Diplomatic immunity and impunity

DUBLIN - Recruited to Ireland with the promise of good wages, fishers from the Philippines - often in debt after paying illegal recruitment fees - travel across the world to provide better opportunities for themselves and their families. But a work permission scheme, introduced following exposure of trafficking and exploitation of undocumented workers in the sector, has now become a vehicle to exploit the same workers it was introduced to protect, according to workers' advocates. 

ANTWERP - In the summer of 2022, 174 Filipino, Turkish and Bangladeshi workers were discovered to be working illegally at Antwerp port in Belgium. It was the biggest number of modern slaves discovered in the country. Newspapers called it an ‘unprecedented case.’ This story looks at the ordeal of exploited workers, the routes of trafficking between Asia into Belgium which many have fallen victim to. 

EPERNAY / COLOMBO - For decades, champagne has been a symbol of luxury. But in recent years, the sparkling wine from eastern France has taken a battering. Severalhuman trafficking scandals have hit the famous French industry.