- Genesis of Ukraine conflict – 37
In a recent article, The Guardian exposes how seasonal workers in the U.K. are at risk of abuse and exploitation. Ukrainian farmworkers stuck in the U.K. as a result of war in Ukraine are at particular risk.
Of the 29,631 visas issued under the T5 seasonal work scheme in 2021, 67% were granted to Ukrainians. Various organizations have raised concerns about the critical situation of Ukrainian farmworkers and called on the government to make policy concessions to safeguard them.
Oksana (not her real name) is a former IT worker from Ukraine who obtained a visa to come to the U.K. in August 2021 to earn money together with her partner, a medical student. Under this scheme they worked on a berry farm but were exploited and given work only intermittently.
Now they are undocumented and are without work permits, and are working in cleaning and construction respectively. James Seddon, a leek farmer from Lancashire, explains the difficulties faced by working on farms:
“For Ukrainians currently here on agricultural worker visas, the amount of work they have access to depends on the type of farm they work on. Those where farms are unable to supply them with continuous work due to the type of crops grown are having a particularly difficult time.”
Although the government has announced two schemes to allow Ukrainians to come to the U.K. – the family visa scheme and the community sponsorship scheme – Ukrainian agricultural workers already in the U.K. on six-month visas are not eligible for either.
As a result, workers like Oksana have to choose between staying undocumented in the U.K. or returning to Ukraine.
In addition, the Home Office has extended seasonal farmworker visas to the end of 2024, but workers who are tied to their employers cannot seek alternative work outside the farming sector and have no recourse to public funds. More importantly, they do not have the right to bring family members to the U.K. from Ukraine.
Graham O’Neill, Policy Manager at the Scottish Refugee Council, is calling for a group of 6,000 temporary workers to be immediately moved onto the Ukraine family scheme, which has more rights attached. He states: “We regard the UK government’s lack of action … at this traumatic time as a scandal in plain sight”.
Exploitation of seasonal farmworkers is well documented; the Work Rights Centre published a report earlier this month on the experiences of farmworkers with seasonal work visas in the U.K. facing exploitaiton.
The Report says that seasonal Agricultural workers experience some of the harshest work conditions in the UK. Having to work long hours for minimal pay, in social and geographical isolation, they have been consistently flagged for being at severe risk of labour exploitation, and a priority for labour market enforcement agencies.
Drawing on a year of casework with seasonal agricultural workers recruited under the government’s Seasonal Worker Pilot, this briefing examines the barriers which prevent them from reporting exploitation, and the measures needed to address them.
67% seasonal workers in UK from Ukraine
Ukrainians made up by far the most important proportion of workers in the UK on seasonal employee visas in 2021. Of the 29,631 visas issued underneath the T5 seasonal work scheme, 19,920 – 67% – got to Ukrainians. The Scottish Refugee Council estimates that there are as much as 6,000 in the UK.
While the federal government has introduced two schemes to permit Ukrainians to come back to the UK – the household visa scheme and the group sponsorship scheme – Ukrainian farm workers who’re right here on six-month visas don’t qualify for both.
The Home Office has prolonged the seasonal farm employee visas till the top of 2024 however workers are tied to their employer, cannot search different work exterior the farming sector and haven’t any recourse to public funds. They don’t have the suitable to carry relations to the UK from Ukraine.
Lawyers and campaigners have referred to as on the federal government to take pressing motion to help hundreds of Ukrainian seasonal farm workers who have been in the UK when the struggle began and have been left vulnerable to destitution, abuse and exploitation right here.
Focus On Labour Exploitation (Flex) and different organisations have written to the house secretary, Priti Patel, and the immigration minister Kevin Foster elevating issues in regards to the plight of Ukrainian farm workers and calling on authorities to make coverage concessions in order to safeguard them.
Lucila Granada, the chief govt of Flex, stated: “We want to see the safety and wellbeing of this group of Ukrainian workers prioritised. They should be given permission to work outside the agricultural sector and they should be given recourse to public funds.”
Jennifer Blair, a barrister and co-founder of the Ukraine Advice Project, stated that about 1,000 Ukrainians had sought authorized recommendation from them, together with many farm workers. She stated this group had been “particularly badly impacted”.
Ukraine move to ban seasonal workers
Two years ago, Ukraine government announced that it will ban seasonal labor from leaving the country. However, Deputy Prime Minister for European affairs Vadym Prystaiko said in May, 2022, that it’s possible if certain conditions have been met.
Seasonal workers looking to work outside Ukraine must be guaranteed work for three months, health services and necessary insurance, the Ukrainian government said.
Ukraine wants to have a clear overview of seasonal workers leaving the country and for the process to take place in an organized fashion. It is part of the strategy for relaxing crisis restrictions in the country.
“We are aware that the state cannot offer the active part of seasonal workers the kind of salary they could make in Europe, but we are not putting artificial obstacles on their path. Our goal is for leaving the country to take place in a maximally organized manner,” he added.
Prystaiko said governments should turn to his office if they want Ukrainian laborers. “We expect work to be guaranteed for at least three months /…/ That seasonal workers are guaranteed access to health services, also when they return to Ukraine,” Prystaiko said, adding that host countries also need to give seasonal laborers social insurance, health insurance,
