Immigrants and asylum seekers are working in slave-like conditions at car washes across Sweden, according to police.
A report by Sveriges Radio (SR) claims that such practices are becoming more widespread in the country, with undocumented workers living in squalor and receiving very low wages.
Stockholm’s head of border police, Jerk Wiberg, said such workers are often being exploited and that a number of arrests have been made. “This is a new phenomenon,” Wiberg told the Kaliber programme. “Last year we did not carry out a single raid at a car wash. This year we have made 23,” he added.
“People in these car washes are working under conditions that amount to pure human trafficking,” added Conny Svensson at the Gothenburg tax office.