In the United Kingdom, Brexit makes foreign workers more precarious
A research report carried out by a coalition of academics and NGOs fighting against modern slavery denounces the visa rules put in place since the United Kingdom left the European Union. The agricultural and personal care sectors are already known to be particularly at risk of employee exploitation.
Migrant workers from Romania harvest Narcissus on a farm in Holbeach, United Kingdom, March 15, 2022. © OLI SCARFF / AFP
By: RFI Follow
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With our correspondent in London,
Emeline Vin
Since
Brexit
, a combination of factors has made foreign workers even more precarious in the agricultural and personal assistance sectors. First of all, according to the report, the new visas put in place link the person who has emigrated to their employer. So, if she leaves her position, she risks losing her visa and having to return to her country of origin.
This legislation discourages employees from denouncing their working conditions even though they are often very harsh. We are talking about days that can reach 12 hours, without compensation and with very low wages. The report also highlights that state inspection agencies are underfunded and lack sufficient oversight.
Trapped by recruitment agencies
Another major factor of precariousness: misinformation and lack of knowledge of rights. Researchers denounce the practices of foreign worker recruitment agencies – which promise misleading conditions and charge
illegal and very high “
recruitment fees
”. They thus trap migrant workers by putting them into heavy debt.
Researchers and anti-modern slavery NGOs recommend reforms to the visa system, to give workers the freedom to change employers and more regulation of intermediary actors.
Read alsoMigrations: ever more numerous clandestine crossings of the Channel
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