK supermarkets to pay recruitment related fees and costs for migrant workers

Original Source: HERE

9th May 2024: Landworkers’ Alliance and Allies call for UK supermarkets to pay recruitment related fees and costs for migrant workers

The statement is issued by the Landworkers’ Alliance (LWA), a union of agroecological farmers, growers, and land-based workers in the UK. LWA is affiliated to La Via Campesina, an international organisation of peasant and agricultural workers’ unions with two hundred million members in eighty-onecountries. This statement is also signed by Fair Square and Andy Hall, a migrant worker rights specialist.

See more: The Guardian 9th May 2024: UK Government says employers may be required to pay travel and visa costs for people getting seasonal worker visas

See more: 10th May 2024: Workers’ groups call on supermarkets to pay seasonal labour fees – The groups said there are risks farmers will be unable to comply to new rules

Vulnerable migrant workers from overseas pay often high levels of recruitment related fees and costs for their right to work, including for visa applications and travel. This causes several challenges for individuals recruited via the UK’s Seasonal Workers’ Scheme (SWS) in particular, and for migrants entering the UK under other immigration schemes.

These costs absorb a significant portion of worker wages. Workers pay these costs upfront before arriving in the UK.Research indicates that these workers often sell personal possessions or take on debt, often by taking out high interest rate loans to meet these recruitment related costs. This puts workers at high risk of modern slavery and then exploitationor vulnerability.

If no or infrequent work is available for migrant workers on arrival in the UK, whether due to climatic changes or other situations beyond the worker’s, employment intermediaries or employer’s control, such individuals cannot pay off their debt, which subsequently increases day by day. Such workers are then at risk of debt bondage, as they find themselves unable to leave an employer to earn enough to repay their debt with another employer or in another industry where work is more prevalent.

We also note that the payment of high levels of recruitment fees and costs, and issues of subsequent debt bondage, has significance well beyond the farming sector, affecting workers on Tier 2 visas in several other high-risk supply chains in the UK.

The requirement for SWS workers coming to the UK to meet many if not all of their recruitment related costs, and the limited monitoring of recruitment channels to detect unethical or irresponsible recruitment, marks the scheme out from similar visa systems in other countries where these costs are mostly or entirely met by employers or a combination of employers and the state. In the US, workers are not liable for any recruitment fees or related costs. In Australia and Canada, these costs are limited and shared with employers and the state.

Given the risks of forced labour resulting from payment by workers of high levels of recruitment related fees and costs, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) recommended in Guidelines published in 2019 that ‘No recruitment fees or related costs should be charged to, or otherwise borne by, workers or jobseekers.’ This is referred to as the Employer Pays Principle (EPP). Investors groups representing £800bn in assets have already called for retailers to take action to implement the EPP in across their supply chains.

In this regard, we welcome Sedex’s recent adoption of the EPP in their updated audit protocol utilised by much of the UK supermarkets’ supply chains as a means to promote and ensure compliance with standards on decent work and to prevent forced labour. We also note that these changes have significance beyond the UK, and will require these changes be implemented in supermarket supply chains internationally as well.

The UK Government has today also announced in its response to the 2023 Independent review into labour shortages in the food supply chain a commitment to investigating the use of the Employer Pays Principle for the Seasonal Worker visa route, and to fund economic modelling with the Seasonal Worker Taskforce – an industry-led taskforce focused on improving the welfare of migrant workers. We welcome this announcement but believe any such study should be conducted independently from the existing industry led taskforce and alongside civil society organisations, trade unions, and workers.

We recognise that implementing the EPP for Seasonal Workers in the UK will require a significant financial outlay at a time of great uncertainty for the UK farming sector. We believe, however, that it should be the supermarkets, not farmers, who pay these costs.

Fruit and vegetable farmers are already struggling with financial pressures and uncertainty created by extreme climate, with nearly half fearing they may go out of business within a year. There are risks farms will either be unable to comply with the EPP, or that complying will damage the economic viability of farm employers. To ensure the resilience of UK fresh produce supply, it is imperative that the costs of the SWS and the EPP are not put onto growers and farmers, but are paid by retailers, who benefit from a greater proportion of the profits while shouldering less of the risk of production.

It is worth noting also that supermarkets absorb the lion’s share of the value produced by farmers and workers. Research conducted by the New Economics Foundation in conjunction with the Landworkers’ Alliance found that 54.7% of the value of strawberries from a case study farm employing SWS workers went to the supermarket, while only 2.2% of the value went to farm as profit.

We note Sedex recognises that farms cannot implement the EPP alone. By categorising this requirement to implement the EPP as “Collaborative Action Required,” Sedexacknowledges the proposals will require wider supply chainsolutions.

Major British supermarkets have already publicly committed themselves to the implementation of the EPP in their supply chains. Many are already members of the Consumer Goods Forum (CGF), whose Priority Industry Principles on Forced Labour accepts the principle that no worker should pay for a job and no worker should be indebted or coerced to work.Tesco and Marks & Spencer are also members of the Leadership Group for Responsible Recruitment, which has committed to total eradication of recruitment fees and related costs being charged to workers by 2026.

For all of the reasons outlined above, we believe supermarkets must now therefore step up to meet the challenge of implementing the EPP in UK farming, and across other high risk immigration channels including the Tier 2 visa. Indeed, the implementation of the EPP should not stop in the UK. Supermarkets must also commit to implementing the EPP throughout their entire supply chains globally.

We the undersigned therefore call for UK supermarkets to meet the costs of implementing the EPP in the UK SWS, across the tier 2 visa scheme and across their global supply chains.

We ask that the UK’s supermarkets, in conjunction with farmers and other suppliers, workers and trade unions, investors and civil society organisations, all work in partnership, including with the UK government, to swiftly develop a solution for sustainably implementing the EPP in the UK produce sector, across all immigration channels into the UK where workers are migrating for work, and in their global supply chains.

Together we can ensure that no worker on a UK farm or in UK supermarket supply chains has to pay for their job, no vulnerable migrant workers live in debt bondage, and enable ajust and fair food production system and supply chain for both suppliers, farmers and workers.

Signed by: Catherine McAndrew, Landworkers’ Alliance, Fair Square and Andy Hall, Migrant Worker Rights Specialist

10th May 2024: ETI – New commitments announced under the UK Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme

Original Source: Ethical Trading Initiative by Cara Casey-Boyce – 10th May 2024

This week the UK government responded to an Independent Review into labour shortages in the food supply chain, announcing several new commitments, among them is a five-year extension of the Seasonal Agriculture Workers Scheme (SAWS) and an investigation into the use of the ‘Employer Pays Principle’.

The SAWS enables individuals to come to the UK and work in the horticulture and poultry production sectors. The scheme relies on those who choose to migrate to pay their own way to UK shores, resulting in too many cases where migrant workers arrive via the SAWS in significant debt, vulnerable to further exploitation and unable to access enough work during their stay to settle debts or earn a profit.

Although this is not true for all who migrate via the SAWS, too many workers continue to face this fate. While an extension of the scheme is important to give growers and others some sense of continuation while other commitments are put in place, this alone is not enough. More needs to be done to ensure the costs migrant workers incur to bring food to UK and European markets, are shared along the value chain.

ETI welcomes the government’s decision to open the door for much needed improvements, as stated in their response:

“The government remains open to making improvements to the visa route throughout its 5-year extension and will explore the feasibility of potential improvements in due course.”

“In committing to the extension of the Seasonal Worker visa route the government will remain unwavering in its commitment to reduce the risks of labour exploitation and modern slavery”

“This includes our commitment to investigating the use of the Employer Pays Principle for the Seasonal Worker visa route.”

ETI Director Peter McAllister says “There is an urgent need for improvements in the scheme, that includes the reduction of risks of labour exploitation and modern slavery, and the Employer Pays Principle. Workers should not arrive in the UK already in debt and without a guarantee of being able to make a profit. ETI will continue to work with others to ensure these changes are put in place in way that is fair and sustainable.”

Additional Reading:

Guardian 9th May 2024: UK Government says employers may be required to pay travel and visa costs for people getting seasonal worker visas

GROCER 10th May 2024: SOURCING Workers’ groups call on supermarkets to pay seasonal labour fees – The groups said there are risks farmers will be unable to comply to new rules

April 30th 2024: BBC World – England again employs seasonal fruit pickers from Indonesia (translation)

3rd April 2024: Financial Times (London) UK employment – Britain’s seasonal worker scheme leaves many migrants in debt, research finds

3rd April 2024: Independent – Migrant fruit pickers saddled with debts of up to £5,500 to come to UK through government scheme

26th January 2024: UK Seasonal Worker Scheme Modern Slavery Issues: Indonesian seasonal fruit pickers landed in debt bondage challenges Home Office

26th Jan 2024: ATLEU – UK government fails to protect workers from trafficking and exploitation

26th Jan 2024: ATLEU – Challenge to government’s Seasonal Worker Scheme

24th Jan 2024: ATLEU – Seasonal worker recognised as a potential victim of trafficking

20th Jan 2024 Independent: Migrant fruit picker may have been modern slavery victim under Home Office scheme, government finds

12th January 2024: UK government ‘breaching international law’ with seasonal worker scheme, says UN envoy

2nd Dec 2023 Independent: Nepali Migrant fruit picker who ‘struggled to buy food after being underpaid by British farm’ sues employers

FLEX 6th Nov 2023 – FLEX on the House of Lords Horticultural Committee report

6th Nov 2023: UK government complicit in exploitation of farm workers – Bureau of Investigative Journalism

FLEX 26th Oct 2023 – Seasonal Workers’ Rights; Who’s Responsible?

25th Oct 2023: DEFRA Former Secretary – Seasonal Worker Scheme should be taken away from Home Office to prevent continued abuses.

20th Sept 2023: Worker interest groups’ statement on leaving the UK ‘Seasonal Worker Scheme Taskforce’.

27th July 2023 Maplecroft: UK’s Seasonal Worker Scheme Raising Human Rights Concerns in the Food Sector.

21st July 2023: Vulnerable UK migrant workers at risk as audits of farm recruiters stall

23rd June 2023 – ‘They’re afraid’: Seasonal farm workers in the UK face poor conditions and visa hurdles.

17th March 2023 BHRRC Blog Series: UK Seasonal Worker Scheme Endangers Vulnerable Foreign Workers. (My Op Ed)

16th March 2023: Labour agencies to face supermarket scrutiny over foreign worker exploitation claims in UK seasonal worker scheme.

11th March 2023: ‘UK Seasonal Workers Scheme Taskforce’ to fund audits to prevent worker exploitation.

23rd February 2023: Farm workers on UK seasonal visas to be guaranteed 32 hours a week

9th May 2024: Landworkers’ Alliance and Allies call for UK supermarkets to pay recruitment related fees and costs for migrant workers

Andy Hall — Thu, 09 May 2024 14:44:15 +0000

9th May 2024: Landworkers’ Alliance and Allies call for UK supermarkets to pay recruitment related fees and costs for migrant workers

The statement is issued by the Landworkers’ Alliance (LWA), a union of agroecological farmers, growers, and land-based workers in the UK calling for UK supermarkets to pay recruitment related fees and costs for migrant workers. LWA is affiliated to La Via Campesina, an international organisation of peasant and agricultural workers’ unions with two hundred million members in eighty-onecountries. This statement is also signed by Fair Square and Andy Hall, a migrant worker rights specialist.

Original Source: LWA – 9th May 2024

12th January 2024: UK government ‘breaching international law’ with seasonal worker scheme, says UN envoy

Andy Hall — Sat, 13 Jan 2024 10:02:26 +0000

12th January 2024: TBIJ – UK government ‘breaching international law’ with seasonal worker scheme, says UN envoy

The Home Office has been found to be failing to investigate ‘clear indicators of forced labour’ associated with its seasonal worker scheme – Andy Hall – International Migrant Workers Rights Specialist

Original source: The Bureau Investigative Journal (TBIJ) by Emiliano Mellino – 12th January 2024

The UK government could be in breach of international law over failing to investigate “clear indicators of forced labour” in its seasonal worker scheme, an independent UN human rights expert has said.

Tomoya Obokata, the UN’s special rapporteur on modern slavery, said he was “very concerned” by reports of intimidation, threats, sexual harassment and poor living conditions for people working on UK farms.‘Even one victim is a very serious issue for me’

The reports from the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ), NGOs, government officials and parliamentary inquiries into the exploitation of seasonal workers also showed other indicators of forced labour, such as long hours, underpayment and a lack of access to sick leave, Obokata said.

“I wouldn’t say that this happens [on] almost every single farm … but I think that’s not the point,” he said. “Even one victim is a very serious issue for me. So, I think these instances of investigations and findings raise serious alarm.”

Seasonal Worker Scheme offers overseas six-month temporary visa

The seasonal worker scheme, which offers people from overseas a six-month temporary visa, was introduced in 2019 to address labour shortages that were expected to be worsened by Brexit. It has expanded rapidly, from 2,500 visas in 2019 to 55,000 this year.

The programme has been plagued by allegations of worker mistreatment. In March 2023, TBIJ uncovered systematic bullying and abuse on several UK farms. Those findings have been supported by evidence from NGOs and government inspectors, as well as a recent parliamentary inquiry.

In October, a TBIJ investigation found that the Home Office had failed to investigate hundreds of allegations made by seasonal workers of threats, wage theft and racism. The government said that improvements were being made to the scheme each year to stop exploitation. But it took two months to interview workers at one farm after allegations of exploitation were made as recently as last summer.

The Home Office also told TBIJ that a new team had been established to safeguard the rights of workers on the scheme. TBIJ understands that the team has half a dozen staff, while there are hundreds of farms in the UK employing seasonal workers.

“If the UK government is not properly conducting labour inspections, identifying abuse and holding perpetrators to account that is a clear breach of an international human rights obligation. There’s no doubt about that,” Obokata said.

In 2023, Obokata studied a similar visa scheme for farm workers in Canada, which he said constituted “a breeding ground for contemporary forms of slavery”. But he said the Canadian scheme seemed to be “better regulated” than its British counterpart, in part because the Canadian government has written agreements with the countries from which it is recruiting.‘The government should be closely monitoring and inspecting workplaces’

UK seasonal worker scheme puts power in private sector recruiter hands

By contrast, the UK scheme puts “enormous powers” in the hands of private sector recruiters, called scheme operators, who are paid by farms and decide where workers are sent. That system creates a relationship of dependence, he said, and could mean that workers might be less willing to speak out when experiencing abuse.

In 2023, UK government-licensed scheme operators recruited workers from more than 60 countries.

“[The UK] is dependent on the licensed operators [for enforcement], which is problematic,” Obokata said. “It is the government who should be closely monitoring and inspecting workplaces.”

6th Nov 2023: UK government complicit in exploitation of farm workers in its seasonal worker scheme – Bureau of Investigative Journalism

By Andy Hall / 06/11/2023 / 10 minutes of reading

Government labor inspection reports revealed the exploitation of farm workers, and nearly half of the 845 seasonal workers interviewed claimed mistreatment, discrimination, wage theft, and threats of being sent back home.

Original Source: Info Migrants by Ana P. Santos – Bureau of Investigative Journalism

The British government failed to investigate allegations of widespread exploitation and unjust recruitment practices documented in government labor inspection reports and subsequently attempted to prevent that information from being made public, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) reported last week (October 22).

TBIJ reviewed 19 Home Office (government) farm inspection reports between 2021 and 2022 secured through freedom of information requests. The reports revealed that of the 845 workers interviewed and employed under a seasonal worker visa, nearly half (44%) claimed mistreatment, discrimination, wage theft, and threats of being sent back home, among other issues.

The findings of the farm inspection reports counter claims by farming minister Mark Spencer, who said that people working under the seasonal visa scheme are “very well looked after” and that employers “make sure that their welfare needs are met,” wrote TBIJ. Further, two visa scheme operators reportedly told the House of Lords that only 1% of their workers had made complaints.

But none of the allegations raised during these inspections was investigated by the Home Office or visa scheme operators, according to a report by the independent chief inspector of borders and immigration, TBIJ reported.

Nicholas McGeehan, founding co-director of FairSquare, a nonprofit that investigates migrant rights abuses, described the inaction of the UK government as “appalling but not surprising”.

“On the one hand, you have a government yelling at small boats crossing and criminalizing refugees. On the other hand, they do not protect the migrants who come to the country to work,” McGeehan told InfoMigrants.

“The government needs workers, they recruit them so they need to protect them. It is not rocket science,” said McGeehan.

Migrant labor: the backbone of the agricultural industry

The results of the government inspection reports were consistent with interviews with farm workers that TBIJ conducted as part of its investigation.

Julia Quecaño Casimiro, 23, from Bolivia, told TBIJ that she has worked on farms in Chile for many years but never experienced bullying, discrimination, or wage deductions until she worked in the UK.

A recruiter had told Casimiro that she would earn up to £500 a week picking fruit under a seasonal worker visa contract. Casimiro reported that she was not given any shifts during her first week, and the next week, she made less than £150.

On many farms, workers reported not having showers or toilets in their caravans. In others, there were mice, cockroaches, or bed bugs.

Visa scheme operators are required to ensure workers are properly paid, treated fairly, and live in suitable hygienic accommodations. However, despite the numerous complaints raised by workers to labor inspectors, no government-licensed scheme operator has lost its license or been sanctioned for failing to meet these standards. Some have, however, been penalized when workers stayed in the UK beyond the end of their visas, reported TBIJ.

Casimiro was among the estimated 90 migrant farm workers who held an unofficial walkout in protest over being asked to pay for their flights to the UK and £250 every week for six weeks on top of accommodation deductions. The deductions would leave Casimiro only £16 on the weeks when she was given the hours guaranteed by the farm.

It was among the first recorded strikes by people on the UK government’s seasonal worker scheme.

Seasonal worker scheme to plug massive labor shortages

The UK agricultural sector contributes around £130 billion (€149 billion) to the UK’s economy and employs about 467,000 people, according to a 2021 government study.

The labor that keeps the farm belts of agriculture spinning is supplied by an estimated 70,000 migrant workers each year, according to a study by the University of Sheffield. About 99% of seasonal workers came from outside the UK.

Caption: An estimated 70,000 migrant workers, mostly working as seasonal workers, form the backbone of the UK agricultural economy | Photo: picture alliance.

Established in 2019 to plug labor shortages in the agricultural sector which were anticipated to worsen due to Brexit, the seasonal expanded rapidly. There were 2,500 seasonal worker visas available in 2019 and up to 55,000 this year. Additionally, the Home Office increased the visa fee by £50 to £298 – more than twice what it costs to process it.

Farms across the UK are feeling the labor shortage brought on by the compounded impact of Brexit and the war in Ukraine. Brexit had already curtailed the seasonal migrant recruitment path from less affluent eastern European countries like Bulgaria and Romania. The Russian invasion of Ukraine made matters worse, severing the labor chain with the UK. From 2019 and 2021 Ukrainians reportedly made up the overwhelming majority of those granted seasonal work visas (19,920).

With traditional – and nearer – sources of seasonal laborers now blocked, UK farms have had to recruit seasonal workers from countries such as Latin America, Indonesia, and Nepal.

Under the T5 Temporary Seasonal Worker scheme, people can come and work for up to six months. No knowledge of English is required but visa holders cannot change their sponsor once they arrive in the UK, claim welfare benefits, or sponsor other family members to join them.

As TBIJ reported, farm inspection reports also revealed that some workers had paid as much as £7,500 (€8,600) in recruitment fees to work in the UK. The charging of recruitment fees is illegal in the UK.

“The UK is dealing with immigration in a completely incompetent, negligent, and, frankly, immoral fashion. They’ve created labor shortages in the agricultural sector but have put in place a flimsy scheme that has not been well-thought out,” said FairSquare’s McGeehan.

Paying for the right to work – Exploitation of Farm Workers

Speaking to InfoMigrants in London, Mariko Hayashi, executive director at the Southeast and East Asian Centre (SEEAC), a migrant support organization, said that the UK seasonal worker visa has created problems for migrant workers even in their countries of origin.

“In Indonesia, recruiters have misled workers by saying that they could ‘renew’ the seasonal worker visa and ‘return’ to work for the next season,” said Hayashi.

Caption: From file: Brexit and the war in Ukraine have cut off the recruitment of seasonal workers from neighboring countries, leaving farms to recruit from as far as Southeast Asia and Latin America | Photo: picture alliance / Photoshot.

This is meant to justify the massive recruitment fees. However, the seasonal worker visa is non-renewable.

“Now, you have workers who can no longer come back and are buried in debt. When you have to travel that far to work for only six months, it’s very hard to make back the money you spent,” Hayashi said.

6th Nov 2023: TBIJ – New Report Urges Stronger Protections for UK’s Seasonal Workers

House of Lords report citing TBIJ evidence demands clampdown on abuse, poor living conditions and illegal fees.

Original Source: The Bureau of Investigative Journalism by Lucy Nash – 6th November 2023.

The House of Lords has published a new report urging the government to clamp down on the abuse that seasonal workers face on UK farms within the seasonal worker scheme. This follows revelations by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) that hundreds of migrant workers in the UK’s agriculture sector have raised welfare issues including threats, wage theft and racism.

The Horticultural Sector Committee’s report, published on Monday, recommends a number of new measures including that the government split up labour inspectors from immigration enforcement. Citing concerns that workers are often deterred from reporting abuse for fear it might affect their immigration status, the report advises the government to “provide an official source of redress to seasonal workers that is not linked to immigration”.

It also urges the Home Office to increase the budget for the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA), the public body tasked with overseeing this area, and to ringfence some of this money for the hiring of extra labour inspectors.

Additional Reading:

The post 12th January 2024: UK government ‘breaching international law’ with seasonal worker scheme, says UN envoy appeared first on Andy Hall.

26th Oct 2023: Watchdog criticizes Home Office for dropping farm worker visa review

Andy Hall — Thu, 26 Oct 2023 13:09:28 +0000

Government confirms it will NOT publish a review into farm worker visa review despite calls from stakeholders (responses and additional materials)

Watchdog criticizes Home Office for dropping farm worker visa review. The UK government confirms it will not publish a promised review despite calls from non-profits, academics and its own independent inspector.

Original source: The Bureau Investigative Journalism by Hajar Meddah and Emiliano Mellino – 26th October 2023.

The head of the independent watchdog for immigration has criticised the Home Office for failing to publish a promised review of the UK’s seasonal worker scheme.

David Neal, the government-appointed independent chief inspector of borders and immigration, made the comments after the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) discovered that the Home Office no longer plans to conduct and publish the review he called for last year.

Concerns about exploitation in the seasonal workers scheme, he said, “make transparency particularly important,” said Neal, a former head of the military police. “It would be very disappointing if, after accepting my recommendation in full, the Home Office did not fulfil its commitment.”

The seasonal worker scheme began in 2019 to address labour shortages in the farming sector, which were expected to be worsened by Brexit. It has since expanded rapidly. There were 2,500 visas available in 2019 but up to 55,000 this year.

Allegations of mistreatment have plagued the programme. A TBIJ investigation earlier this year revealed systemic bullying and abuse of workers, issues that the government had been aware of but failed to investigate.

Neal said he had long been frustrated by the Home Office’s “slow and often incomplete” implementation of his recommendations, including ones it had fully accepted.

In December 2022, Neal published the findings of his inspection into the seasonal worker visa programme. The report made three recommendations, including an “overdue review” of the scheme. The Home Office agreed and anticipated the process would be complete by April 2023.

After the review failed to materialise, 10 non-profit organisations and academics wrote letters to the immigration minister Robert Jenrick, calling for the review to be published and for fairer recruitment practises in the scheme.

UK Home Office Criticised for Decsion on Migrant Agriculture Worker Review

Original source: Fair Square

The Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration in the UK has criticised the government’s failure to publish a review of the “seasonal workers route”, the scheme in which multiple media investigations and NGO reports have identified labour exploitation and abuse of migrant workers.

The Home Office’s decision not to publish a promised review of the scheme came in a 20 September letter to NGOs (including FairSquare) and other experts from the UK and countries of migrant workers’ origin, who had originally written to the minister in May calling for stronger controls on recruitment processes and other areas to protect migrant workers.

Speaking to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and the Independent, David Neal, the government-appointed independent chief inspector of borders and immigration said that concerns about exploitation in the seasonal workers scheme, he said, “make transparency particularly important… It would be very disappointing if, after accepting my recommendation [to publish a review of the scheme] in full, the Home Office did not fulfil its commitment.” The Home Office had said, in response to Mr Neal’s inspection, that it would publish the review by April 2023.

“There is an urgent need for a full and transparent review of the scheme, to identify as a priority how to make British agriculture safer for migrant workers.”
James Lynch, co-director of FairSquare

Read the full exchange of letters here:

Recent stories on challenges of UK seasonal worker scheme:

1. Working in the UK: Hundreds of Indonesian Citizens Escape, More Than 1,200 Workers from Indonesia Threatened to Cancel (BBC, 16th Feb 2023)

3. Indonesian former fruit pickers become illegal immigrants and asylum seekers in the UK – ‘This is the easiest shortcut’ (BBC, 26th Jan 2023)

4. Home Office accepts recommendations in Chief Inspector’s report on immigration system as it relates to the agricultural sector (Freeths, 16^th Jan 2023)

5. Immigration: Investors warn food companies about risk of forced labour on UK farms (Financial Times 19^th Dec 2022)

6. Investor statement on the UK Seasonal Worker Scheme (Public Investor Statement 19^th Dec 2022)

7. Hundreds of Indonesian fruit pickers in UK seek diplomatic help (Guardian, 2^nd Dec 2022)

8. Seasonal worker visa puts migrants at risk of exploitation, say supermarkets (Guardian, 2^nd Dec 2022)

9. Seasonal fruit pickers from Nepal left thousands in debt after being sent home early from UK farms (Guardian, 13 ^th Nov 2022)

10. Indonesia to investigate claims fruit pickers in UK seasonal agricultural workers scheme charged thousands to work in Kent (Guardian, 29 ^th Aug 2022)

The post 26th Oct 2023: Watchdog criticizes Home Office for dropping farm worker visa review appeared first on Andy Hall.

United Kingdom Archives - Andy Hall

Independent 3rd June 2025: Farms and supermarkets could pay to bring foreign farm workers to UK, government-commissioned report says

Independent 3rd June 2025: Farms and supermarkets could pay to bring foreign farm workers to UK, government-commissioned report says

Independent 3rd June 2025: Farms and supermarkets could pay to bring foreign farm workers to UK, government-commissioned report says

7th Dec 2024: Gaurdian – Agency that brought heavily indebted Indonesian farmworkers into UK seasonal workers scheme loses licence

7th Dec 2024: Guardian – Agency that brought heavily indebted Indonesian farmworkers into UK seasonal workers scheme loses licence

Additional Reading:

Other stories on challenges of UK seasonal worker scheme:

13th Dec 2024: UK Court of Appeal confirms allegations of forced labour and dangerous conditions for migrant workers at Malaysian factory ATA, making products for Dyson, can be heard in UK Court

13th Dec 2024: UK Court of Appeal confirms allegations of forced labour and dangerous conditions for migrant workers at Malaysian factory ATA, making products for Dyson, can be heard in UK Court

Court of Appeal holds that claims concerning alleged forced labour of migrant workers should be heard in England

29th August 2024 Channel 4 News: Dyson abandons libel claim against Channel 4 News report on Dyson/ATA Malaysia alleged migrant abuse saga

Background Reading:

8th Sept 2024: The Guardian – Number of seasonal workers seeking help after being sacked by UK farms doubles in the past year

8th Sept 2024: The Guardian Number of seasonal workers seeking help after being sacked by UK farms doubles in the past year

Guardian 8th Aug 2024: ‘Targets are unrealistic’: sacked fruit picker tells of treatment on Kent farm

Additional Reading:

Other stories on challenges of UK seasonal worker scheme:

6th Sept 2024: Aljazeera – Indonesian fruit-pickers say seasonal work in UK left them drowning in debt

6th Sept 2024: Aljazeera – Indonesian fruit-pickers say seasonal work in UK left them drowning in debt

Additional Reading:

Other stories on challenges of UK seasonal worker scheme:

16th July 2024: Financial Times – UK food sector should cover migrant workers’ upfront costs, advisers say

16th July 2024: Financial Times – UK food sector should cover migrant workers’ upfront costs, advisers say

29th May 2024: UK ministers pressed ahead with seasonal worker visa scheme for migrants despite UN experts’ warning of forced labour and human trafficking risks

29th May 2024: UK ministers pressed ahead with seasonal worker visa scheme for migrants despite UN experts’ warning of forced labour and human trafficking risks

Bureau of Investigative Journalism 29th May 2024: Government expanded visa scheme weeks after UN raised alarm over people trafficking

Read more stories in this project

Additional Reading:

Other stories on challenges of UK seasonal worker scheme:

9th May 2024: The Guardian – UK Government says employers may be required to pay travel and visa costs for people getting seasonal worker visas

9th May 2024: The Guardian – UK Government says employers may be required to pay travel and visa costs for people getting seasonal worker visas

9th May 2024: Landworker’s Alliance and Allies call for UK supermarkets to pay recruitment related fees and costs for migrant workers

10th May 2024: ETI – New commitments announced under the UK Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme

Additional Reading:

Other stories on challenges of UK seasonal worker scheme:

9th May 2024: Landworkers’ Alliance and Allies call for UK supermarkets to pay recruitment related fees and costs for migrant workers

9th May 2024: Landworkers’ Alliance and Allies call for UK supermarkets to pay recruitment related fees and costs for migrant workers

See also coverage of the statement:

Additional Reading:

Other stories on challenges of UK seasonal worker scheme:

12th January 2024: UK government ‘breaching international law’ with seasonal worker scheme, says UN envoy

12th January 2024: TBIJ – UK government ‘breaching international law’ with seasonal worker scheme, says UN envoy

Seasonal Worker Scheme offers overseas six-month temporary visa

UK seasonal worker scheme puts power in private sector recruiter hands

6th Nov 2023: UK government complicit in exploitation of farm workers in its seasonal worker scheme – Bureau of Investigative Journalism

Migrant labor: the backbone of the agricultural industry

Seasonal worker scheme to plug massive labor shortages

Paying for the right to work – Exploitation of Farm Workers

6th Nov 2023: TBIJ – New Report Urges Stronger Protections for UK’s Seasonal Workers

Additional Reading:

26th Oct 2023: Watchdog criticizes Home Office for dropping farm worker visa review

Government confirms it will NOT publish a review into farm worker visa review despite calls from stakeholders (responses and additional materials)

UK Home Office Criticised for Decsion on Migrant Agriculture Worker Review