A report into the seasonal worker visa scheme has found that migrant fruit pickers traveling to work on UK farms were saddled with debts of up to £5,500 before arriving.

The workers, many from Central Asian countries, pay an average of £1,231 to middlemen who help them find work through the government’s seasonal worker scheme. People from Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Nepal and Indonesia have paid the highest price to come to the UK, with many returning to their home countries in worse economic conditions than when they started.

The majority of workers interviewed by the researchers (72%) said they had taken out a loan to cover the cost of coming to the UK. A 32-year-old Kazakh woman named Amina told scholars in the report: “Many people in Kazakhstan have sold their properties or assets just to have enough money to come here. They hope that it will be better here. Can make more money.

“Can you imagine? Sold everything they owned. Some people quit their jobs to come here because they were told it would be better here. They see it on TikTok or Telegram or Instagram videos and everything looks perfect and Beautiful. But once they get here it’s completely different. It’s just an image, a scam.”

The seasonal worker scheme allows UK growers to employ around 45,000 people each year on six-month visas.A survey by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism independent Evidence was uncovered last year that agricultural workers arriving in the UK were publicly humiliated, unpaid for all their hours and forced to live in substandard conditions.

In a new report, researchers from Focus on Labor Exploitation (FLEX) interviewed 83 migrant workers and received 399 survey responses on the seasonal worker visa route between June 2022 and October 2023. Two out of five workers said the contract language they received was in a language they didn’t know, didn’t understand or didn’t understand. Currently, recruitment of workers from Central Asia is almost three times higher than in Europe, with Kyrgyzstan emerging as the leading country.

Oksana, a 49-year-old woman from Ukraine, said: “I would be grateful if we were told the truth before coming here. Otherwise, people will stop coming here to work. Usually people arrive, work for a while, and then [try] Leave for another farm. “

Several workers said they had paid job search fees or were charged by an agency to access a free-to-use application system.

Safiya, 44, from Kazakhstan, said: “My financial situation was really difficult and I had to borrow money from neighbors and relatives. I paid 600 pounds to a third party who arranged everything for me.” Also from Amir, 48, from Kazakhstan, told researchers he took out a loan from a bank to pay for coming to the UK, but he has not yet repaid it.

Mansour, 32, from Kazakhstan, added: “People risk their assets and even sell their property or anything they can sell to come here hoping to make more by selling their stuff than they just invested. Money. A lot of people have done this, sold their stuff, applied for loans. Everyone on the farm got here by applying for a loan from a bank in their country of origin.”

A caseworker at an organization that supports migrant workers said some fruit pickers were returning to their home countries with more debt than when they arrived.

FLEX research manager Oliver Fisher said: “The results of this study show that many people involved in the scheme are exposed to preventable risks, including the risk of deception. We know where the risk areas are along the visa route , the findings also support what we have been saying to the government for many years.”

A Home Office spokesman said: “The welfare of visa holders is vital, including on the seasonal worker scheme, and we are cracking down on poor working conditions and exploitative behaviour.

“The seasonal worker route has been running for four years and improvements are made each year to stop exploitation and limit poor working conditions while people are in the UK. We will always take decisive action when we believe there is abuse or route conditions are not being met .”