The Home Office has been accused of ignoring migrant worker abuses on farms, including allegations of threats, wage theft, racism and appalling conditions for seasonal workers.
A Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) report has unveiled shocking levels of mistreatment across UK farms that point to modern slavery and labour exploitation.
There is also evidence that the Home Office knew about the allegations, failed to act on them and then attempted to stop that information from being made public.
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 per cent) of the 845 workers interviewed as part of the inspections raised welfare issues including racism, wage theft and threats of being sent back home.
On most of the inspected farms, there were allegations of mistreatment or discrimination and more than 80 per cent of workers interviewed on the three most complained about farms raised an issue of some sort.
One Ukrainian woman told inspectors she was confined to her caravan without access to medical assistance or food for 11 days when she caught Covid-19.
She said she was “starving” and was not provided with any support by her scheme operator, one of the small number of recruitment companies authorised by the government to arrange seasonal worker visas.
Another person reported that a colleague was denied dental care, leading to them pulling out their own tooth.
A Moldovan worker cited in the same report began to cry when she explained she got only one 15-minute break and was prevented from taking another one, even to go to the toilet, drink water or eat, until she had hit her targets.
“All that is missing is a whip to beat people,” she said.
Read the report in full here.
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