Euregionaal Netwerk Arbeidsmigranten

The Euregional Network for Migrant Workers aims to strengthen
the approach to tackling the exploitation of migrant workers in the EUREGIO in
a cross-border framework. The EUREGIO is lead partner of the project and coordinates project
activities. The municipality of Enschede, the municipality of Oost Gelre and
the Kreis Borken are partners in the project. For years, migrant workers from
eastern and south-eastern European countries have been coming to the
Netherlands and Germany to work in various sectors such as logistics,
agriculture and the meat industry. Due to the tight labour market, the demand
for more workers has increased and temporary employment agencies are increasingly
being called upon to find staff. The tight housing market also makes it
difficult to organise proper housing for new employees. Employment agencies
have capitalised on this gap in supply and demand by handling the recruitment,
transportation and housing of migrant workers in its entirety. Unfortunately,
this system is prone to abuse, as labour migrants are highly dependent on these
employment agencies during their stay. Transport from their home country to the
Netherlands and Germany, commuting during their stay, accommodation and
administration are all taken care of by the employment agency. A situation a
few employment agencies manage to seriously abuse. In both the Netherlands and
North Rhine-Westphalia, the government has now taken measures to combat the
exploitation of migrant workers. Dutch employment agencies, for instance, are
subject to a requirement for certification and are periodically checked on
their payroll, tax returns and lessor status. In North Rhine-Westphalia,
employers in the meat industry are no longer allowed to use employment agencies
and municipalities have been given more control options. However, exceptional
situations arise along the border, where migrant workers are regularly employed
by Dutch companies, and subsequently housed across the border in Germany. Such
schemes make it complicated for the bodies responsible for inspection and
supervision to get a grip on employment agencies guilty of exploitation.
Cheaper property prices in Germany play a role in the choice of Dutch
employment agencies to house migrant workers across the border, but equally the
lack of efficient coordination between Dutch and German authorities makes it
attractive for employment agencies to seek out the border. There is therefore
still a world to be won in the cross-border coordination of measures and
enforcement in the border region. The strong fragmentation of supervisory and
monitoring responsibilities of different authorities makes it difficult to
apprehend offenders. Not only do the Dutch and German approaches differ from
each other, but the state structure is also so different that Dutch and German
local and regional government departments often have no clear counterparts.
With this project, the partners want to bring together the various authorities
and enforcement agencies involved on both sides of the border, including
municipalities, the Dutch Labour Inspection, the RIEC Oost-Nederland, the Kreis
Borken and the Steuerfahndung, to gain a better understanding of the
cross-border system of employment agencies and to make joint agreements for
enforcement against exploitation. Between June 2023
and June 2025, four roundtable meetings will be organised, where insights will
be exchanged, working agreements made and measures devised. A first round table meeting has already
taken place and initial inspections have been carried out. In this way, the
parties involved develop practical measures in addition to those taken
nationwide, tailored specifically to the cross-border situation.