site.btaBulgarians Often Fall Victims to Labour Exploitation - EU Report

Bulgarians Often Fall Victims to Labour Exploitation - EU Report

Brussels, June 2 (BTA) - Bulgarians often become victims of
labour exploitation abroad, while authorities show a lack of
sensitive on the problem, according to a new report of the EU
Agency of Fundamental Rights (FRA)

The report quotes specific examples of exploitation, including
of Bulgarian nationals.

In Greece and Bulgaria, however, corruption is identified as one
of the main legal and institutional risk factors, the report
says. In half of EU Member States (Bulgaria, the Czech Republic,
Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Latvia, Luxembourg,
Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia and Sweden) slavery,
servitude and forced labour are criminalised only in specific
contexts. The report points out that Bulgaria, along with some
other Member States, protect only third-country nationals in
irregular situations.

In Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Slovakia and the
United Kingdom, it appears that, in trying to access support
services and justice, workers often face a lack of sensitivity
on the part of authorities. In a significant number of EU Member
States, including Bulgaria, evidence supports the view that,
for victims of labour exploitation, the conditions for accessing
rights and justice are, at best, precarious.

Quite often, recruitment agencies are involved in the
exploitation of workers moving within or into the EU by charging
fees to which they are not entitled, and they make it more
difficult for workers to understand their legal situation, often
adding to the lack of transparency caused by other factors,
including the absence of written contracts. The report points
out that criminal labour exploitation is extensive in a number
of industries, particularly agriculture, construction, hotel and
catering, domestic work, and manufacturing.