The publication of a groundbreaking report on forced labour and the exploitation of migrant workers in Britain has been delayed after attempts by the government to hold it back until after the general election.
The Guardian obtained a copy of the draft report, written by independent academics and marked "confidential, not for further distribution" which explores the relationship between forced labour and deregulated markets under the Labour government.
"Forced Labour and Migration to the UK" was delivered last August to the International Labour Organisation in Geneva and the TUC in London, which jointly commissioned the report. It was supposed to be published during the TUC conference in September, but six months later it remains unpublished.
A senior TUC official said the timing of publication was delayed after an intervention by "ILO was Whitehall. "ILO threatened with was threatened with funding cuts funding cuts by by the Department the Department of Work and of Work and Pensions (DWP) if the report were to Pensions (DWP) be published," the if the report official said.
The official were to be believed the published," report was being held back until after the election because it would embarrass the government. "Contrary to the idea of a social Europe, Britain's economy is marked by the reality of in Britain. However, there is a heated debate inside unions about whether to sound the alarm before the election." An ILO official in Geneva familiar with the report said the
delay had followed "extensive comments from the British government". There had been "some very sensitive discussions". The report It catalogues the coercive techniques used by private employers to force migrants to work for low wages and in poor conditions, from physical and sexual violence to debt bondage and blackmail.
It gives examples of where the government has paid wages well below the minimum legal wage, following deductions to agencies. The research focuses on building work, farming, contract cleaning and residential care.
It concludes that:
• many foreign migrants were forced to work through violence and intimidation and were prevented from seeking help;
• many have been forced into debt bondage, having taken loans to fund their travel to the UK repayable at exorbitant rates of interest. One woman had borrowed $1,000 (E530) to come here and had not paid the debt off four years later;
• migrants were often working in dangerous conditions, and for excessive hours. Some deaths of migrants at work had been identified;
• nurses brought to Britain to work in the NHS and in private care homes in particular complained of exploitative deductions from their wages. A group of 32 nurses from Asia were paid just 246 a week by an NHS trust after deductions to their agency.
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Afghan seekers protest outside Downing
Street
12200 Левна TASTIN
SEEKERS