Spanish police have arrested 43 people in the south of the country, suspected of belonging to a criminal network that exploited illegal migrants working in the agricultural sector, mostly Moroccans, to whom they sold fake employment contracts at exorbitant prices.
“Officers of the National Police have arrested 43 people in the province of Malaga and dismantled a criminal group that allegedly engages in labor exploitation and fraudulent regularization of migrants,” police said in a statement.
The victims were “mostly Moroccan citizens” and that the detainees were “of different nationalities”, Spanish police said without giving further details on the nationality of the culprits.
The victims “were mostly Moroccan citizens” and the individuals arrested were of “different nationalities”, said the Spanish police, without giving further details on the nationality of the culprits.
According to Spanish police, the network has long preyed on helpless migrants who allegedly pay up to €3,000 for a fake Spanish work contract.
At least seven agricultural companies are involved in the scheme, which aims to illegally employ these migrants, who authorities say have been forced to work and “hosted in inhumane conditions in the homes of the culprits”.
Spain is one of the main gateways for African immigration to Europe. In 2022, some 31,219 migrants entered the country illegally, a figure, however, 25.6% lower than the previous year.
Moroccans represent the largest community of foreign origin legally settled in Spain, with nearly 800,000 souls, followed by the Romanian, British and Colombian communities, according to June 2022 data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE).
“Migrant workers are at greater risk of being in a situation of forced labor than other workers,” the International Labor Organization said in a report published in September.
Agence