Around 150 berry pickers from Thailand were recruited to the couple’s berry company in Åsele in Västerbotten last March.
They were promised work with wages and working conditions in accordance with the Swedish collective agreement, as well as food and accommodation. But when they got here, everything turned into a castle in the air, according to the witness.
On Friday, the man and woman suspected of human trafficking were charged against nine berry pickers who stayed in Sweden and told the police about their involvement.
Paid on arrival
In questioning, they confirm that they owed more than SEK 20,000 each for the trip here and that their passports were confiscated. Despite the promise of a monthly salary of just over SEK 40,000, they were paid depending on how many kilos they picked, money that went directly to paying their debts.
The berry pickers worked seven days a week, sometimes from six in the morning until ten at night. The bag of food they brought with them during the long days in the forest consisted of two boiled eggs and 100 grams of pork or chicken per person, they say.
– It is not enough when you work. But what can we do? We have no place to buy food. We have no money. What do we do? We have to accept it, says a berry picker in questioning.
It was only when they returned to their accommodation that they got regular food. Some days, however, they were forced to spend the night in the forest to save on petrol costs, which were not allowed to exceed SEK 500, according to the evidence.
A berry picker tells us that they sometimes ate the remains of carcasses they found in the forest. When asked why, he replied:
– To live.
According to the berry pickers, there was both a lack of toilets and showers in their accommodation.
Two small houses for 150 people
The berry pickers lived in a three story house. Up to 14 people were sharing a room, according to the study, and there was little access to toilets and showers.
– There were only two toilets for 150 people. So it wasn’t enough, said a berry picker in questioning.
If they complained about the poor conditions or did not do their work, the woman, who is also from Thailand and handled most of the communication with the berry pickers, threatened to lose their jobs. their jobs and that they would be sent home again, they said in the interrogation.
– He feels like a slave in some way when she says that, says the berry picker.
At the end of September, about forty of the berry pickers had enough and informed the authorities, so the man and the woman were arrested by the police. In addition to human trafficking and, secondly, human exploitation, they are also accused of abuse in a legal case because they are suspected of trying to silence the berry pickers.
according to SVT Västerbotten news the prosecutor wants the couple to be sentenced to seven years of business suspension and the 4.4 million kroner brought in by the business to be confiscated.
Both men and the woman deny wrongdoing.
– He has followed the relevant rules. Through his company, he has bought berries from a company. Efforts have been made to ensure that these berries are selected correctly. In the existing agreements, requests were made regarding existing regulations regarding working hours and wages, the man’s lawyer Mikael Stenman told SVT.
2024-05-11 06:52:51
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