Fifty-five Filipino and Bangladeshi workers were discovered in a situation of modern slavery at a construction site in the port of Antwerp in Belgium, the Flemish city’s floor said on Tuesday, which is launching an investigation.
The investigation was entrusted to the Labor Auditor, a department of the public prosecutor’s office specializing in work-related crimes, who confirmed that “55 potential victims” had “revealed themselves” and were now awaiting questioning.
Such a number of people being exploited in a single workplace is unprecedented in Belgium, according to the Payoke Centre, an association specializing in the reception of victims of human trafficking.
These men worked as welders and pipe fitters “on a quay in the port of Antwerp,” said a spokesman for the auditors, without naming the company concerned.
According to several local media, they have been assigned to a company specializing in industrial pipelines, which acts as a subcontractor at a construction site of the chemical company Borealis in Beveren, near Antwerp.
These 55 workers are mostly Filipinos and the warning was first issued two weeks ago through the Philippine consulate in Antwerp, where some of them had complained about their situation, said the director of the Payoke center contacted by AFP.
600 euros a month
“They got two to four euros per hour worked, so around 600 euros a month. It is clear that they were in a very precarious situation,” said Klaus Vanhoutte, who runs one of three Belgian reception centers for these victims of modern slavery in Antwerp.
According to him, the network that exploits these Asian workers circulates them in several European countries with “work permits issued in Hungary and Poland.”
“Some had already worked in Germany and a group were preparing to leave for Greece,” added Mr. Vanhoutte.
“This file is just the tip of the iceberg,” said Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne, quoted by the Belga news agency.
The minister mentioned a figure from the Global Slavery Index – published each year by the NGO Walk Free Foundation – according to which there are “23,000 people who are victims of exploitation or modern slavery” in Belgium.
To combat this scourge, the Belgian government announced on Monday the launch of the website www.stoptraite.be, which presents itself as a one-stop shop allowing victims to seek help in various situations (sexual exploitation, work, compulsive crime, organ harvesting) to find, etc.).