Indonesian fruit picker landed in debt bondage challenges Home Office
摘要
日期: 2024年2月26日
地點: 英國
其他
Not Reported ( 職業介紹所 ) - Recruiter , Not Reported ( 農業和畜牧 ) - Employer受影響的
受影響的總人數: 1
移民和移民工人: ( 1 - 印尼 , 農業和畜牧 , Men , Documented migrants )議題
訊息獲取 , 招聘費用 , Irregular Work , Debt Bondage , Excessive production targets回應
Response sought: 否
後續行動: A charity in support of the worker is alleging this is a case of the breach of right to be protected from labour exploitation. ATLEU is bringing the case against the Home Office & Defra. The civil claim for damages says he was effectively trapped in the UK in debt bondage.
資訊來源: News outlet
摘要
日期: 2024年1月26日
地點: 英國
其他
Not Reported ( 農業和畜牧 ) - Employer受影響的
受影響的總人數: 1
移民和移民工人: ( 數字未知 - 印尼 , 農業和畜牧 , Men , Documented migrants )議題
Irregular Work , Poverty Wages , Occupational Health & Safety回應
Response sought: 否
後續行動: The worker is bringing a case against the UK Govt. (Home Office).
資訊來源: News outlet
摘要
日期: 2024年1月26日
地點: 英國
企業
Meta (formerly Facebook) - Other Value Chain Entity其他
Not Reported ( 餐館和酒吧 ) - Employer受影響的
受影響的總人數: 1
移民和移民工人: ( 數字未知 - 印尼 , 餐館和酒吧 , Men , Undocumented migrants )議題
Reasonable Working Hours & Leisure Time , Precarious/Unsuitable Living Conditions , 扣留身份證件回應
Response sought: 否
後續行動: He has partnered with the Anti-Trafficking and Labour Exploitation Unit to bring a test case against the UK Home Office, claiming damages for his debt bondage. He hopes the case will shed light on the issues faced by those wishing to work in Britain.
資訊來源: News outlet
Ismael’s experience [as an Indonesian fruit picker in the UK] is forming the basis of a test case against the government’s seasonal worker scheme, which argues that the scheme’s design breached his right to be protected from modern slavery and labour exploitation.
The case, brought by the Anti Trafficking and Labour Exploitation Unit (ATLEU) against the Home Office and Defra, is a civil claim for damages which will say he ended up effectively stuck in the UK in debt bondage.
...The unit is looking for a declaration that the scheme breached the teenager’s human right...
Ismael...said he spent two days sleeping rough at York station before finding an underground recruiter on Facebook. He was lent the train fare to Newcastle to take up a job in a Chinese takeaway using his passport as collateral.
Ismael said he was paid £300 a week, working more than 14 hours a day as a chef’s assistant. “There was an empty storage room that just had bins with rubbish and they asked me to live there,” he said. “It was cold, I had no heater or anything.”.
He is one of more than 34,000 people who were given a seasonal worker visa in 2022. The scheme was expanded rapidly after a pilot in 2019, despite concerns that it left people vulnerable to exploitation.
More than 200 Indonesian fruit pickers who went to the UK in 2022 asked for diplomatic help after facing difficulties. Many arrived late in the season and found there was not enough work on farms to repay their substantial debts.
His initial application to be recognised as a victim of trafficking has been turned down, despite no dispute over its facts.
A government spokesperson said...
“We have established a new team within the Home Office compliance network which focuses on ensuring sponsors are abiding by workers’ rights, and will always take decisive action where we believe abusive practices are taking place or the conditions of the route are not met.”