Over half of migrants in the UK who are at risk of labour abuse work in food supply chains, according to a new report by the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre.

Data showed 56% of recorded abuse against migrant workers in Britain occurred in agriculture, fishing, processing and packaging, as well as on the grocery shop floor – including incidents of racism, wage theft and threats of unfair dismissal.

Failures in the UK’s visa system supplying workers to different sectors of the food industry had also led to “egregious human rights violations” against migrant labourers, the BHRRC said.

The government’s post-Brexit Seasonal Worker scheme has come under scrutiny this year for multiple reported cases of illegal recruiting practices as well as debt bondage once migrants arrive in the UK to work.

Some of the recruitment agencies on the scheme have since been struck over links to modern slavery practices…

Exploitation was most commonly reported on agriculture and livestock farms (27 cases), with the supply chains of most British grocers – including Tesco (eight cases), Lidl (four), Morrisons (three), Sainsbury’s (three), and the Co-op (three) – all linked to alleged abuse claims…