Concerns have increasingly been raised in recent years of the exploitation of foreign berry pickers, who come to northern Sweden to pick berries during the summer season – often from countries far away such as Thailand – but often work hard in exchange for little money.
The Migration Agency therefore initially argued that based on the working conditions last year’s berry pickers experienced, the employers in question would not this year be able to provide working conditions in line with industry practice or collective bargaining agreements.
However, the court found that reasonable explanations had been presented by employers in the appeal.
The Migration Agency will now process the 1,278 permit applications again.
A Migration Agency spokesperson told The Local last week that they couldn’t say whether or not there could be a knock-on effect on waiting times for other permits over the summer as a result.
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