The public was shocked to find out that this many modern slaves lived so close to home, working for Borealis, an Austrian multinational and European conglomerate.
Antwerp is becoming a destination for cheap labor, with migration patterns showing evidence of this. Hence it's also a trafficking destination for trafficking. It's been happening for a while, the same pattern has emerged in the Netherlands and Germany: Asian skilled laborers sent to Eastern Europe then trafficked westward. And the Borealis case has blown the matter wide open.
Stakeholders feel The Belgian authorities aren't keen on admitting there is a trafficking problem. Doing so could be very expensive, not to mention damaging to their public image. The companies involved in the trafficking might go unpunished.
The team spoke with workers, the shelter, the lawyers involved in the case, civil society groups and parliamentarians looking to change Belgian laws on trafficking.
The case spotlights the voices of workers and their continuing ordeal. It also looks at the reasons and patterns behind the trafficking of non-EU citizens into Belgium.
© Michael Beltran
