The working conditions of grape pickers in France are at the center of a human trafficking trial that has opened this week in Reims, BBC reports.
Three people — a woman from Kyrgyzstan, a man from Georgia and a Frenchman — are accused of exploiting more than 50 seasonal workers, mainly from west Africa.
As media outlet notes, the workers — all undocumented migrants — were found during the 2023 September harvest living in cramped and unhygienic conditions in a building at Nesle-le-Repons, southwest of Reims.
They had been recruited via a Whatsapp group message for the West African Soninke ethnic community living in Paris, which promised «well-paid work» in the Champagne region.
The 48 men and nine women, aged between 16 and 65 when they were hired, were from Mali, Mauritania, Ivory Coast and Senegal.
According to the victims, they were kept in a dilapidated building without access to water or proper nutrition, and the working conditions severely violated safety standards and human dignity.
The migrants worked 10-hour days with minimal breaks and were transported to the vineyards in the back of trucks. They had no written contracts, and the pay they received bore «no relation to the work performed,» according to the prosecution.
Labor inspectors documented unsanitary conditions, a lack of basic facilities, and life-threatening risks due to faulty electrical wiring.
The 44-year-old female suspect, named Svetlana G., ran a recruitment agency called Anavim, which specialized in finding labor for the wine industry. The two others were her associates.
In addition to the charge of human trafficking, the woman is also accused of undeclared labor, employing foreigners without permits, inadequate pay, and lodging vulnerable people in unfit conditions.
All three face jail terms of up to seven years and large fines if they are convicted.