Udnyttelse af migranters arbejdskraft på det danske arbejdsmarkedet

This report is part of the project Competence building, Assistance provision and Prosecution of labour exploitation cases in the Baltic Sea Region (CAPE). With a focus on Denmark, this report explores how different forms of exploitation of migrant workers takes place in Denmark. Despite the political attention towards combatting social dumping and human trafficking to forced labour in Denmark, there still exists a need for knowledge on the different forms of exploitation that takes place in this context. In particular, this report will be guided by the following questions: which forms of exploitation do the migrant workers experience? Within what industries do the exploitation take place? What factors contribute to the migrants’ vulnerable positions in Denmark? Empirically, the report takes point of departure in the industries of horticulture, farming, service (cleaning and sale) and construction. The report is based on interviews with migrant workers both from EU (Romania, Poland, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Latvia and Slovenia) and outside EU (Ukraine, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Afghanistan). Additionally, the data material consists of interviews with authorities, enterprises, the trade union and educational institutions as well as official and unofficial documents.
Based on the empirical material we have identified different forms of precarious working conditions in terms of work permits, visa status, payment, and specific tasks that condition the different types of exploitation and coercion from poor working conditions and lacking payment to identity theft, physical and psychological violence. These forms of exploitation and coercion are rooted in the residence and work permit in Denmark, as (1) an EU migrant, (2) a non-EU migrant, or (3) a non-EU migrant without residence and work permit. The different constellations of forms of residence and work permit goes across the different industries, and conditions the migrant workers’ experiences of precarity, exploitation and coercion.