Because of the visa and their working conditions, hundreds of Indonesian workers in British farms are seeking help from their country's embassy

London -

Hundreds of workers in strawberry fields in Britain suffer from difficult working conditions, which made large numbers of them resort to their country's embassy in London to complain about the difficulty of the work system, and how debt burdens them in order to obtain a seasonal work visa to reach Britain.

The British newspaper "The Guardian" said that it had obtained information that there were 200 Indonesian workers working in harvesting strawberries, who had sought refuge in their country's embassy after suffering from work during this season.

The British newspaper spoke with a number of workers from Indonesia working on strawberry farms in Scotland and supplying major British stores, as they said that they are being punished and sent to mobile homes only because they cannot work quickly to achieve the goals, which means that they will not be able to earn enough money. To pay off the debts they borrowed to cover the costs of the visa.

Lots of complaints

After the British newspaper contacted the Indonesian embassy in London, it became clear that the number of people affected by the work system in the strawberry fields is more than 200. The embassy said that there are others who are afraid to inform the embassy for fear of losing the opportunity to return to work in Britain.

The most common problem among workers on these farms remains the absence of sufficient job opportunities, especially those who arrive after the start of the harvest season, and some workers say that they do not start work until the season is nearing its end, which gives them few opportunities to earn money and pay off debts. .

The problem lies in the fact that these workers arrive in Britain on a work visa for a period of 6 months, but it does not specify the farm in which they will work exactly and there are no guarantees that they will work, which makes them in competition with other workers, and survival of the strongest and fastest to work, and some workers They say they pay around $5,000 to middlemen to obtain these visas.

Although the intermediary agencies denied obtaining commissions from the workers, an investigation by the Guardian newspaper revealed that at least one institution out of 3 travel agencies that has exclusive rights to transport workers from Indonesia to Britain obtains commissions from the workers.

And the Guardian reported on the authority of one of the workers who work on farms in the "Aberdeen Shire" region that he was excluded more than once because he worked at a rhythm less than the specified rhythm of the harvest, which made him burdened with debts that he could not pay, and the worker himself said that he had borrowed $ 5,000. In order to grant it to a local intermediary to obtain an entry visa to Britain.

But the same worker said he only gets a few hours of work, and gets about $250 a week, which means he can't cover his expenses nor the money he borrowed to give to the broker to get the visa.

And the worker himself continues to recount his suffering that he was expelled from the farm in the Aberdeenshire region, to move to another in Kent, where working hours were also few, and he still owes a debt of two thousand dollars and without any job, and this is because he is unable to work quickly enough.

investigation and clarification

Immediately after the Guardian obtained this information, the British Consortium said that it was "concerned about these complaints and is investigating the matter urgently", because it is this group that gets the strawberries that are harvested by these workers.

On the other hand, responsible sources from the Indonesian embassy said that there are other problems that a small number of workers complain about, related to living conditions and housing in mobile homes (caravans) that suffer from its coldness, but the biggest problem is that they do not find any work in the farms.

This is not the first time that the issue of workers in strawberry farms has been raised, as the seasonal worker visa has always been a source of concern for major shops, which fear that the method of granting and obtaining it does not comply with the pledges of these stores to prevent human rights violations and exploitation of workers.

Last month, supermarkets in the UK held a rush roundtable with growers and others involved in the strawberry supply chain to look for ways to prevent worker exploitation, and supermarket owners expressed their concern that vulnerable immigrants could be exploited because of this visa.