Indonesian workers who paid thousands of pounds to travel to Britain to pick fruit on a farm that supplies most major supermarkets were sent home within weeks because they did not pick quickly enough.
One of the workers said he had sold his family’s land and his and his parents’ motorbikes to cover the cost of more than £2,000 for his trip to Britain in May. He was very sad that he was unemployed and had few possessions.
The labour exploitation watchdog is investigating allegations he was among workers charged illegal fees of up to £1,100 by an Indonesian organisation, which claimed would get them into the UK more quickly.
In Indonesia, the worker earned about £100 a month selling food and said his parents were “very disappointed” because he had sold everything to help his family. He said: “I feel confused and angry and angry about this situation. I don’t have a job in Indonesia [and] I spent all my money to come to the UK.”
The Guardian spoke to four of the dismissed workers and in three cases saw evidence of payments made to third parties, in addition to the more than £1,000 paid to approved recruiters for flights and visas.
Allegations of illegal fees being paid in Indonesia raise questions about the risk of exploitation under the seasonal worker scheme, which gives overseas workers six-month visas to work on farms but means they bear all the financial risk themselves.
The Guardian understands that the new immigration minister, Seema Malhotra, will launch an inquiry into exploitation in the work visa system to tackle exploitative practices. The Migration Advisory Committee recommended on Monday that seasonal visas should continue to ensure “food security” but that they should offer more protections, such as guaranteeing at least two months of work.
Haygrove, a farm in Hereford that supplies soft fruit to British supermarkets, issued the man and four other workers with warning letters about the speed of their picking before sacking them five to six weeks into the job. They were booked on a flight home by their recruiters the following day.
Workers said targets at the Ledbury farm included picking 20kg of cherries an hour. Another sacked picker said: “It was very difficult to meet the target because there was less fruit every day.”
He said he had borrowed money from “the bank, friends and family” and was still more than £1,100 in debt. “Why did I end up here? Now I’m in Indonesia without a job… It’s not fair to me because I’ve sacrificed so much.”
Beverly Dixon, Haygrove’s director of agriculture, said the farm had consistently had to top up men’s wages for poor performance and had supported them to try to improve. She said targets were “based on achievable standards, with the majority of pickers sometimes achieving more than double that rate”.
The five men did not arrive in Britain until mid-May, and were all discharged from Haygrove on 24 June, having earned between £2,555 and £3,874. After the cost of their journey to Britain – and living expenses – was deducted from this, several said they were left with significant debts.
Two of the men fled to London and refused to board flights home booked for June 25. They have now been given new jobs in a warehouse following an intervention by a migrant welfare campaigner.
Andy Hall, the migrant employment rights specialist who intervened on behalf of the men, said: “This scandal shows once again that the full burden of bearing the many risks associated with the UK’s seasonal worker scheme lies not with supermarkets, farms, scheme operators or other actors in the supply chain, but with vulnerable overseas workers.”
An investigation by the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority was opened last month, reportedly into allegations of illegal fee charging in Indonesia.
Dixon said Haygrove was “deeply concerned” to learn of the “alleged financial challenge faced by the Indonesian workers, particularly if one or more of them were paying an illegal recruiter in Indonesia” and that the farm fully supported the GLAA’s investigation.
The Guardian revealed that in 2022, Indonesians came to Britain with debts of up to £5,000 owed to unlicensed foreign intermediaries. The debts were owed to third parties and AG, the British agency that officially recruited them, lost its licence to sponsor seasonal workers.
Since then, Indonesia has been seen as a risky country to recruit from, but the route was reopened this year by a new British recruiter, Agri-HR. It worked with Indonesian agent PT Mardel Anugerah, which was also licensed to recruit in Britain, and was supported by the Indonesian embassy.
However, workers allege that a third party in Indonesia, Forkom, which appears to be a communications hub for Indonesians seeking to work abroad, has been recruiting workers and charging them, saying it could get them to Britain more quickly. Recruiting without a permit is illegal under both British and Indonesian law.
Agri-HR said: “Upon learning of these allegations, Agri-HR immediately contacted the GLAA to request that they investigate these claims. The GLAA interviewed a number of employees that same day and are continuing their investigations. Further interviews with employees have taken place and are planned.”
Workers told the Guardian that Forkom encouraged its members to put pressure on the families of the sacked pickers who had walked away. One said his family in Indonesia was visited at home at 3am.
In messages to a Forkom WhatsApp group of recruited workers, the chairman, Agus Hariyono, encouraged those still in Indonesia to pressure the men who had run away in Britain by going to their family homes. In a follow-up video call with members, he then allegedly asked workers to delete records of money paid to Forkom.
Hariyono said his organisation was a social forum set up for Indonesians on seasonal worker visas after some failed to return from the 2022 season, meaning the visa route was closed. He said one worker “entrusted money” to Forkom, but “this was meant as a deposit” and the money was returned to his account to pay PT Mardel Anugerah directly.
Hariyono said it was sending messages to families encouraging those who had been laid off to return to Indonesia, to avoid a repeat of the 2022 season, in which one in five overstayed their visas.
Delif Subeki, of PT Mardel Anugerah, said his recruitment agency was introduced to Forkom by Indonesia’s Ministry of Labor and made a commitment to “prioritize” members. Subeki said it “clearly” informed applicants that it would not use third parties for recruitment and that no fees would be paid.