Foreign nationals working in the agriculture and distribution sectors on temporary contracts are being particularly hard hit by the coronavirus crisis and those that lose their jobs are finding themselves homeless to boot...

In particular, people working in distribution centres are not being given proper protection against coronavirus spreading, unions and experts say.

Distribution centres are largely staffed by people from eastern Europe working on flexible contracts who are now working very long hours and living in overcrowded conditions...

Some companies are taking the temperature of workers before they enter the warehouse, even though this is not technically legal...

Bos-Karczewska says eastern European workers are particularly vulnerable because if they lose their job they have nowhere to live and very little means to live on.

‘Those who working are living in very overcrowded conditions... Agencies and employers are showing very little responsibility for their health or what happens to their workers...,’ she said. The government needs to take urgent action because the situation is deteriorating very quickly...

A spokesman for social affairs minister Wouter Koolmees told DutchNews.nl that he is aware of the problems facing migrant workers and is asking employers to behave decently...