"Shining a light on the challenges migrant workers face in the UK," Feb 2023

... Peter Wieltschnig, FLEX’s policy and networks officer, reports that the UK’s current immigration policy is creating a two-tiered workforce that treats certain migrant workers as commodities. ‘While the 2022 FIFA World Cup brought attention to the exploitation of migrant workers in Qatar,’ he says, ‘little attention has been paid to how some of the UK’s visas replicate these risks of exploitation and abuse for migrant workers.’

Migrants are disproportionately represented among NHS workers, carers, construction workers, cleaners, delivery drivers and farm workers. ELAN members are regularly contacted by migrants working in modern slavery conditions, facing discrimination, contract violations, abuse and exploitation, and unsafe working conditions. Peter elaborates: ‘The growing evidence of the exploitation of migrant workers as a result of [the government’s] immigration policy responses to post-Brexit labour shortages, such as on the Seasonal Worker visa, demonstrates how visa restrictions, such as no recourse to public funds conditions, time limits on the length of stay and restrictions to particular work sectors, combined with high visa costs, can push people into situations of abuse and exploitation.’...

The hostile environment policies criminalise irregular work and deter vulnerable people from accessing support and protection. The system prioritises immigration enforcement over safeguarding of workers and enforcement of labour rights and standards. Workers who experience exploitation are unable to seek help for fear of being reported to the authorities. The absence of secure reporting pathways has equipped unscrupulous employers with the tools to keep exploiting migrant workers.

As much as we urge positive change in Qatar, we also need to press for reform of policies and law in the UK...