Cinzia D'Ambrosi

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“My name is Miguel Angel, 29 years old from Colombia. I arrived to Wrocław in January 2021, still under Covid-19 rules. I was met at the airport by the agents, who took me to a small town near Wroclaw. We were 12 of us, all from Colombia. We were taken to a small of house and told that we had to stay indoors for 20 days of quarantine. They left us some food. At first, things seemed normal, however soon this changed. For days, no one returned to give us food even if we were not allowed to leave. After 18 days, someone brought us bread and water, promising to return with more food, but they never came back. We started to feel more and more uneasy and began planning to go outside. It was then that someone from the agency came back and moved us into different houses located far away from each other. I was among 7 people who were put in a single room which had no television, no Wifi, and no means to contact the outside world. We started to work, carrying pallets and operating forklifts. We were expected to work very fast with no time for breaks. The foreman would constantly shout at us, pushing us to work without stopping. We were paid very little. Someone would call us as early as 5 am, or 4 am to work, and our shifts would finish not earlier than 3 pm, although usually we would not finish before 6 pm. After days of this regime, we were all feeling exhausted and confused and the isolation was limiting any contacts with others. The nearest place to buy food was over 1 km away. To make things worse, our passports were taken.
One day, when I asked for my passport back, the woman in charge said, “I paid for you and if you want the passport back, I will lock you in.” She locked us in for five days. She would only open the door when we needed to use the toilet. I knew I was in danger, and that’s when I decided to plan an escape. With another guy, we planned to leave and we were lucky that we managed to. The charity Nomad helped us rebuilding our lives.”

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Cinzia D'Ambrosi Cinzia D'Ambrosi
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www.cinziadambrosi.com
www.cinziadambrosi.com
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South Americans exploited in Poland
“My name is Miguel Angel, 29 years old from Colombia. I arrived to Wrocław in January 2021, still under Covid-19 rules. I was met at the airport by the agents, who took me to a small town near Wroclaw. We were 12 of us, all from Colombia. We were taken to a small of house and told that we had to stay indoors for 20 days of quarantine. They left us some food. At first, things seemed normal, however soon this changed. For days, no one returned to give us food even if we were not allowed to leave. After 18 days, someone brought us bread and water, promising to return with more food, but they never came back. We started to feel more and more uneasy and began planning to go outside. It was then that someone from the agency came back and moved us into different houses located far away from each other. I was among 7 people who were put in a single room which had no television, no Wifi, and no means to contact the outside world. We started to work, carrying pallets and operating forklifts. We were expected to work very fast with no time for breaks. The foreman would constantly shout at us, pushing us to work without stopping. We were paid very little. Someone would call us as early as 5 am, or 4 am to work, and our shifts would finish not earlier than 3 pm, although usually we would not finish before 6 pm. After days of this regime, we were all feeling exhausted and confused and the isolation was limiting any contacts with others. The nearest place to buy food was over 1 km away. To make things worse, our passports were taken. <br /> One day, when I asked for my passport back, the woman in charge said, “I paid for you and if you want the passport back, I will lock you in.” She locked us in for five days. She would only open the door when we needed to use the toilet. I knew I was in danger, and that’s when I decided to plan an escape. With another guy, we planned to leave and we were lucky that we managed to. The charity Nomad helped us rebuilding our lives.”