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Nepali, Indonesian farm workers in UK trapped by ‘systemic’ recruitment debt bondage
- After contracts with Nepali, Indonesian workers were dropped this year, UK scheme operators recruited from other Asian countries like Bangladesh
- Rights groups say the issue will move ‘from one country to another’ as long as the UK does not resolve the problem ‘on a systemic level’
Reading Time:4 minutes
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When Raj heard British farmers were hiring seasonal workers from Nepal last year, he jumped at the chance to earn what he thought would be a sizeable income for his family.
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Having already worked in Malaysia and Saudi Arabia, the father-of-two figured he could make enough in six months of farm work in Britain so as not to have to get a job abroad again.
After all, he had read on social media he could earn as much as £3,000 (US$3,870) a month.
“There are not enough jobs back home in Nepal so this job was the biggest opportunity for me to take care of my family,” said Raj, who used a pseudonym as he had overstayed his UK visa.
The 36-year-old said he took out a loan of 260,000 Nepali rupees (US$1,980) for his visa and flights, thinking he would easily pay it off.
03:26
Indonesian migrant workers fall prey to false ‘spiritual leader’ scams
Indonesian migrant workers fall prey to false ‘spiritual leader’ scams
Yet within four months, Raj and his colleagues were told there was no more work on the apple farm where they worked.
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