乌克兰工人逃离英国农场的“现代奴役”工作条件

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。

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。”

ComingupforbeerGermany
Unfortunately, extreme exploitation of mostly foreign workers is still very common in the agricultural sector, not just in Britain.

不幸的是，对外国工人的极端剥削在农业领域仍然非常普遍，不仅仅是在英国。

Jatzy_AME
Remember the first few months of the pandemic? "We'll have no choice but to leave all these asparagus to rot if we can't ship cheap workforce from Romania"

还记得大流行的头几个月吗？“如果我们不能从罗马尼亚运来廉价劳动力，我们将别无选择，只能让这些芦笋烂在地里。”

lynx_and_nutmegLithuania
It shouldn't be legal for agricultural companies to waste food in times of overpopulation and climate change just because they're too greedy to pay the workers a livable wage.

在人口过剩和气候变化的时代，农业公司浪费粮食不应该是合法的，因为他们太贪婪了，不支付给工人足够的工资。

MrHazard1
I see no other option for this, but regulate over minimum wage

我看不出有什么其他选择，只能对最低工资进行监管

Pakkachew
I get your point and somehow agree, but it might be that whole situation is not entirely farmers fault.
Not familiar with the UK situation but for example in my home country Finland farmers are having a crisis at the moment, because the buyers (big retail companies) force the prices down and the farmers make very poor wage. Especially compared to a working hours and the fact that you need to have multi million loan based investment to even start. Some opponents usually site that farmers are better than fine because they get a tons of subsidies from EU and government. That’s true but in most cases the benefit of subsidies are actually benefiting consumers because they are yet another thing keeping food prices artificially down. Some producers make almost zero profit. No wonder farmers want to cut costs, especially when it is impossible to get local workers to do labour intensive seasonal work.
There is bigger global issue when it comes to EU farming subsidies. While it keeps EU consumer food prices down it also hurt food security of the poorer nations. Often they buy their food from EU because it is cheaper than developing their own agricultural industry.
To summarise greedy farmers might not be the whole story. It might also be that the whole cost structure in EU and UK (I know UK subsidies too) is wonky.

我理解你的观点，并在某种程度上赞同你的观点，但可能整个情况并不完全是农民的错。
我不熟悉英国的情况，但比如，在我的祖国芬兰，农民目前正在经历一场危机，因为买家（大型零售公司）迫使价格下降，农民的工资非常低。特别是与工作时间相比，并且你甚至需要数百万美元的贷款投资才能开始。一些反对者通常会说，农民比一般水平好多了，因为他们从欧盟和政府那里得到了大量的补贴。这是事实，但在大多数情况下，补贴的好处实际上是有利于消费者的，因为它们是另一种人为压低食品价格的做法。一些生产商的利润几乎为零。难怪农民们想要削减成本，尤其是在不可能让当地工人做劳动密集型的季节性工作的情况下。
欧盟农业补贴是一个更大的全球问题。在降低欧盟食品消费价格的同时，它也损害了较贫穷国家的食品安全。它们通常从欧盟购买食品，因为这比发展自己的农业产业便宜。
总而言之，“贪婪的农民”可能不是故事的全部。也可能是欧盟和英国的整体成本结构不稳定（我知道英国也有补贴政策）。

KiroqiLesser (Poland)
As fun as it may be to shit on UK due to Brexit and all that 'our jobs' jazz, this is hardly a problem unique to that country. Seasonal workers in general are treated like shit across whole Europe.

也许和因为脱欧和所有的“（夺回）我们的工作”扯淡一样搞笑，但这并不是那个国家独有的问题。在整个欧洲，季节工通常被当作粪土对待。

Delamoor
Across the whole world. We have the exact same problem in Australia.

全世界都一样。我们澳大利亚也有同样的问题。

SlanderousUnited Kingdom
A friend from the UK working as a chef in Aus is currently suffering with this. He got covid and was sacked for not coming to work with it, losing his visa sponsorship along with the job.
Spoke to a solicitor and was told if he was a citizen he could sue them for $$$ but as a foreign worker he had basically no rights and had to suck it.

一位在澳大利亚做厨师的英国朋友目前正遭受着这种痛苦。他感染了新冠肺炎，因为没有来上班而被解雇了，失去了工作的同时也失去了签证担保。
我和一名律师谈过，他被告知如果他是美国公民，他可以起诉他们，要求赔偿美元，但作为一名外国工人，他基本上没有权利，只能忍受。

AceticonEurope, Portugal
I don't want to shoehorn Brexit on this, just want to point out that it's the kind thing that EU citizens now might reasonably fear when considering moving to the UK when before they didn't. Because of this well trained EU citizens are now a lot less likely to choose the UK as a place to move to than back in the time when a non-Briton EU-citizen theoretically had the same rights in the UK as a British-citizen.
Whilst for many Britons (understandably) this makes no difference when talking about non-specialized imigrants, more than half of EU imigrants in the UK had degrees and thus were more qualified than the average local population and provided manpower for advanced industries above and beyond what the UK itself trains, hence allowing those industries to be bigger than if they were did not imigrate there.
Certainly, over a decade ago when I wanted to leave The Netherlands and was pondering about my destination, I chose the UK rather than the US exactly to avoid the kind situation (and the exploitation lixed to it) that your friend has in Australia, whilst nowadays I would not choose the UK as EU-citizens moving to the UK under the current regime are way more likely to end up suffering from a situation like that than they did back before Brexit, so basically the risk is the same for an EU-citizen in the UK as it is in the US and for a techie like me the US pays better and the weather is way better (were most of the kind of Tech I work in is based, which is Silicon Valley).

我不想把脱欧硬塞到这个问题上，只是想指出，现在考虑移居英国成了欧盟公民有理由担心的一件事情，他们以前不会不会担心。正因为如此，与非英国欧盟公民在英国享有与英国公民同等权利的时代相比，现在有技能的欧盟公民选择英国作为移民地的可能性要小得多了。
然而，对于许多英国人来说（可以理解），当谈论非专业移民时，这一点没有什么区别，在英国，超过一半的欧盟移民拥有学位，因此比当地平均人口更有资格，并为英国自身培养的先进产业提供了人力，因此，允许这些产业比没有移民到那里的时候更庞大。
当然，十多年前，当我想离开荷兰并考虑我的目的地时，我选择了英国而不是美国，正是为了避免你的朋友在澳大利亚遇到的那种情况（以及与之相关的剥削），尽管现在我不会选择英国了，在当前体制下，移民到英国的欧盟公民比他们在脱欧之前更有可能遭遇这样的情况，所以基本上，欧盟公民在英国和在美国面临的风险是相同的，但对于像我这样的技术人员来说，美国的薪水更高，天气也好得多（我工作涉及的大部分技术都得看天气，在硅谷）。

MikeBruskiPoland
Indeed. I used to employ Polish in Denmark back in 2006, and the conditions some of them lived in were crazy. 4 to a room, sleeping on dirty matresses on the floor, no furniture, and paying almost 1k usd for that matress space per month. Filthy, crowded, but they gladly did it so make more money than back in Poland. (They were treated nicely at work though, just lived in shit conditions)
But its amazing that most europeans turn a blind eye to this and shit on Dubai instead. Its literally the same situation. At least Dubai gives the south asians a job , most european countries dont want them.
Europe needs to clean up at home before complaining about trash elsewhere.

确实。2006年，我曾在丹麦雇佣过波兰人，他们中的一些人的生活条件非常糟糕。4人住一间房，睡在地上的脏床垫上，没有家具，每个月得花近1000美元睡在那个床垫上。肮脏，拥挤，但他们很高兴干这份工作能比在波兰赚更多的钱。（他们在波兰工作条件很好，只是生活水平很差）
但令人惊讶的是，大多数欧洲人对此视而不见，反而把矛头指向迪拜。其实情况是一样的。至少迪拜给了南亚人（大多数欧洲国家不需要他们）一份工作。
在抱怨其他地方的垃圾之前，欧洲需要先清理好自己的家园。

Rodolpho55
There is a difference in the U.K.. The European picking teams that follow seasonal fruit and veg are avoiding the U.K. These workers are tied and shipped around by agencies. I went to one farm that wouldn’t even allow a kettle for coffee during their dinner break. In many cases the agencies are part of trafficking groups.

英国的情况有所不同。跟踪时令水果和蔬菜的欧洲采摘队正在避开英国。这些工人被绑在一起，由机构运送到各地。我曾经去过一个农场，他们甚至不允许在晚餐休息时间用水壶煮咖啡。在许多情况下，这些机构是人口贩运集团的一部分。

NoMoassNeverWas
We treat them awfully bad here in the US too. There was a story while I was out in California how some worker died from dehydration and the other workers just continue to work, complained about the smell of body. No call for emergency or a doctor, someone call garbagemen to pick up the body.
The end result is cheap food at the store(we throw away qtr of it).

我们在美国对他们也很糟糕。当我在加州的时候听说过一个故事，说一些工人死于脱水而其他的工人只是继续工作，抱怨实体的味道。没人打急救电话或叫医生，有人打电话叫垃圾工来收尸体。
最终的结果是商店里的食物便宜了（我们扔掉了四分之一）。

zefo_diasPort U Gal
The clowns laughing about "muh brexit" need to get a grip and understand the reality of our agriculture. These jobs are a miserable proposition all around europe and its hardly a problem to laugh about.
Our food is being subsidized by our taxes, grown and picked by borderline slaves and all the profit is going into the same half a dozen pockets who own the distribution chains.

那些笑着说“嗯，脱欧”的小丑们需要认清并理解我们农业的现实。在整个欧洲，这些工作都是一个令人痛苦的命题，这几乎不是一个可以嘲笑的问题。
我们的食物由税收补贴，由边境奴隶种植和采摘，而所有的利润都进了拥有分销链的那六个口袋。

WhoKnowsBruhTurkey
Absolutely agreed, you hit the nail on the head. The same can be said about the situation in Turkey. I think that's one of the main reasons why our government is so keen on taking in more and more refugees from Syria, Afghanistan and Pakistan: so they can be exploited in the agricultural sector for cheap labor.

完全同意，你说到点子上了。土耳其的情况也是如此。我认为这是我们的政府如此热衷于接收越来越多来自叙利亚、阿富汗和巴基斯坦的难民的主要原因之一：这样他们就可以在农业领域获得廉价劳动力了。

DungeonMasterSupreme Ukraine
Ukrainians are generally being treated like other refugees from the middle east, where nobody expects you to speak English or have a real education in Europe. It's nothing but prejudice and stereotypes, to the point where going to the job placement centers is next to useless.
I made it clear that I spoke fluent English and had a 10+ year career in my field and I was still pestered to work in construction or take up dishwashing, and then they treated me as if I were entitled for refusing the jobs. It's downright insulting. Looks like I'll actually be working remotely for a Ukrainian company, because that's the best way to be treated respectfully.

乌克兰人通常被当作来自中东的其他难民对待——没人指望（作为中东难民的你）你会说英语，也没人指望你在欧洲接受真正的教育。这只是偏见和刻板印象，以至于去就业中心几乎毫无用处。
我说得很清楚：我能说一口流利的英语，在我的领域有10多年的工作经验，但我仍然被推着去建筑工地或洗碗，然后在工作中他们就拿那种“你可以不干啊”的态度来对待我。这是彻头彻尾的侮辱。看来我要为一家乌克兰公司远程工作了，因为这是受到尊重的最好方式。

Divniy
Idk who were you talking to, but in case you want good career opportunities, you need to research the job market yourself - do interviews and all that, and not expect some job finding agencies to do that for you.
So unless it's straight out prohibited to look for job or self-employment in the conditions the government provided to you, there are no real obstacles.

我不知道你在和谁交谈，但是如果你想要好的职业机会，你需要自己调查一下就业市场——参加面试和所有这些，不要指望一些求职中介会为你做这些。
所以，除非在政府提供的条件下直接禁止找工作或自主创业，否则就没有真正的就业障碍。

DungeonMasterSupreme Ukraine
That's never been an issue for me. Job placement and career counselling is all just part of the "integration process" here. If you don't have a job upon arrival, it's mandatory to receive certain kinds of assistance. And as for looking for new jobs the usual way, most of the jobs require the native language of the new country, even if the working language is English.

这对我来说从来都不是问题。在这里，就业安置和职业咨询都只是“整合过程”的一部分。如果你到达这里后还没有找到工作，你就必须接受某些类型的帮助。至于用通常的方式找新工作，大多数工作都要求会说这个新国家的母语，即使工作语言是英语。

potatolulzEarth
That's good for brexiteers who can now re-take these farm jobs that were "stolen" from them. :D

这对脱欧派来说是件好事，因为他们现在可以重新获得这些被“偷走”的农业工作了。: D

virus_apparatus
Turns out they don’t wanna do it ether. Britain really shot itself in the foot

结果发现他们根本不想干。英国真的搬起石头砸了自己的脚

EdgarTheBraveEngland
Brexit was never about stolen jobs. I’m a remainer but I’m sick of hearing this trope. It was the refugee crisis that really caused the leave campaign to skyrocket. Nobody gives a fuck about fruit picking jobs when there are terror attacks all across Europe and people are vandalising war memorials.

英国脱欧从来无关“偷走工作”。我是留欧派，但我也听厌了这种牵强附会。真正导致脱欧运动飙升的是难民危机。当恐怖袭击席卷欧洲，人们肆意破坏战争纪念碑的时候，没人关心采摘水果的工作。

Getoffthepogostick
I had a few friends that wanted to try picking during their furlough, but the farmers where asking them to live on site in shared shitty caravans, and pay for the privilege when they could have just stayed home. Farmers are either going to have to modernise and pay decent wages or fail. Supermarkets will also have to start paying more for their produce.

我有几个朋友想在他们的休假期间尝试采摘工作，但农民们要求他们住在一起，住在简陋的拖车里，并为这种“特权”付钱，而他们本可以住在家里。农民要么必须实现现代化，支付体面的工资，要么破产。超市也将不得不开始为他们的农产品支付更高的价格。

TaivasvaeltajaFinland
Exactly same stuff happens in Finland. Shitty living conditions & bad salary for seasonal workers who don't know their rights. Some Finnish-born people try it but give up quickly.

同样的事情也发生在芬兰。糟糕的生活条件和糟糕的工资，季节性工人不知道自己的权利。一些芬兰本地人尝试过干这种工作，但很快就放弃了。

Surface_DetailUnited Kingdom
Honestly, I'd rather these jobs not be done than be done in the current conditions.
I can pay more for my strawberries or just go without and have a clean conscience.

老实说，我宁愿不做这些工作也不愿在这种情况下工作。
我可以花更多的钱买草莓，也可以不买（这些剥削工人采摘的草莓），只求良心过得去。

marsmanUlster
Honestly, I'd rather these jobs not be done than be done in the current conditions.
I agree entirely, although obviously simply importing those strawberries from somewhere else with similar issues around working conditions isn't a solution. Arguably a better approach would be to both ensure that UK working conditions are reasonable and only allow imports from countries that also have reasonable working conditions. Although you likely couldn't do that quickly simply because the supply of food produced without exploitation is likely relatively slim..

“老实说，我宁愿不做这些工作也不愿在这种情况下工作”
我完全赞同，尽管简单地从其他地方进口那些工作条件类似的草莓显然不是一个解决方案。可以说，更好的办法是既确保英国的工作条件是合理的，又只允许从那些工作条件也合理的国家进口。尽管你可能无法快速做到这一点，因为不含剥削而生产的食物供应可能相对较少。

hadenbozee
Brits here, it happens everywhere lol.

我是英国人，这种情况全世界到处都是，呵呵。