Ukrainian workers flee ‘modern slavery’ conditions on UK farms
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.
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 currently in the UK.
The farm workersare not eligible for the two main government schemes that support Ukrainian refugees – the family scheme and the community sponsorship scheme.
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.
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.
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 January.
She and her partner are now doing cleaning and construction work jobs respectively in the underground economy.
“We have come across many, many other Ukrainians who, like us,
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