Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on July 18, 2022

The Herald

Dr Masimba Mavaza

THE way life works today, where money is mostly 97 percent debt-money, makes indentured slaves of us all. The way the world works now is to use the banks to bind humanity in voluntary slavery, which is the modern day slavery.

The large banks may extend new credit in exchange for our promise to repay. The more interest they rake in, the harder we have to work to service that debt.

Rising house prices mean more money created by the banks out of nothing and more enslavement of the populace as it labours to repay the banks mortgage, the landlords rent or face eviction.

We are shackled by this system. People abandon their homelands only to plunge themselves into perpetual bondage they become slaves of choice.

In search of wealth and better life, the roles and focus has changed. Sometime back, people would strive to go to school in order to have a better life.

But now they only need a passport to get themselves in self-imposed exile in order to have a better life.

A passport becomes more important than an O Level certificate. Most people who toil and suffer in slave-yards, politely called shifts in UK, have voluntarily offered themselves to such servitude.

But it does not have to be this way. Money is a social construct. We can change money and change the world.

But unfortunately the circumstances have made people accept any condition of work and have been willing participants to slavery.

The UK visa policy has increased abuse of foreign maids; the visa system called Tied visas that restrict domestic workers to one employer and limit their stay in the UK have left women vulnerable to slavery and abuse.

The British governments system of visa has exposed thousands of women brought to the UK by wealthy Gulf families to conditions of slavery, trafficking and abuse, according to a review of domestic worker visas.

Domestic workers transported to the UK are legally tied to their employers and are unable to change jobs while in the country.

The Home Office has faced a barrage of criticism that this Tied visa, introduced in 2012, leaves workers unable to leave abusive employers, effectively trapping them in domestic slavery.

This assessment was endorsed by the celebrated barrister James Ewins in his research sponsored by the Home Office of the UK.

The review found no evidence that a tie to a single employer does anything other than increase the risk of abuse and, therefore, increases actual abuse.

This is where people who are brought in as maids or household assistants are abused and denied pay. They are scared to complain because they will have their visas cancelled and get deported.

Now there is a serious shortage of slaves politely known as workers in the U.K.

Thousands of additional care workers are being recruited from abroad to fill chronic gaps in the workforce, the government has announced, after figures showed more than 40 000 social care staff had left the sector in the past six months.

Immigration rules have been relaxed for care workers, care assistants and home care workers, who have been added to the Home Offices shortage occupation list.

The Department of Health and Social Care said the pandemic had brought unprecedented challenges. The change follows a recommendation from the Migration Advisory Committee, which said there were severe and increasing difficulties faced by the care sector.

Care workers who arrive on a 12-month health and care visa receive an annual salary of at least 20,480 to qualify. They are entitled to bring dependants, including a partner and children.

To invite more workers, the Home Office also announced that a visa scheme to allow seasonal horticultural workers to come to the UK would continue until the end of 2024, but the government added it wanted to see a new plan from the sector to cut the reliance on foreign labour.

There are over 30 000 visas granted last year, with the number being tapered down from 2024.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said a review had found the reliance on foreign labour had held down wages and was a disincentive to investment.

So in other words foreigners are paid less and to them its far more as compared to their home country.

George Eustice, the environment secretary, said a seasonal workforce long pre-dated membership of the EU but there was a determination to improve pay and skills to attract UK workers.

We recognise that agriculture has unique and seasonal requirements for labour at harvest and have listened to our world-leading fresh produce industry to understand their needs, he said.

So people have applied to come to the UK as carers or nurses. The pay is lucrative on paper, but once you are in the UK with all bills waiting, the lucrative salary becomes peanuts.

Once one gets into the UK, slavery starts to manifest itself.

The fear of going back home as well as the fear and embarrassment of societal backlash forces thousands to submissions of convenience.

As a result, people who migrated abroad for greener pastures found themselves in slavery of their choice.

A series of interviews with workers who suffered abuse in the UK highlighted a widespread fear that reporting abuse would result in deportation or arrest.

Even if you are not an illegal immigrant, you are forced to stick to one job because there are bills to pay and loans to settle.

There is a family to look after back home and those with you. The only option is to be a slave for the sake of the family.

A Zimbabwean woman died on the train after spending five months shuffling between jobs, with no rest. On searching her, she was found with over 10 000 worth of unpaid pay forms.

Another domestic worker who was left without food by her employer and prevented from sleeping, is fighting to stay in the UK after she was positively identified as a victim of trafficking.

Most people who are in these situations are trapped and cannot extricate themselves without help. Campaigners said the review made it impossible for the Government to deny that visa restrictions imposed on foreign workers create conditions under which abuse can flourish.

Workers are often treated like an extra piece of baggage by their employers. The Home Office said: This government is committed to stopping modern slavery in all its forms. We are working to ensure we provide all victims of modern slavery and trafficking with the protection and support they need through the national referral mechanism (NRM), a Government process set up to identify victims of trafficking.

Anyone who reports being brought to the UK against his/her will for the purpose of work shall have his/her case considered under the NRM.

Exploitation of migrant workers by unscrupulous UK employers is on the increase, the governments anti-slavery commissioner has reported.

A former Scotland Yard detective, Kevin Hyland, describes as extremely shocking the instances of exploitation he has witnessed in sectors such as agriculture, fisheries, hospitality and construction right across the country.

Were having to get society engaged to understand this that this is happening in the 21st century of the United Kingdom, he told the Financial Times.

An equally acute problem, which attracts less attention, is the employment abuse of Zimbabwean nationals, particularly those who are fully entitled to work in Britain.

They are forced to pay the agents who assisted them to come to the UK large sums of money. They are threatened with cancellation of their visas if they complain.

They cramped in horrible lodgings and charged unrealistic fees for having been brought to the UK.

Many Zimbabweans have formed employment agencies where they are inviting people to the UK at shocking charges.

If you dare question these charges, they will then withdraw their sponsorship.

Once one arrives in the UK despite the amount of monies paid, one is treated like a slave and still gets less than the minimum wage.

Workers are forced to sign two different contracts. One for the home office inspectors and one between the employer and the employee which tantamounts to extortion.

Whatever is happening we are now in an era of voluntary slavery.

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Excerpt from:

Voluntary slavery rampant in the Diaspora - The Herald

Category: Diaspora
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