Significantly fewer applications from berry pickers

Published 13 May 2024 at 12.26

Domestic. The number of applications to come to Sweden and pick berries has clearly decreased this year.

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In order to counter labor exploitation among Thai berry pickers, the Migration Agency has have taken various measures ahead of this year's season.

– Among other things, we have deepened our investigations and taken in more information about employers and clients from other authorities within the framework of our cooperation between authorities against workplace crime, says Hanna Geurtsen, head of section at the Swedish Migration Agency , in a press release.

The new measures lead to slightly longer processing times but may also lead to more rejections of applications compared to before. At the same time, the number of applications this year is lower than in the past.

So far, just over 2,200 applications have been received, which is significantly lower compared to the previous year. There are also fewer clients and employers this year than before.

– This may be due to the stricter inspections but also that berry pickers are not exempt from the subsistence requirement, which means that they must have a salary that is at the level of a good livelihood , i.e. at least 80 percent of the median salary, says Hanna Geurtsen.