Workers from Romania were exploited at a waste processing plant in Budapest. They received meagre or no pay and lived in inhumane conditions. These violations were detected during inspections, including at an ELA-supported joint inspection between the Hungarian and Romanian Labour inspectorates in Budapest in December 2023. Eurojust, the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation assisted with the setting up of a joint investigation team (JIT), in view of the cross-border scope of the case. This supported Romanian and Hungarian law enforcement to carry out searches and arrest several members of an organised criminal group in November 2024.
An organised crime group is suspected to have trafficked human beings for the purpose of labour exploitation for over 10 years. The Romanian workers were promised good salaries as well as housing. In contrast, they usually had to work 12, 18 or even 24 hours a day in a waste processing plant in Budapest, did not receive any protective equipment, had to work in very cold temperatures in winter and could not even properly sit-down during breaks. The workers had been recruited mainly from foster care system in Romania.
The workers either received only a part of the promised wages or these were taken away from them altogether because the perpetrators claimed they used it to cover the workers’ housing and food. They lived in derelict, dirty, and unheated accommodation. The workers were scared of the employers who carried knives and firearms.
Based on the request of the Hungarian police authority we organised an inspection at the waste processing plant on 14 December last year.
At our initiative – with the support of ELA – an inspector from the Romanian Labour Inspectorate also took part in the action and actively contributed to its success as most employees were Romanian citizens.Our main goal was to obtain information, to identify victims, recruiters and potential perpetrators – obviously in addition to revealing direct and immediate labour and safety irregularities. The interviews with workers were done in an empathetic way by our colleagues. They had earlier been trained by ELA and CEPOL* on labour exploitation.
Labour-law related fines were imposed following the labour inspection of 14 December 2023. A further on-site inspection was conducted on 12 November 2024. Investigations continue and are expected to be completed in the first half of 2025.
The European Labour Authority supports cooperation between the EU Member States in the area of enforcement of labour mobility legislation. In this case, it organised a preparatory meeting with the presence of Hungarian and Romanian labour inspectors, it provided operational and logistical support to the deployment of the Romanian inspector. Furthermore, ELA national liaison officer and case handler were present on spot. Eurojust is the EU Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation, which at the request of national authorities enables and supports collaboration in cross-border investigations at judicial level to combat organised crime and terrorism.
*CEPOL is an agency of the European Union dedicated to develop, implement and coordinate training for law enforcement officials.
More information: European Labour Agency.
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