“Migrant farm workers in UK trapped by recruitment debt bondage”

…British farms stopped hiring Nepali and Indonesian workers in January after reports that many had paid excessive recruitment fees that left them in debt bondage…

…Since they would no longer be able to come back to Britain as seasonal workers again, more overstayed their visas and found informal jobs…

…Focus on Labour Exploitation (FLEX) said migrant workers were often duped into paying illegal recruitment fees to local brokers…

Bahadur said he applied for asylum when his seasonal worker visa expired…

A handful of licensed recruiters - known as scheme operators - turned to Asia to plug the labour shortage…

"There's very little transparency around what's really happening. The government adopts a very hands-off approach to regulating it," said Marilyn Croser, a researcher at labour rights group, FairSquare…

…the Home Office and the National Farmers' Union, which represents more than 46,000 British farms, declined to comment on illegal recruitment fees, but both said they took workers' welfare seriously…

…Newly licensed Regency Recruitment, which has hired Bangladeshi workers, said it was working with an anti-slavery charity to reduce risks at the recruitment stage…