Bulgarians freed from slave labor on farm
A Greek and a Bulgarian have been charged with forcing a group of Bulgarian migrants to work 15 hours a day on a tobacco farm in northern Greece for just over one euro a day each. Police found the seven migrants – six adults and a girl – near the farm earlier this week in a wretched state. They had been living in a stable, from which they say they were evicted for complaining about their pay – a total of 10 euros a day for all seven – and living conditions. Police were tipped off by a Bulgarian woman who said her brother had asked her to deposit 600 euros in a bank account in order to secure his «release.» The employers said the 600-euro fee was to cover the cost of each migrant’s travel to Greece. But the migrants, who are now in a hostel, say they covered their own costs and had been told they would be paid 50 euros a day for the work.
