Young Britons travelling to holiday destinations over the summer including Ibiza and Majorca are being warned to avoid risks of exploitation when working abroad at bars and clubs.
Border Force officers have been advising more than 1,000 young people across 22 airports in the UK with leaflets and guidance on how to work safely across the Balearic islands as part of an annual operation.
Operation Karetu was first launched in 2018 when there were concerns over the welfare of young British travellers being exposed to labour and sexual exploitation.
Risks include being forced to work long hours for low wages, illegally working because of a lack of knowledge of employment laws in the EU and being exploited by organised criminal gangs.
According to the Home Office, the operation has had “significant success” and since 2022 there have been no cases of labour exploitation reported to the British Consular in the Balearics.
The preventative work continues to run however as many cases of labour exploitation go undetected, they added.
Overseeing the work at Gatwick Airport on Tuesday, Home Office Minister Seema Malhotra said: “We want young people to be able to take advantage of opportunities, to explore and to go and have a good time and it is exciting.
“But what is important is that if you are thinking of working you do understand the rules, that you do have a visa, that you do know where you’re going to be staying, that you can trust the information you’ve received and you also know how to reach out for help should anything go wrong.”
Ms Malhotra said some of the issues reported include people getting into debt and trapped and exploited by those who have given them “what looked like jobs”, but had not been given proper contracts or secure accommodation.
Tim Kingsberry, regional director for Border Force South, said the officers have had a positive response from travellers, most of which were not aware of the issues, and have shared contact numbers and information on how to get help.
Mr Kingsberry advised young people that because the UK has left the EU they need to get a visa to work legally, and always to keep hold of their passport.
He said: “We want them to have a happy, safe, lawful holiday and that’s the main thing, but also we want them to know if they get into trouble there’s someone to call and somewhere they can reach help and they should do so.”
The month-long operation, which runs in partnership with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, British embassies and modern slavery charity, Unseen, continues until July 19.
