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記事

2024年10月29日

著者:
Aisyah Llewellyn, South China Morning Post

UK: Indonesian farmworker on Seasonal Worker Scheme brings modern slavery case against Home Office

"He left Indonesia seeking a better life in the UK. All he found was debt and despair,"

On a brisk morning in July 2022, 18-year-old “Budi” stepped onto British soil for the first time, leaving behind the bustling streets of Jakarta for the promise of a lucrative job picking fruit under the United Kingdom’s seasonal workers scheme...

Now 20, Budi is bringing a case against the UK Home Office, alleging that he is a victim of modern-day slavery after his experience with the seasonal worker scheme devolved into a harrowing ordeal...

However, the promised two-year visa did not exist. Instead, the UK only offered short six-month visas, and prospective workers were required to pay all their fees upfront, including costs for flights, medical checks, passport fees and visa applications.

Budi spent more than US$5,400 on getting to Britain – including around US$3,200 borrowed from loan sharks.

Upon arrival, he was immediately dispatched to a farm near Birmingham to pick strawberries, a job he had never done before.

“It was pretty difficult because of the targets. We had to pick seven large trays of strawberries every hour, but it was too much and I could never do it quickly enough,” he recalled.

After a month, Budi was moved to another farm that was already filled with seasonal workers from Nepal, Romania, Poland, Lithuania and Ukraine.

“By the time I got to the new farm there was not much of the harvest season left and most of the fruit had already been picked. In the end, the farm recommended that I move to yet another farm to pick apples,” he said.

The apple farm presented the biggest challenge, as a sudden cold snap forced him to work in freezing temperatures without a jacket or any cold-weather clothing. None of the farms provided adequate gear, and he could not afford to buy any, he said...

The farm offered to send Budi back to Indonesia, stating that the harvest season had ended. But he had only earned about US$1,200 during his time in the UK, a sum that would not cover the loans he had taken out back home...

Fearing the repercussions of returning to Indonesia without being able to repay his debts, Budi decided to challenge the Home Office, describing himself as a victim of human trafficking and modern slavery...