"Indonesia to investigate claims fruit pickers charged thousands to work in Kent" 29 August 2022

A presidential taskforce in Indonesia is investigating the recruitment of fruit pickers who say they took on debts of up to £5,000 to secure jobs in Kent.

The Guardian revealed that Indonesian labourers harvesting berries on a farm that supplies Marks & Spencer, Waitrose, Sainsbury’s and Tesco had reported facing thousands of pounds in charges to unlicensed brokers in Bali to get work for a single season in the UK. [...]

Migrant rights experts said the potential to be trapped in debt bondage put workers at risk of essentially forced labour.

Hundreds of Indonesian farm workers were recruited to work in farms across Britain this summer on seasonal worker visas, the immigration route created to tackle a shortage of farm workers after Brexit. [...]

A UK investigation by the GLAA into the recruitment process is ongoing. The supermarkets have offered support and are pushing to make sure any remediation owed to workers is paid.

Many of the Indonesian workers brought to the UK this summer ended up at Clock House farm near Maidstone in Kent, which supplies soft fruit to most major supermarkets.

Clock House said it remained “deeply concerned” about the allegations and that it had innocently relied on a licensed recruitment agent in good faith.

The workers were supplied by AG Recruitment, one of four UK agencies licensed to recruit using seasonal worker visas. AG denied any wrongdoing and said it knew nothing about Indonesian brokers charging money.

AG had been intending to recruit from Ukraine before war broke out and had no previous experience in Indonesia. It sought help from Jakarta-based Al Zubara Manpower, which in turn went to brokers on other islands who charged exorbitant fees to the people they introduced, according to one Al Zubara agent.

The managing director of AG Recruitment, Douglas Amesz, thanked the Guardian for “shining a spotlight on the vulnerabilities of these workers and exposing the malpractice that took place in Indonesia”. [...]

He said AG was conducting its own investigation “by contacting our Indonesian workers directly and collaborating with our client growers to interview workers. Their welfare is our primary concern” [...]

A spokesperson for Clock House, one of several UK farms to which AG provided Indonesian workers, said: “It would seem to be helpful for the [British] government and AG in particular to explain how these issues can occur if they have carried out adequate due diligence and there is a thorough process in place?”

They said the farm, which would not take more workers from Indonesia, “should be able to rely on the government and the four approved suppliers but it seems clear it is not able to and nor is it permitted to use any other source. [It] has therefore set up its own process to both try and prevent recurrence and help those that may be affected.” [...]

Andy Hall, an independent migrant rights specialist who investigates issues of forced labour in supply chains in Asia, said the farms, supermarkets, recruiters and law enforcement in both countries needed to make a concerted effort to address the allegations. [...]

Andrew Opie, the director of food and sustainability at the BRC, said the supermarkets were “ready to support any investigations and remain committed to upholding high standards of welfare for all people who work in their supply chains”. He added: “We are liaising with government, the permit operators, and farmers, to ensure the Seasonal Workers Scheme continues to protect labour rights as it recruits workers from further afield.”