Lorry drivers may have been trafficked, centre charges

As well as having to live in appalling conditions with very low pay, Sri Lankan and Filipino drivers may have even been brought to Europe illegally

Stephen Gadd

Nov 8, 2018

The 26 lorry drivers employed by Kurt Beier Transport at the centre of the scandal over pay and living conditions in southern Denmark have also been trafficked, according to the Danish anti-human trafficking group Center mod Menneskehandel.

The centre, which is a department of Denmark’s national board of social services, has interviewed the drivers from Sri Lanka and the Philippines together with the Philippine Embassy, the 3F union and the AmiAmi NGO, reports DR Nyheder.

Violating the Palermo Protocol
The scandal broke when the union’s membership magazine revealed that several hundred drivers had taken turns living in inhuman conditions in containers that the transport firm had provided as accommodation, as well as being paid wages as low as 15 kroner per hour.

The centre is unable to go into detail regarding the specific details because the interviews with the drivers were carried out under conditions of complete confidentiality, but it is the definition of human trafficking used in the UN’s Palermo Protocol that forms the basis for the evaluation.

However, despite the possible infringement of the protocol, the company may still escape prosecution as the courts might take a different view.

The police have, however, said they will take the centre’s valuation into consideration as they investigate the matter further.