[fmbb]

> When an employer can confiscate someone's passport and one can only leave the country with their authorization, it is slavery.

This happens in Europe as well.

It is not legal, but it is the only way the Scandinavian berry market works at all. You don’t even need a huge market for this to be allowed to happen. You just need _a_ market and workers that are desperate enough to be tricked.

[RetroTechie]

On a side note: be VERY suspicious if you ever come across a situation, where person identified by a passport, does not keep (more exactly: control) it themselves. This is a big red flag you've encountered some sort of exploitative (and possibly illegal) situation. Please remember!

Quoting from my own passport:

"The bearer of this passport may pass it to a third party only if there is a statutory obligation to do so".

Denying the freedom of an employee to end a work relation with their employer & leave, does not pass that bar.

[belorn]

When visiting Egypt, the hotel took control of all the guests passport and only returned them at departure date. It is not the same as work relation, obviously, but I wonder how common that practice is in other tourist destinations.

[manarth]

It's incredibly unusual – I've not encountered that in any destination I've travelled to (including Egypt).

They'll usually make a photocopy of the passport during check-in, then immediately return it.

[runsWphotons]

This is completely a figment of your imagination.

[manarth]

Passport confiscation is a common sign of modern slavery.

    "he was lured in with the false promise of a well-paid job in the UK"
    "The gang confiscated the passports of all their victims"

It's not legal. There are definitions of "Modern Slavery" and descriptions of the practices and warning signs because it is still an issue in contemporary times, including in Europe.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2kdg84zj4wo

[regenschutz]

No, it's real. Every year, there are several news articles about berry pickers being abused, at least here in Sweden (not sure about the other Scandinavian countries). Here's [0] just ONE of the myriad of articles I could find, but there are so, so, so many more (and even worse ones) [1].

[0]: (In Swedish) Berry entrepreneurs suspected of trafficking Thai nationals, (2025). https://www.svt.se/nyheter/lokalt/vasternorrland/barforetag-...

[1]: (In Swedish) Berry pickers (Topic). https://www.svt.se/nyheter/om/barplockare

Both are from SVT, the public broadcaster in Sweden.

[ronjakoi]

Similar situation in Finland. There have only recently been some consequences for the berry companies and reforms are underway. The pickers would come mainly from Thailand with tourist visas. This year a majority of the visas have been denied and the berry companies are throwing tantrums.

They've been engaging in illegal price-fixing, too.

[insane_dreamer]

The difference is that in Sweden it happens but at least it's illegal. In Dubai there's nothing illegal about it and therefore much more widespread.

[manarth]

  > "In Dubai there's nothing illegal about it"

It's illegal in Dubai too.

https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=435f366f-4279...