Finnish berry companies are attempting to hire around 1,000 pickers from Thailand this summer, the news group Uutissuomalainen reports, as fears grow that much of this summer's berry harvest may go unpicked due to workforce shortages.
The move to hire the berry pickers on work contracts comes after the Finnish Foreign Ministry said in March that it would not accept berry-picking visa applications this summer from Thailand, Cambodia or Myanmar over concerns that the practice leads to exploitation and human trafficking.
Numerous reports have emerged over the years revealing that while berry pickers are officially classed as tourists in Finland, they are actually at the mercy of middlemen and berry firms for almost all their needs while working up to 14 hours a day. In some cases, pickers' conditions have been comparable to forced labour.
The foreign ministry's move sought to end this practice, with Uutissuomalainen writing that the Finnish Immigration Service Migri has begun making provisions to grant between 1,000 and 2,000 work permits to Thai berry pickers.
Birgitta Partanen, director of the industry group the Arctic Flavours Association (Arktiset Aromit), which represents the berry industry, told the news group that there are still many issues to be ironed out — not least with Thai authorities, which has demanded answers from Finland in the past over how its citizens are treated in Finland.
In the immediate aftermath of the foreign ministry's visa suspension, the Arctic Flavours Association warned that this year's berry harvest could be left to wither on the bush as Thai workers have in the past picked an estimated 80-90 percent of Finland's wild berry crop.
All Points North probed the allegations of forced labour and human trafficking that could see Finland's berry crop go unpicked this summer. Listen to the episode via this embedded player, on Yle Areena, via Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
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