This piece is part of the Exploits series, from Wicked Leeks and Live Frankly, aiming to highlight the systemic poor conditions faced by people working in food and fashion. Find out more here.
The Home Office failed to investigate hundreds of allegations by agricultural workers, and then tried to stop the allegations from being made public, an investigation by the The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) has found.
Following a five-month freedom of information battle, TBIJ was given access to 19 farm inspection reports produced by the Home Office between 2021 and 2022.
Nearly half (44%) of the 845 workers interviewed as part of the inspections raised welfare issues including wage theft, racism and public humiliation.
On most of the inspected farms, there were allegations of mistreatment or discrimination. More than 80% of workers interviewed on the three most complained about farms raised an issue of some sort.
But none of the allegations raised during these inspections were investigated by the Home Office.
Failing to investigate the abuses highlighted in the reports could mean the government has breached its obligations to prevent forced labour under the European Convention on Human Rights, according to Jamila Duncan-Bosu, a solicitor with the Anti-Trafficking and Labour Exploitation Unit, a charity bringing claims on behalf of modern slavery victims.
“Essentially, it is state-sponsored exploitation,” she says.
These allegations are findings of inspectors who visited farms employing people who came to the UK on the seasonal worker visa. The revelations suggest that people who travelled thousands of miles to fill gaps in the UK’s agricultural workforce faced far greater levels of exploitation than previously thought.
In response to TBIJ’s findings the Home Office said that “each year improvements have been made to stop exploitation and clamp down on poor working conditions”.
However, in a recent article penned for Wicked Leeks, journalist for TBIJ Emiliano Mellino explained:
“Since before its launch in 2019, human rights organisations have warned that the way the visa was designed was a perfect recipe for exploitation. The visa limits workers to a maximum six-month placement in the UK horticulture sector. They are also tied to their recruiters, who have the power to decide if and where they can get jobs. Furthermore, workers have to pay for their own flights and visas, meaning many arrive in the UK with huge debts they need to pay off.”
Read the full article on Live Frankly
The findings of this report are deeply concerning, as they highlight significant failures in the system designed to protect agricultural workers in the UK. The lack of investigation into the reported cases of abuse and exploitation, particularly involving vulnerable seasonal workers, points to a serious gap in ensuring the welfare and rights of those who contribute so much to the UK’s food production.
These workers often face wage theft, racism, and public humiliation, as noted in the inspection reports. It’s particularly troubling that these issues have persisted despite clear warnings from human rights organizations since the inception of the seasonal worker visa scheme. The visa’s design, which ties workers to specific recruiters and leaves them with significant debts, creates conditions ripe for exploitation.
Addressing these systemic issues should be a priority to protect the dignity and rights of all workers. As we focus on building more ethical business practices and social justice, it’s crucial for governments and businesses alike to take responsibility for ensuring that labor laws are not just in place but actively enforced.
In another context, protecting rights and ensuring proper standards apply not only to the agricultural sector but also to how we run all businesses, from large industries to local services. For instance, ensuring customer satisfaction and quality services in industries like window tints Manchester https://www.swtints.co.uk/ means maintaining high standards across the board. Just as we expect ethical treatment of workers, we also expect ethical service and quality in all sectors.