“Vulnerable UK migrant workers at risk as audits of farm recruiters stall”

A task force launched by UK supermarkets to tackle the exploitation of farm workers has failed to complete audits months after the investigations were supposed to take place, leaving vulnerable migrants at risk.

Tesco, J Sainsbury, Waitrose and other leading British food retailers announced earlier this year they were supporting independent assessments of the UK-based recruiters...

…an independent audit has started on just one of the six licensed recruitment companies, according to three people close to the task force.

“The failure of retailers . . . to follow through on [efforts] to exercise human rights due diligence on [recruiters] is leaving vulnerable seasonal workers at increased risk,” said Andy Hall, an independent labour rights campaigner who meets regularly with the task force…

The initiative was announced after reports that many workers had paid exorbitant fees to agencies ... leaving them working to pay off debts ... migrant workers have also been housed in unsafe conditions and have suffered mistreatment by employers, including threats of deportation…

The British Retail Consortium, which represents supermarkets, said it expected recruiters to participate in the audits “in a timely manner”…

The Home Office said it was “clamping down on poor working conditions and exploitation”…