Migrant fruit pickers coming to the UK to work on farms are being saddled with debts of up to £5,500 before they arrive, a report into the seasonal worker visa scheme has found.

The workers, many of whom come from central Asian countries, are paying £1,231 on average to middlemen who help them get jobs through the government’s seasonal worker scheme...

... One 32-year-old woman from Kazakhstan, named in the report as Amina, told academics: “A lot of people in Kazakhstan have sold their belongings or their assets just to have enough money to come here. Hoping that it would be better here and they can earn more money.

“Can you imagine? Sold everything they owned. There are some people who leave their jobs to come here, because they are told that it would be better here. They see it on TikTok, Telegram or Instagram videos and everything looks perfect and beautiful. But once they arrive here, it’s completely different. It is just an image, a deception.”...

Oksana, a 49-year-old woman from Ukraine, said: “I would appreciate if we were told the truth before coming here. Otherwise, people will stop coming here for work. Usually people arrive, work for a bit and then [try] to leave to a different farm.”

Several workers said they had paid a job-finding fee or were charged by an agency to access application systems that are free to use...