Indonesian working holiday-makers say they were misled after being taken to remote farm site in NT
အကျဉ်းချုပ်
Date Reported: 20 Nov 2024
Location: Australia
Companies
Meta (formerly Facebook) - Other Value Chain EntityOther
Not Reported ( Agriculture & livestock ) - Employer , Not Reported ( Recruitment agencies ) - RecruiterAffected
Total individuals affected: Number unknown
Migrant & immigrant workers: ( Number unknown - Indonesia , Agriculture & livestock , Men , Documented migrants ) , Migrant & immigrant workers: ( Number unknown - Indonesia , Agriculture & livestock , Women , Documented migrants )Issues
Internet Access , Freedom of Expression , Contract Substitution , Wage Theft , Intimidation , Precarious/Unsuitable Living Conditions , Access to Water , Access to Non-Judicial RemedyResponse
Response sought: Yes, by Journalist
Story containing response: (Find out more)
Action taken: The workers managed to leave the farm after walking away until their phones found reception. ABC attempted to contact both the employment agent and the owner of the farm, but did not receive a response from either. The Business & Human Rights Resource Centre invited Meta to respond to the article; Meta responded to the Resource Centre.
Source type: News outlet
Dimas and Bella had plans to earn some money and travel Australia when they arrived for their working holiday.
They left behind jobs in Indonesia's banking industry and flew to Darwin, with work lined up picking and packing cucumbers at a farm.
But from the moment they were collected at the airport, Bella said something felt off.
As they drove for hours to the property where they would be working, they found themselves virtually cut off from the outside world.
"It was night-time, we couldn't buy internet, we couldn't buy a [SIM] card, lots of different things we couldn't do, we could only hotspot off the person who came to pick us up," Dimas told the ABC…
After being inspired by these influencers, Dimas and Bella saw an ad on Facebook asking for people to pick grapes and decided to contact the employment agent.
The agent told them they would be doing relatively easy work, with decent pay and accommodation.
However, they said almost none of it turned out to be true…
The ABC attempted to contact both the employment agent and the owner of the farm, but did not receive a response from either…