Reducing the risks of exploitation for Romanian seasonal labour migrants after COVID-19

为控制Covid-19大流行而采取的措施严重影响了英国农业部门，该部门每年依赖9万名季节性工人，其中很大一部分是罗马尼亚人，包括罗姆人。罗马尼亚国民也一直在国家转介机制（NRM）内被认为是潜在剥削受害者的前10个国家和最大的欧洲联盟公民群体之列。根据NRM的数据，对罗马尼亚人的劳动剥削在很大程度上是该群体中最常见的现代奴役类型，其次是性剥削和犯罪剥削。2019年，仅在英格兰，警方就举报了222起罗马尼亚国民遭受劳动剥削的案件。外国和季节性雇员不愿意或无法报告本已容易受到剥削的部门的剥削行为，这在该部门内部引起了关注，该部门也受到了Covid-19大流行的严重影响。因此，该项目建议首次对Covid-19对英国罗马尼亚季节工剥削风险的影响进行定量评估。我们将采用基于调查的方法，同时进行政策审查，并与执法部门负责人、企业和招聘机构进行关键线人访谈，以快速了解疫情如何影响罗马尼亚工人的脆弱性。我们还将建议减轻增加的风险的可能选择。通过与多个利益攸关方接触，我们旨在确定从这次大流行病中吸取的教训，并提出可能有助于减轻当前挑战和未来危机的政策和做法变革建议。我们的研究将探讨以下问题：1)新冠肺炎给雇主、招聘人员和员工带来了哪些风险和挑战？2)疫情对工人移民英国的决定有何影响？3)根据英国法律，工人对自己的劳工权利有什么了解？4)工人是否有意识地期望并接受恶劣或剥削性的工作环境？大流行对这一预期产生了什么影响？5)在应对危机管理和应对劳动力需求方面，行业内发生了哪些学习？6)其他北欧经济体采用了哪些政策解决方案来缓解新出现的脆弱性？

The measures imposed to control the Covid-19 pandemic significantly affected the British agricultural sector which relies on 90,000 seasonal workers annually, a large proportion of whom are Romanian, including ethnic Roma. Romanian nationals are also consistently among the top 10 nationalities and the largest group of European Union citizens accepted as potential victims of exploitation within the National Referral Mechanism (NRM). Based on the NRM data, labour exploitation of Romanians is by a large margin the most commonly-observed type of modern slavery within this group, followed by sexual and criminal exploitation. In 2019, 222 cases of labour exploitation of Romanian nationals were referred by Police forces in England alone. Foreign and seasonal employees unwillingness or inability to report exploitative practices in a sector which is already susceptible to exploitation is concerning within this sector, which has also been significantly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. The project therefore proposes to provide the first quantitative assessment of the impact of Covid-19 on the exploitation risk for Romanian seasonal workers in the UK. We will use a survey-based approach, alongside a policy review and key informant interviews with enforcement leads, businesses and recruitment agencies, to gain a rapid overview of how the pandemic is affecting the vulnerability of Romanian workers. We will also suggest potential options for mitigation of increased risks. By engaging with multiple stakeholders we aim to identify lessons that have been drawn from this pandemic and suggest policy and practice changes that may assist with mitigating current challenges and future crises.Our research will explore the following questions:1) What risks and challenges did COVID-19 bring for employers, recruiters and workers?2) How has the pandemic affected worker decisions about migration to the UK?3) What understanding do workers have of their labour rights under UK law?4) Do workers consciously expect and accept poor or exploitative conditions? What impact has the pandemic had on this expectation?5) What learning has occurred within industry in response to managing the crisis and responding to workforce needs?6) What policy solutions have other northern European economies used to mitigate emerging vulnerabilities?