Thailand’s Minister of Labor has said that he intends to come to Finland to check the working conditions of the berry pickers.
Thai berry pickers barely have time to pick jams anymore. Tapio Mainio / KL
900 Thai berry pickers are coming to Finland, the Bangkok Post says.
In the story, the Minister of Labor of Thailand Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn says that the berry pickers will be sent to Finland when the necessary documents can be checked at the Royal Thai Embassy in Helsinki.
According to Yle, the Thai authorities want to check the calculations of those companies that employ Thai pickers. The documents will be checked next week at the earliest.
Yle interviewed a communications expert at the Finnish Immigration Service Hanna Paasikoski says that none of the berry companies under criminal investigation have applied for residence permits for Thai pickers.
In the Bangkok Post story, the country’s labor minister says that he will come in September to inspect the working conditions of Thai workers.
Board advisor to the Ministry of Labor and Economic Affairs Jarmo Tiukkanen has confirmed the matter to MTV. The exact time of the visit is not yet known.
According to the Thai Labor Minister, Finland can request more berry pickers from Thailand if necessary.
Time is running out
Because the Thai berry pickers have arrived so late, the berries threaten to rot in Finnish forests and swamps.
Export manager of Marja Bothnia Berries Oy Matias Kantola told Iltalehte at the end of July that the berry pickers should be sent to Finland before the change of the moon, so that there would still be time to collect blueberries. The situation with jams seemed hopeless even at that time.
Executive director of the Arctic aromas association, the berry sector’s interest organization Birgitta Partanen said that even bankruptcies are possible due to the situation.
In March, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland suspended the reception of berry pickers’ Schengen visa applications in Thailand. The decision was based on suspicions of human trafficking in Finnish berry companies.
Since then, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has granted residence permits to berry pickers. However, Thai authorities have not granted the pickers permission to leave the country due to concerns about working conditions.
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