The Finnish authorities have revealed that the first migrant workers from Thailand have entered the country to pick wild berries.
The arrival of the Thai berry pickers to the country left the police surprised as the authorities of Thailand delayed their departure until some conditions on their visas were met.
According to the Finnish police, the first group of Thai berry pickers have arrived in the Kainuu region and they are currently working there, Schengen.News reports.
Only after the police carried out some checks in the region it find out that Thai migrant workers are in the country. Commenting on the matter, the Detective Inspector from the Oulu Police Department, Nina Similä, said that this whole situation is a mystery.
This is a complete mystery. We were under the impression that Thais wouldn’t be there because Thailand has been very vigilant in preventing pickers from leaving their country until now.
As Yle News explains, all Thai berry pickers found working in the Kainuu region were formally employed by the Lieska-based firm. Moreover, it has emphasised that all Thai migrant workers had valid residence permits.
Their work papers were in order, and they [Thai berry pickers] are entitled to work here.
Finland Has Granted 900 Residence Permits to Thai Berry Pickers
In order to meet the sector demand, Finland has granted a total of 900 residence permits to berry pickers from Thailand for the 2024 season.
For this harvest season, Finland received 1,200 applications. However, 400 of the applications received negative decisions due to failure to meet all the requirements.
Despite Finland granting a large number of residence permits for Thais wishing to enter the country for seasonal work purposes, this group of workers still had to get authorisation from the Thai government.
The Thai government decided not to let its citizens reach Finland for seasonal work purposes without issuing an exit permit due to exploitation concerns. The government also required the Finnish government to ensure that its nationals were being treated rightfully and asked to examine the employment contracts of those who have been issued residence permits.
The decision of the Thai government to set such conditions comes following reports that the Finnish berry firms were allegedly exploiting and mistreating Thai seasonal workers.
