In Poland, migrant workers from Latin America reported abuse and exploitation Immigration news

Wroclaw, Poland – Rocio Flores, a 44 -year -old mother, shivering in a busy country house in Blaszki, a village in central Poland.

Her breath was shallow as her heart bombed. A few minutes ago, a man from the agency, for which she was working as a rifle and five of her colleagues in the Colombian work. It was August 2023.

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“In my country, Mexico, when a man reaches his pistol, it is because he wants to use it,” she said. “I thought I would die there, I thought my body would be thrown into the corn fields, and I will not see my children again.”

The conflict began when the agency representative announced that workers’ transformations at the Bloone Chicken Treatment Factory will be extended to 12 hours due to the lack of employees. The group rejected the wages that were due. I followed a hot argument. Then the man reached his rifle.

Al -Jazeera reviewed a video of Floris’s plight, recorded by a worker, and identified the gunman as Ukrainian. Then the man was employed by a contractor who worked with Jober24, a temporary employment agency that provides employees to Plukon.

In the video, after a physical fight with a Colombian employee, the man concerned is walking to his car and pulling a gun. While cursing immigrants in the Polish language, he threatens to contact the authorities.

He says: “If the police come, you will get (from the country).” Four people between the group were not documented.

Before 2022, the Ukrainians were on temporary permits who operated Polish factories, farms and food plants. But since Russia has been widely invaded, Ukrainian refugees have gained greater reaching the labor market in Poland and many have sought better job opportunities. In search of cheap employment, temporary work agencies have started recruitment from elsewhere.

Latin America has become the new source. Columbia, Peru, Mexico and other countries from the region can enter the European Union without visas, stay for three months and apply for work permits while already in Poland.

This changed in June 2025, when Poland presented a new law. Immigrants must now apply for work permits in their countries of origin. There is now greater supervision of temporary work agencies, which were routinely used as labor and tax laws. Violations also increased.

Despite the changes, it is still unclear whether the situation of migrant workers will improve.

For the Colombians, who faced inflation, unemployment and Venezuelan immigration in the homeland, Poland seems an opportunity for a better life.

Employment often begins with local travel agencies. Then those who were recruited are delivered to polishing partners.

“Often, people are lied from the beginning,” said Irina Dod Dod Ollusic, President of La Strada, a fight against trafficking. “Some agencies offer them money for the ticket. The debts link them with exploitative conditions. It is a form of worshiping employment.”

Official data indicate that Poland issued more than 4000 Colombians in 2022. By 2024, the number rose to approximately 38,000. But in many cases, agencies do not apply for work permits on behalf of immigrants, leaving people who are not documented and have mercy on employers. It is not clear the number of Colombians who live without a situation in Poland.

“We believe that, regardless of Latin America, the immigrants from Bangladesh, the Philippines and Central Asia are also at risk,” said David Alcizk. “But many do not trust the authorities enough to report violations.”

After the accident, Flores and her colleagues took their video to the local police station. According to her, the officers found the man, but they knew him as a Georgian citizen and claimed that the gun was a game. He claimed that they encouraged immigrants to reconcile him instead of press charges.

Police told Al -Jazeera that they did not follow the case because none of the group had not made an official complaint. In a statement to the island of the island, the Blucon factory said that the man who carries the gun was not working directly by their company or by Jober24.

In the end, Flores and the others, who work for an external sources of use, have paid them: 17 zloty ($ 5) per hour, less than the legal minimum of 21 zloty ($ 6) at that time. In their statement, Blucon said they are always paying their workers ’wages in line with Polish law.

Flores arrived in Poland to find a peaceful life in Europe, away from Mexico and poverty violence. Her plan for her two daughters and her son, who lived with her parents, was to join her as soon as she settled.

“Poland will need migration to maintain its economy.”

In Colombia, Tiktok nourishes in flowing with pictures of Poland castle in the Middle Ages, dense forests, and old -paced towns. The influencers describe the country as a place for Latin Americans to gain well, travel and enjoy a better life.

“People hear, my cousin makes 6000 Zloti ($ 1650), and he travels and has a blonde friend.” “It is a dream they sell.

“Do not mention that you will work 270 hours a month in stressful jobs, or that many agencies never apply for your work permit.”

Abadia has direct experience.

In 2021, he was recruited by Osas, a Colombian agency promised 4000 Zloty ($ 1100) per month for a warehouse job in Poland. Instead, he got 1,600 ($ 440) under harsh conditions. He informed the case to La Strada as exploitation.

The following years were turbulent. Make other temporary jobs, obtained a master’s degree at WROCLAW University, and even spent homeless time. But his experiences and background as a social worker in Colombia helped him understand the regular issues faced by immigrants in Poland better.

In Nomada, workers support migrants and helped establish the Latin American Workers Union in cooperation with the workers’ initiative, a local labor union.

In August 2023, he was on the other end of the desperate call for help. Five Colombians and Mexican Women, Flores, had just escaped from the chicken plant after threatening it with a pistol. They had a car but anywhere to go. Some were not documented because of their negligence.

Abadia asked them to travel to Wroclaw, where Nomada gave them a place to stay and help find a new work.

The demand for work in Poland grows. According to the Polish Institute of Economy, by 2035, the country’s workforce will reduce 2.1 million due to the demographic decline, equivalent to 12.6 percent of the current offer.

“Poland will need immigration to maintain its economy,” said Katarzina Decokka, Institute. “Between 2022 and 2024 alone, the number of foreigners in the Polish labor market increased by a third.”

This dependence on migration, without sufficient protection, leaves workers in risky locations.

“Unfortunately, we cannot have the same type of union as in Latin America, because we are not citizens,” Flores said. “But we can still inform people, warn them of the dangers, and share the truth with those who think about coming here.”

Two years after her arrival, Flores are in a better place. It has a stable job, in addition to Nomada, she formulated the “Survival Guide” for Poland, with practical advice and information about employment rights.