Across the European Union (EU), workers are being severely exploited for their labour, research by the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) shows. This report, covering the second component of FRA’s research on severe forms of labour exploitation, is based on interviews with victims. The first report was based on interviews with professionals.

The evidence presented in this report is based on the accounts of 237 adult migrant workers, including third-country nationals as well as EU nationals, who were severely exploited or worked in sectors at high risk of labour exploitation in eight EU Member States (Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and the United Kingdom). National-level civil society organisations, primarily working in the areas of victim and migrant/refugee support, identified the exploited workers whom FRA interviewed.

The interviews paint a rather bleak picture of exploitation and abuse. They underline a clear violation of human dignity, which raises the question: “Is this the Europe we want?” Unscrupulous employers use the weak position of migrant workers to force them to work for endless hours with no or little pay, often in dangerous settings, and without the minimum safety equipment required by law. Workers interviewed for this research had slept in fields or on construction sites, without access to sanitary facilities or running water. They endured these conditions out of fear that if they left they would lose the wages owed to them or, in the case of migrants in an irregular situation, because the employer threatened to report them to authorities. In some cases, they spoke about employers who confiscated their documents, restricted their social contacts, or monitored and controlled their movements inside the workplace to stop them from coming into contact with anyone to whom they could complain.

This report also examines practices that employers use to deceive labour inspectorates and law enforcement authorities. As a result, very few of these exploitative employers are effectively reported, investigated or prosecuted. This is the vicious circle that needs to be broken. Even when cases come to the attention of the authorities, in many cases court proceedings do not guarantee criminal sanctions or allow victims to claim back their wages. In this regard, the report highlights the valuable role that victim support services play in providing legal, material and psychological assistance.

To read the full report click here.