Migrant fruit picker ‘may have been modern slavery victim under Home Office scheme’

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A fruit picker from Bolivia might have been subjected to modern slavery under a authorities scheme, The Independent can reveal.

Julia Quecano Casimiro was recruited in Chile in 2023 alongside different staff to change into a seasonal employee at Haygrove farm in Herefordshire. She got here to the UK on a seasonal employee visa, designed to permit folks to work selecting fruit, greens or flowers for as much as six months.

In a preliminary ruling, the Home Office has now determined there are affordable grounds to conclude that Ms Casimiro might have been a victim of modern slavery. Her case will now be investigated additional by the federal government earlier than a closing determination is made.

The Independent has beforehand reported on claims of modern slavery at farms throughout the UK, which have been investigated by the Home Office.

Ms Casimiro, 23, was a part of a bunch of 88 Latin American seasonal fruit pickers who staged the UK’s first ever strike by staff on seasonal visas final July. They claimed that they confronted harassment and poor working situations, similar to lack of ingesting water.

Haygrove, which has fruit-growing farms within the UK, South Africa and Portugal, has denied all of the allegations.

Ms Casimiro has additionally introduced authorized proceedings in opposition to the farm at an employment tribunal, claiming harassment and race discrimination with the assistance of union UVW. Haygrove refute any allegations of bullying or discrimination, saying that they take care to make sure equity.

She additionally claims that the farm didn’t present the right security put on, or present sufficient ingesting water or bogs on website. Haygrove stated that bogs are saved clear, staff leaders present water in all selecting fields, and well being and security is taken extraordinarily significantly.

Ms Casimiro, who arrived within the UK in July 2023 from Chile, stated the farm had requested her to repay the price of her flights.

She stated: “The email came in about repaying the flights and I said ‘no, this can’t be’, I spoke with several of my friends and we all agreed, this cannot be and all the workers held an urgent meeting”. Haygrove say that staff know from the outset that the corporate loans them the cash for his or her airplane tickets.

Speaking concerning the dwelling situations, she stated: “The beds were so narrow and the rooms so small that the beds were joined together so it was almost like sharing beds. It was a very, very cramped place. The sofas were dirty and the fridge burnt down and our food rotted.” Haygrove stated that the lodging complies with trade requirements and had been audited by the Home Office and the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority.

A recruiter in Chile had promised Ms Casimiro she would earn as much as £500 per week selecting fruit at some stage in the five-month seasonal employee visa issued to her by the UK authorities.

But she was given no shifts or pay throughout her first week in late June. The subsequent week, she made lower than £150.

“As soon as I started, I saw that it was exploitation,” she stated. “It was modern slavery.”

Haygrove stated that, whereas staff have been advised about typical earnings at recruitment occasions, these weren’t promised or contracted this quantity of labor. They defined that through the first week of Ms Casimiro’s time on the farm dangerous climate meant there was no work accessible. They stated that the “vast majority of the cherry pickers who did remain with us were able to work the typical hours through August, September and October and make commensurate pay” as soon as the climate was higher.

For Ms Casimiro and a few of her colleagues the tipping level got here once they have been advised to repay the farm £1,500 for the flights that had introduced them to the UK – despite the fact that receipts present a number of the tickets price rather a lot much less.

Workers have been advised they’d have to repay £250 each week for six weeks on high of lodging deductions. In Ms Casimiro’s case, she stated that will imply being left with solely £16 on the weeks when she was given the hours assured by the farm.

Haygrove stated staff have been advised on the outset that airplane tickets could be paid by the technique of a mortgage. When made conscious of the distinction between the mortgage quantity and the true price of the airplane tickets, Haygrove stated they solely charged staff for the precise worth of the tickets.

They stated that Ms Casimiro had a paid-for flight dwelling accessible however didn’t take it and the farm is not going to search to reclaim any flight prices from her.

They stated that almost all of staff returned to work after receiving reassurances from Haygrove that weekly earnings would quickly improve as a result of higher climate situations.

“There’s no way I would have come to the UK if I’d known what was going to happen,” Ms Casimiro advised the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ).

Haygrove staff would depart their caravans simply after 4am earlier than a coach experience of as much as two hours to fields on the border with Wales. None of that point was paid, nor was the journey again. Haygrove stated that on-site lodging was accessible for staff who wished to keep away from the day by day journey.

Johanna White, solicitor at ATLEU, the agency representing Ms Casimiro, stated:“We have received many reports of seasonal workers being subjected to mistreatment including underpayment of wages, no sick leave, and debt bondage where workers have had to pay high upfront travel, visa and recruitment fees in their home countries.

“Julia’s case demonstrates that the current scheme creates a serious risk of labour exploitation, trafficking and modern slavery by placing considerable power in the hands of profit-seeking recruitment companies.”

The UN’s particular rapporteur on modern slavery just lately stated that the UK could possibly be ‘breaching international law’ with the seasonal visa scheme and the Home Office has been discovered to be failing to analyze “clear indicators of forced labour”.

A conclusive determination on Ms Casimiro’s case is anticipated subsequent month.

A Haygrove spokesperson stated: “The National Referral Mechanism has not determined that Ms Casimiro was a victim of modern slavery or human trafficking.

“Our understanding is that the NRM’s role is to evaluate whether to provide support to Ms Casimiro, but it is not their responsibility to investigate a potential case. We have evidence to demonstrate that Ms Casimiro was not a victim.”

A authorities spokesperson stated: “The welfare of visa holders is of paramount importance, including in the seasonal workers scheme, and we are clamping down on poor working conditions and exploitation.

“The seasonal workers route has been running for four years and each year improvements have been made to stop exploitation and clamp down on poor working conditions while people are in the UK. We will always take decisive action where we believe abusive practices are taking place or the conditions of the route are not met.”