The French justice opened an investigation Friday, October 13 for "trafficking in human beings" against seven people suspected of having employed, in "undignified" conditions, dozens of people in the vineyards of Bordeaux, in the southwest of France.
The seven suspects arrested on Tuesday in three communes in the east of Gironde, including Saint-Emilion, have been charged with "trafficking in human beings by an organised gang", "concealment of a crime" and "subjecting vulnerable people to undignified working and accommodation conditions", said the Libourne prosecutor's office (southwest), which requested that they be placed in pre-trial detention.
'Dozens of victims'
According to the judicial authority, this network recruited workers from Romania, transported them to Gironde and employed them in the vineyards for "a derisory salary". Since September 2022, "several dozen victims", including a 14-year-old minor and all Romanian nationals, have filed complaints, denouncing in particular "undignified housing conditions, bullying and various deprivations".
The number of complaints from "exploited people" in the wine industry has been "increasing in recent years," the Libourne prosecutor's office told AFP. In the spring, in Gironde, three people were convicted of "trafficking" Moroccan vineyard workers.
In Champagne (north-east), in September, two investigations for "human trafficking" were opened and collective accommodation for grape pickers, deemed "unhealthy" and "unworthy", was closed by the authorities.