Ukrainian workers flee ‘modern slavery’ conditions on UK farms
-Charity calls for people who arrived on seasonal work visas and are now undocumented to be offered protection

乌克兰工人逃离英国农场的“现代奴役”工作条件
——慈善机构呼吁为持季节性工作签证并且现在没有合法身份的工人提供保护


(Fruit pickers working in a field. One Ukrainian woman who fled a farm job said she felt ‘like I am a hostage in the UK’.)

(采果工人在田间工作。一名逃离农场工作的乌克兰女性说,她感觉“我在英国就像一个人质”。)
新闻:

Hundreds of Ukrainians are believed to be living and working informally in Britain after escaping from farms they were working at, with many claiming to have been subjected to conditions of modern slavery.

据信,数百名乌克兰人从他们工作的农场逃离后,在英国非正式地生活和工作,其中许多人声称曾遭受现代奴隶制的折磨。

Ukrainians made up by far the largest proportion of workers in the UK on seasonal worker visas in 2021. Of the 29,631 visas issued under the T5 seasonal work scheme, two-thirds (19,920) were given to Ukrainians. The Scottish Refugee Council estimates there are up to 6,000 Ukrainians in the UK.

2021年,持季节性工作签证的英国工人中,乌克兰人所占比例遥遥领先。根据T5季节性工作计划签发的29631份签证中,三分之二(19920份)发给了乌克兰人。苏格兰难民委员会估计在英国有多达6000名乌克兰人。

The farm workers are not eligible for the two main government schemes that support Ukrainian refugees – the family scheme and the community sponsorship scheme.

农场工人没有资格参加政府支持乌克兰难民的两个主要计划——家庭计划和社区赞助计划。

From 3 May, the Ukraine extension scheme will be open for applications. This will allow people to stay for three years and switch to a different visa route, allowing them to seek alternative employment. However, it does not apply to those not working on farms at the time applications are made whose visas expired on or before 31 December 2021.

从5月3日起,乌克兰延期计划将开放申请。这将允许人们在英国停留3年,并切换到不同的签证路线,允许他们寻找其他工作。但是,签证在2021年12月31日或之前到期,且申请时不在农场工作的人不适用该计划。

Those whose visas expired on or after 1 January 2022 can apply for the new extension scheme even if they have left the farm.

那些签证在2022年1月1日或之后到期的人,即使他们已经离开了农场,也可以申请新的延期计划。

The Guardian has spoken to one Ukrainian worker who is in a state of acute distress about her situation after fleeing conditions on farms that she said were “akin to modern-day slavery”. She is an IT expert with two university degrees and came to the UK with her partner, who has almost finished his training to become a doctor, in the hope of earning money.

《卫报》采访了一名乌克兰工人,她在逃离农场后对自己的处境感到极度痛苦,她说农场的条件“类似于现代奴隶制”。她是一名拥有两个大学学位的IT专家,和即将完成医生培训的伴侣一起来到英国,希望着能赚到钱。

She has provided an account almost 3,000 words long to the Work Rights Centre, a charity that helps migrants to access employment justice. It details appalling working conditions on the farms she and her partner worked on from August 2021 until they escaped in October 2021.

她向工作权利中心(一个帮助移民获得就业公正的慈善机构)提供了近3000字的描述。书中详细描述了她和她的伴侣从2021年8月到2021年10月逃离期间在农场工作的可怕工作条件。

She and her partner are now doing cleaning and construction work jobs respectively in the underground economy.

她和她的伴侣现在分别在非正当市场中从事清洁和建筑工作。

“We have come across many, many other Ukrainians who, like us, have run away from farms, cannot return to Ukraine and so have been forced to work here illegally,” she said. “I feel like I am a hostage in the UK. My parents have told me I must not go back to Ukraine under any circumstances because our city is being shelled. I feel trapped.”

她说:“我们遇到了很多很多乌克兰人,他们和我们一样,逃离了农场,又不能回到乌克兰,所以被迫在这里非法工作。在英国,我感觉自己像个人质。我的父母告诉我,在任何情况下都不能回乌克兰,因为我们的城市正在遭受炮击。我感觉我被困住了。”

She added: “Nobody cares what happens to seasonal workers. I thought our rights would be well protected in the UK but this has not happened. Working on the farm is probably one of the worst experiences and worst treatment of my life.”

她补充说:“没人关心季节工的情况。我以为我们的权利在英国会得到很好的保护,但这并没有发生。在农场工作可能是我一生中最糟糕的经历和最糟糕的待遇之一。”

She and her boyfriend worked on a cherry farm, where they were not allowed to wear gloves, leading to their hands bleeding and skin beginning to peel off.

她和她的男朋友在一个樱桃农场工作,在那里他们不允许戴手套,导致他们的手流血,皮肤开始脱落。

She said workers on one farm staged a protest over the poor conditions and were punished by being suspended for a week.

她说,一个农场的工人对恶劣的条件举行了抗议,结果被罚停职一周。

“They set unachievable targets,” she said. “Through threats and humiliation, people were forced to work tirelessly wearing off the skin on their hands and feet until it bleeds. If a person fell off a stepladder they were sent to the campsite to recover on their own or flew home.”

“他们设定了无法实现的工作目标,”她说。“通过威胁和羞辱,人们被迫不知疲倦地工作,把手脚上的皮磨掉,直到流血。如果有人从梯子上摔了下来,他们会被送到营地自己恢复,要么就回国。”

On the huge farm workers’ campsite she and her partner were living on, all but 38 workers fled. She said: “People left to work illegally in the cities in order to solve their financial problems and protect their wellbeing. I will never go to work on any of the farms again – there are no happy stories. Everyone runs away.”

在她和她的伴侣居住的大型农场工人营地,除了38名工人外,所有人都逃走了。她说:“人们为了解决他们的经济问题和保障他们的福利,离开城市非法工作。我再也不会去任何一个农场工作了——那里没有快乐的故事。每个人都跑了。”

A review by the Home Office and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) published at the end of last year found that seasonal workers on a post-Brexit pilot scheme launched in 2019 to harvest fruit and vegetables were subjected to “unacceptable” welfare conditions. Issues cited by some workers included a lack of health and safety equipment, racism, and accommodation without bathrooms, running water or kitchens.

英国内政部和环境、食品和农村事务部去年底发布的一份审查报告发现,在2019年英国脱欧后启动的水果和蔬菜收割试点计划中,季节工遭到了“不可接受的”福利条件。一些工人提到的问题包括缺乏卫生和安全设备、种族主义以及没有浴室、自来水或厨房的住宿。
原创翻译:龙腾网 http://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处


Graham O’Neill, the policy manager at the Scottish Refugee Council, said: “It is dreadful that hundreds of Ukrainians here, worried sick about family, friends and war crimes at home, now find themselves destitute, their seasonal visas expired due to having to flee conditions on farms.”

苏格兰难民委员会的政策主管格雷厄姆·奥尼尔说:“这里的数百名乌克兰人非常担心自己的家人、朋友和国内的战争罪行,现在却发现自己穷困不堪,他们的季节性签证因为不得不逃离农场的环境而到期,这太可怕了。”

He called on the home secretary to give seasonal workers the right to remain in the UK and bring family members to safety here.

他呼吁内政大臣给予季节工留在英国的权利,并将其家人带到安全的地方。

Dr Dora-Olivia Vicol, the director of the Work Rights Centre, said: “I’m extremely concerned for the safety of Ukrainians who had to flee exploitative work conditions on British farms and have since become undocumented.”

工作权利中心主任多拉-奥利维亚·维科尔博士说:“我非常担心乌克兰人的安全,他们不得不逃离英国农场的剥削性工作条件,从此沦为非法移民。”

She said many had resorted to working precariously in the underground economy. “The Home Office should acknowledge that the war in Ukraine is a humanitarian crisis, and offer protection to all Ukrainians in the UK, documented or otherwise,” she said.

她说,许多人不得不在不稳定的非正当市场中工作。她说:“内政部应该承认乌克兰战争是一场人道主义危机,并为所有在英国的乌克兰人提供保护,无论他们是否有手续。”

A government spokesperson said: “Ukrainians on seasonal worker visas can apply for three years’ leave under the Ukraine extension scheme. Under no circumstances should any seasonal workers in the agricultural sector be forced to work in exploitative conditions. We strongly advise any people in these circumstances to report issues to the police so steps can be taken for their safeguarding and wellbeing.”

一名政府发言人表示:“持季节性工作签证的乌克兰人可以根据乌克兰延期计划申请3年假期。在任何情况下,都不应强迫农业部门的季节性工人在被剥削条件下工作。我们强烈建议任何处于这种情况下的人向警方报告,以便采取措施保障他们的安全和福利。”