The tale of 400 victims: A lesson for intervention

• Authors: Julia Muraszkiewicz

Title variants

PL

Historia 400 ofiar: wnioski dla właściwej interwencji

Abstracts

PL

This article speaks to a world order where forced labour is in plain sight. The starting point for the crime and recruitment of victims of human trafficking is often on the street. Homeless persons and individuals who have recently left correctional institutions are approached and swiftly transported to countries of destination. There, again in plain sight, they are taken to legal and regulated recruitment agencies and are found jobs. In many instances, they are placed in factories, recycling plants, and warehouses. Although these jobs are legitimate, what happens behind the scenes is not: individuals working have no access to their wages, suffer psychological and physical abuse, threats, coercive control, and their documents are taken from them. These clear components of forced labour are perfectly illustrated in the plight of vulnerable polish men recruited and transported to the UK who were discovered in UK’s largest police investigation into forced labour: Operation Fort. This exposé investigates and explores three key points where intervention is needed: two related to the recruitment of certain subgroups – the targeting of homeless individuals and those with a relationship with the criminal justice system, and a third, where forced labour is facilitated through the use of legitimate recruitment agencies.   Artykuł opisuje realia pracy przymusowej, która odbywa się na naszych oczach, a często zaczyna się na ulicach. Osoby bezdomne, a także osoby, które niedawno opuściły zakłady karne, są werbowane na ulicach miast i miasteczek, a następnie szybko przewożone do miejsc docelowych, gdzie są wykorzystywane. Za pośrednictwem legalnie działających agencji rekrutacyjnych, znajdują pracę. W wielu przypadkach jest to praca w fabrykach, zakładach zajmujących się recyklingiem lub w magazynach. Chociaż sama praca jest legalna, to co się dzieje za jej kulisami, już nie. Ludzie nie otrzymują wynagrodzenia, są wykorzystywani fizycznie i psychicznie, podlegają przymusowym kontrolom, są zastraszani i pozbawiani własnych dokumentów. Te elementy pracy przymusowej są dobrze widoczne wśród jednej z grup narażonych na stanie się ofiarami takiego procederu – Polaków rekrutowanych i przewożonych do Wielkiej Brytanii. Na podstawie ich historii, w niniejszym artykule zostały wskazane trzy kluczowe obszary, w jakich potrzebna jest interwencja. Dwa z nich dotyczą rekrutacji osób z grup wrażliwych na pokrzywdzenie – osób bezdomnych oraz osób mających za sobą przeszłość kryminalną. Trzecim obszarem jest ułatwienie świadczenia pracy tym osobom poprzez zaangażowanie legalnych agencji rekrutacyjnych. By ułatwić dyskusję nad tym tematem, w artykule została przedstawiona historia, która wydarzyła się niedawno, a w której 400 osób w wieku od 17 do 60 lat zostało zrekrutowanych i wykorzystanych do pracy przymusowej w Wielkiej Brytanii przez dwie polskie rodziny zaangażowane w przestępczość zorganizowaną.

EN

This article speaks to a world order where forced labour is in plain sight. The starting point for the crime and recruitment of victims of human trafficking is often on the street. Homeless persons and individuals who have recently left correctional institutions are approached and swiftly transported to countries of destination. There, again in plain sight, they are taken to legal and regulated recruitment agencies and are found jobs. In many instances, they are placed in factories, recycling plants, and warehouses. Although these jobs are legitimate, what happens behind the scenes is not: individuals working have no access to their wages, suffer psychological and physical abuse, threats, coercive control, and their documents are taken from them. These clear components of forced labour are perfectly illustrated in the plight of vulnerable polish men recruited and transported to the UK who were discovered in UK’s largest police investigation into forced labour: Operation Fort. This exposé investigates and explores three key points where intervention is needed: two related to the recruitment of certain subgroups – the targeting of homeless individuals and those with a relationship with the criminal justice system, and a third, where forced labour is facilitated through the use of legitimate recruitment agencies.

Keywords

PL

handel ludźmi; praca przymusowa; bezdomność; przeszłość kryminalna; agencje rekrutacyjne

EN

human trafficking; forced labour; homeless; criminal past; recruitment agency; Operation Fort

• Publisher: Instytut Nauk Prawnych PAN / Institute of Legal Studies PAN
• Journal: Archiwum Kryminologii
• Year: 2021
• Issue: XLIII/1
• Pages: 75-96

Dates

published

2021

Contributors

author

Julia Muraszkiewicz

• Trilateral Research

• https://orcid.org/0000000293700617

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Identifiers

DOI

10.7420/AK2021.07

Biblioteka Nauki

1375669