Refugees “Olga” is looking for Ukrainians to work for a non-existent “tights factory” in Helsinki – Refugees are now flooded with job offers, experts worried about the risk of exploitation

Work at the tights and corset factory in Helsinki. Salary 14 euros per hour net, the employer provides accommodation. Working hours ten hours a day, five days a week. No language skills are required, factory managers speak Russian. Only for Ukrainians.

Under these conditions, only “Olga” appearing on the online job search site will provide the job. The announcement is likely to raise doubts. It is known that there is no factory in Helsinki or in the whole of Finland that specifically produces tights.

Olga has more than 50 other washes on the same site: a coffee factory in Paris, a packer of dried mushrooms in Oulu and a pharmaceutical factory in Tampere. The name is the same as another employment agency who has been in the service for a long time.

Ukrainians are currently receiving job offers, some of which are questionable. Authorities and industry organizations are concerned about their risks of being exploited or trafficked.

At the Finnish Immigration Service we are aware of job offers that sound risky, says the deputy director Katri Lyijynen On the assistance system for victims of trafficking in human beings.

The agency has been notified that Ukrainians have been offered factory work in sectors or factories that do not really exist in Finland.

“And on the other hand, an unreasonably high salary has been offered for a job that doesn’t sound realistic,” says Lead.

There is also a risk of sexual exploitation. According to Lyijynen, the reception centers have received inquiries from men who have been looking for women in need of private accommodation.

“Some single case is known. It’s hard to say what’s in the end of it in the background. But of course it raises a little red flags, why women. ”

Major the risk of falling victim to refugees in the vicinity of Ukraine right now, Lead estimates.

“There have been reports from anti-trafficking workers and authorities that all sorts of offers are raining down on those fleeing Ukraine.”

Compared to many other asylum seekers, Ukrainians often have a good educational background, language skills and, for example, literacy. On the other hand, the situation of refugees is vulnerable.

“When a person has a difficult situation and a great desire to get a job and somehow build a life, they would love to take up various offers that would sound good,” says Lead.

There is also a risk in home accommodation. Assistance should not include consideration, ie refugees should not be asked for money or work in return for accommodation.

Read more: Many Finns want to offer home accommodation to refugees, but there may be surprising costs

Read more: Hundreds of Finns want to offer home accommodation for refugees, but it is not quite simple – these are the five things to consider when considering accommodation.

Ukrainians the situation of refugees differs from the past in that now the vast majority of newcomers are women and children. It also increases the risk of exploitation, says the executive director of Refugee Aid Annu Lehtinen.

“Finland is certainly not free of these phenomena either,” says Lehtinen.

Humanitarian organizations have paid attention to children moving alone. For example, the British BBC and The Guardian have reported that children have already disappeared in the vicinity of Ukraine.

Mild phenomena can also arise quickly because refugees have now left a lot and quickly, says Lehtinen.

On the other hand Many factors in Finland reduce the susceptibility of Ukrainians to exploitation, says a police inspector Måns Enqvist About the Police Board. Often the abuse already takes place on the escape route, he recalls.

“Now the escape route to Finland is quite short. In that sense, the risk during transport is low. ”

Another positive point is that Ukrainians can apply for and receive temporary protection as soon as they arrive in the country. Protection is provided for one year at a time. Newcomers should not be left paperless now, says Enqvist.

“There is no situation, as is usually the case with asylum seekers, that they first wait for a decision for many years and the decision can be negative and they are not deported for one reason or another.”

In Finland has already before this thousands of Ukrainians work every year in agricultural seasonal work.

According to Enqvist, it is good that these employers have ready-made and usually direct contacts in Ukraine. It also reduces the risks of human trafficking.

“It is not as if a middle ground has been created, as has been seen with Vietnamese, Kazakhs and perhaps the Chinese, for example.”

Enqvist refers to cases where long-term residents have recruited other citizens of their own country to work in Finland.

Ukrainians It is also protected by the fact that there are no criminal organizations in Finland that run, for example, mating activities among Ukrainians.

“It’s not like tradition. It would be a different matter if they were Czechs or Romanians, ”says Enqvist.

Enqvist has not been informed of the offers received by the Ukrainians. He points out that in Finland’s current labor shortage, “even the strangest job offers can be right”. According to Enqvist, the police are monitoring the situation.

“Criminal groups see their potential whenever there is a little boy in crisis somewhere.”

Cognoscenti agree on the main solution to prevent the problems.

All Ukrainians are encouraged to apply for temporary protection or asylum. This will make their arrival known to the authorities.

According to Lyijynen, the Finnish Immigration Service is increasing information and assistance so that refugees know their rights and are able to identify a reliable job offer.