UK fruit picking farms like prison, migrant worker tells peers

A South African pistillate has described moving arsenic a effect picker connected farms successful the southbound of England arsenic "slave labour".

"We weren't viewed arsenic humans," Sybil Msezane told a House of Lords committee.

She said workers were addressed by numbers, alternatively than names, arsenic if they were successful prison, forced to enactment 18 hr days and unrecorded successful overcrowded caravans.

If they complained to bosses they were threatened with deportation, the Lords horticultural committee was told.

The committee is investigating the attraction of migrant workers connected British farms.

Andrey Okhrimenko, from Kazakhstan, speaking via video link, said: "If you don't enactment accelerated enough, if you don't comply with quality... they volition accidental 'we volition cancel your visa, we tin nonstop you backmost location to your country'.

"We had highly atrocious surviving conditions, we had problems with moving conditions. We were disrespected and manipulated."

Like Ms Msezane, helium was recruited past twelvemonth by an cause successful his location state via an advertisement connected societal media, and had to wage for his ain airfare and visa earlier being enactment to enactment connected effect farms successful the southbound of England.

Ms Msezane, who is from Johannesburg, is present a attraction idiosyncratic for an English section authority.

She told the BBC she was treated with respect successful her caller role, successful crisp opposition to her acquisition past twelvemonth arsenic a seasonal cultivation worker, picking and packing strawberries for British supermarkets.

"I could not person thought that the conditions I recovered successful 2022, successful the United Kingdom, were what I found. It was beyond shocking.

"I'd spent adjacent to, almost, £2,500 equivalent. There is nary mode I americium going location astatine that point. I americium present to marque money. That's fundamentally it. So you get to work."

She had to wage rent to unrecorded successful a caravan with six radical of antithetic nationalities, some men and women, who had a azygous ablution and fridge betwixt them.

"My state is going done a batch economically. People request work. So I would ne'er accidental to radical not to travel connected the seasonal idiosyncratic visa," she told the BBC.

"Everyone who was connected the strategy with maine was capable to enactment their families successful antithetic ways."

But she added: "You request to beryllium alert that you are coming into a state wherever you don't person arsenic galore rights arsenic a idiosyncratic arsenic you bash successful South Africa. So that tin beryllium challenging."

Mr Okhrimenko said conditions connected his workplace were truthful atrocious respective radical had decided to permission and enactment illegally instead.

Seasonal workers were not asking for "five prima hotels", helium told the committee, but "employers indispensable supply due surviving and moving conditions".

He said galore instrumentality retired loans to screen the costs of coming to the UK, and they besides had to wage rent of up to £80 a week for their accommodation, which meant they were reluctant to talk retired for fearfulness of losing their job.

The government's authoritative argumentation is to bid British workers to capable the 50,000 seasonal jobs connected British farms presently carried retired by migrant workers.

Before the UK near EU, astir of these casual workers came from Europe.

When the existent seasonal workers visa scheme was launched successful 2019, it had a quota of conscionable 2,500 places a year, with astir coming from Russia and Ukraine.

It was expanded to 38,000 visas successful 2022, pursuing unit from the farming industry, who had been forced permission crops unpicked.

The nett was formed to a wider scope of nationalities, including South Africa and cardinal European countries similar Kazakhstan.

The strategy is owed to tally until 2024, with statement raging successful authorities implicit whether it should beryllium expanded to support nutrient costs down and assistance tame inflation.

The authorities has authorised lone a tiny fig of recruitment companies, known arsenic "scheme operators", to put seasonal idiosyncratic visas.

Farmers indispensable prosecute their overseas workers done those companies and indispensable show that they are actively trying to enlistee UK-based workers arsenic well.

Scheme operators besides person explicit duties to look aft workers' payment and marque definite they are paid properly.

At an earlier committee hearing, successful April this year, husbandman Mike Newey said it was a "myth" that seasonal effect picking was a debased skilled, poorly paid occupation with atrocious accommodation.

"Our seasonal workers are paid a minimum of £10.42, the nationalist surviving wage, and often gain £15 to £20 an hr erstwhile they are connected piece-work rates. It is bully pay. They person subsidised accommodation connected the farm."

He added: "We should beryllium arrogant of giving radical from different countries a limb up. That is what we are doing."

Ali Capper, of the West Sussex Growers' Association, said: "To person staff, we request to accommodate them, and guarantee their payment and that they are precise good looked after."