Fiodor Ghelici, chairman of the public association “Moldova Mea”, calls on Prime Minister Pavel Filip to examine the activity of the Border Police which he suspects are accomplice to trafficking in persons. According to the activist, the association he heads received a letter signed by a number of persons who suffered after they used the services of a recruitment firm that promised them decent work in Poland.
In a news conference at IPN, Fiodor Ghelici said that 17 persons are involved in this case. They went to Poland by a bus together with other people. At the customs post, they said they go to take part in an international forum. The border police officers laughed and allowed them to go after the driver gave them bribe. When they arrived in Poland, the driver took them to a Polish farmer who paid him by €50 for each brought worker.
The activist related that the persons complained they were forced to work by 12 hours a day and had also a predetermined workload: each of them had to clean by 320 kg of onion. They worked in a cold storage facility under the supervision of guards, without breaks and food. In a week, when they asked money from the farmer, this refused to pay them.
As a result, they went to the representative of the recruitment firm who promised he will find another job, with much better conditions, but didn’t do it. Some found a job by themselves, while others returned home. At the bus terminal, they agreed with the driver to pay him later by €100 for taking them home. They gave the driver their passports as a security.
The people were deceived. They asked that the firm should pay them back at least the €100 that they paid for being taken to Poland, but were accused of refusing to work and thus remained without money. Fiodor Ghelici said that if the border police officers had done their job and hadn’t allowed them to cross the border, the people wouldn’t have experienced such a situation.
The activist noted he will assist the victims to write a complaint to the competent bodies so as to help fight trafficking in human beings for labor exploitation.
