Maplecroft Report on UK Seasonal Workers and the Risks Raised

7 Aug 2023

The Report - published in May 2023 - states:

"Before Brexit, the UK was almost entirely reliant on overseas workers from the EU for the harvesting of seasonal fruit and vegetables. Since the vote however, the UK Government has ended freedom of movement with the EU and introduced a series of new occupational visa schemes – such as the Seasonal Worker visa programme (SWVP) – designed to control the flow of migrants into the country.

In its current form, the scheme has increased the risk of human rights violations in UK food supply chains. Indeed, the inauguration of the SWVP has contributed to a significant increase in risk for the UK on our Trafficking in Persons Index, seeing the country move from low risk in 2019 to medium risk in 2023-Q3. The UK is now the 19th highest risk country in Europe for human trafficking, up from 29th four years ago."

You can access the Report here: UK’s Seasonal Worker scheme raising human rights concerns in food sector | Maplecroft