Trafficking in human beings for sexual and other purposes - Polisen

3. Criminal Development25The investigation showed that the employees were, forexample, promised terms and earnings opportunitiesthat were not fulfilled on their arrival in Sweden or atthe end of the contract. Employees spoke of missingwages payments, poor accommodation standards,but also of an acute lack of food and water. In addition,certain employers exercised or threatened violencewhen the berry pickers refused to hand overpassport documents, telephones and other possessions.Certain employers also threatened berry pickerswith being forced to carry out thefts (men) orbeing exploited in prostitution (women) unless theypicked sufficient quantities of berries. Occasionally alarge number of berry pickers also came to Swedenon their own initiative or were deceived by some marketingperson in their home country. The marketingperson then charged a fee for helping the berry pickersget to Sweden where they were subsequently leftwithout financial means and without knowing thelanguage.Many berry pickers went into debt in their homecountry in order to be able to pay for their journey toSweden. This made them particularly vulnerable tothe perpetrators’ threats and exploitation. The victimshad no knowledge of Swedish conditions or ofthe Swedish language, which meant that they wereunable to assess the risks of travelling to and workingin Sweden. Many berry pickers did not earn a sufficientamount to cover their travel and accommodationcosts, despite there being a relatively good supplyof berries and long working days, which meant theythen ran into debt.In order to prevent foreign workers being exploitedunfairly in the future, through unreasonable workingconditions, unpaid wages, being subjected to threatsand slavery-like conditions, during spring 2011, theSwedish National Police Board initiated a collaborativeventure with the Swedish Migration Board,Swedish Tax Agency and Swedish Work EnvironmentAuthority. The collaborative process ended upwith the Swedish Migration Board producing guidelines,ahead of the berry picking season, for companiesthat offered employment to berry pickers fromthird-party countries.The guidelines involve the employers having todemonstrate, for example:• Documentation on previously paid wages for companiesthat had formerly employed berry pickers.• A report on how the company plans to pay themonthly wage offered (gross wage and any socialsecurity contributions) even when the berry supplyis poor and/or in the event that the employee is unableto pick berries equivalent to the monthly salaryoffered.The employer can do this, for example, by demonstratingthat there is/are:• cash in the bank or equivalent• overdrafts• bank guarantees or a legally binding commitmentfrom other funding sources• security from the guarantor who is able to showthat assets exist. In support of this, for example,balance sheets and income statements can be submitted.In addition, employers must show:• That the arrangements have been made to organisethe work and guide the berry pickers in carryingout their work in the manner customary within theindustry. In practice, the work should also beorganised in a way that is in accordance with industrypractices with regard to transportation, foodand accommodation, for example.• An account of all costs that are to be borne by theberry picker.• Documented and proven conveyance to the berrypicker of information on the nature of the work, theterms of employment offered, the Right of PublicAccess (Swe: Allemansrätten) and current roadsafety rules in Sweden. Information about theemployment offered, in addition to salary, periodof notice, insurance protection, and it must beissued in a language the employee can understand.