Greece’s agricultural sector has been performing well as of late, despite the struggling overall economy being the talk of the ‘European town’ since the 2008 financial crisis.
However, what has contributed to this growth and what goes on behind the scenes has largely remained hidden.
In an in-depth conversation with Al-Jazeera, 20-year-old Adnan Ahmed – one of the undocumented immigrant farm workers in Athens – reveals that desperate people with an aim to provide a better life to their families are tricked into such low-paying, and often, abusive jobs.
“Before you arrive you are told that you’ll be able to save a lot of money and send some to your family,” he told the publication, adding that they are promised basic necessities for little cost.
Workers like Ahmed find their bridges back home burnt once they reach foreign countries, due to the fact that they are mostly there with no money, do not have a legal status there, and face language barriers.
Living conditions are not adequate either, considering that anywhere from 10 to 30 men are accommodated in large rooms with bunk beds, but with despicable sanitary conditions and little or no means to cook food. Working for nearly 10 hours daily and no days off, these immigrants comprise almost 90% of the country’s labourers. They move farms every six months or so as the seasons change.
“This is like 19th-century cooking,” commented Amir Ali, a 25-year-old Pakistani hailing from Gujrat, in an attempt to lighten his dismal condition. “In Pakistan, we don’t live like this, we’d use gas cookers.”
Ahmed works under foreman Faisal Razza, a 19-year-old who has rapidly risen in ranks after learning Greek. This is the kind of farm-work hierarchy the immigrants have to accept. Some of these foremen are understanding and considerate, but many others find their hands tied by the bosses, who they’re liable to pay.
What’s worse is that the rent they’re supposed to pay is usually not manageable in the money they earn, which piles up to form debt they can’t get out of forming a never-ending spiral.
Due to this, workers who are bold enough to ask permission to leave are refused to do so by their bosses as one or more co-workers are indebted and the dues must be settled first. It can become so ugly that some of these fruit-and-vegetable-pickers have been locked in rooms for days with guards outside.
Adding the cherry on top is the fact that they are discriminated against in terms of wages as well. Pakistani workers are paid €22 for 100 crates of oranges, but their Albanian counterparts get €28 euros for the same amount of work.
“In Pakistan, even our farm animals live better than we do in Greece,” said Ahmed.
Finding no hope, some of these immigrants try to escape. The publication mentioned a worker who somehow managed to run away. He was forced to barter his cell phone to afford travel by bus.
Most of these workers fell into a trap by some friend or acquaintance. Of those interviewed, one had resided in Malaysia and had a good job, while another used to work in Saudi Arabia. Both were lured in and are now distressed over what they are paid … that is if their bosses do pay.
Professor Charalambos Kasimis, the general secretary at Greece’s Ministry of Agriculture, shed light on this topic. “Pakistani [workers] are here illegally, without families, and naturally their status is lower in terms of wages, resident status, and of course, the issue of rights – they have no rights,” he said.
A scheme, which was launched by the nation’s government last year, entailed a voucher system for undocumented workers pertaining to basic rights and an equitable pay. It didn’t work out then because the employers wouldn’t compensate fairly.
However, Emily Dickinson said, “Hope is the thing with feathers, […] and never stops at all,” and that’s what Professor Kasimis believes in. He thinks the plan will be successful this year.
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