French trial exposes human trafficking among champagne workers"

Three people…are accused of exploiting more than 50 seasonal workers, mainly from west Africa.

The workers – all undocumented migrants – were found during the 2023 September harvest living in cramped and unhygienic conditions in a building at Nesle-le-Repons, southwest of Reims in the heart of champagne country.

… the 48 men and nine women came from Mali, Mauritania, Ivory Coast and Senegal. Many are attending Thursday's trial.

"They shouted at us in Russian and crammed us into this broken-down house, with mattresses on the floor,"…

"There was no clean water, and the only food was a bowl of rice and rotten sandwiches…

Tipped off a week later by a local resident, labour inspectors visited the scene and documented conditions which "were a serious breach of the occupants' safety, health and dignity,"…

… living and eating areas were outside, unprotected from the elements; toilets were filthy; showers were inadequate with only intermittent hot water; and the electrics were a safety hazard…

… migrants were working ten hours a day with only 30 minutes for lunch, having been transported to the vineyards squatting in the back of trucks. They had no written contract, and the pay they received bore "no relation to the work performed," according to the prosecution…