Identification and prevention of criminal practices in the employment of seasonal agricultural labourers//

Acronym:

SAISAGRI

Funding:

Mutualité Sociale Agricole

Project's holder:

Duration:

2 years - January 2022 - December 2023

Abstract:

This project concerns the employment of migrant seasonal workers in the agricultural sector, seen from the angle of the manipulation of the legal framework by intermediaries or employers motivated by financial gain. The study is looking at the way the legal rules on the use of seasonal workers are diverted and abused. The practices in question can create situations where the migrant is working under constraints that can be likened to forced labour. They are fuelled by multiple factors driving migration in certain countries on the one hand, and on the other, by the implementation of migration policies restricting the grounds for migration to work (measures to limit migration to highly skilled workers, students and researchers, temporary intra-group transfers and seasonal workers).

In the course of the ongoing research, we have identified a system set up by intermediaries based on the recruitment of seasonal workers from Morocco in return for the payment of a sum of money of between 8,000 and 12,000 euros. The issue is that this system makes these practices difficult to identify and punish. And yet the breaches of workers’ rights are considerable. The research aims to achieve a better understanding of these practices and to construct indicators that will facilitate better targeting of checks in order to restore the rights of the workers concerned and punish the abuses in question.