Panel ‘Migrant Work and the Future of Food in the Netherlands’

While the governance of asylum and migration is a key concern of the Dutch government, so far, it has paid less attention to labour migration even though migrant workers far outnumber asylum seekers.
The agri-food chain, ranging from agriculture via food processing to hospitality and delivery services, is a main employer of migrant workers. These workers’ precarious conditions attracted public attention when they became a public health concern during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Overall, migrant workers seem dispensable to policy-makers, even though their essential societal contributions gained them applause during the initial phase of the Covid-19 pandemic. This is reflected in VVD parliamentarian Thierry Aartsen’s recent demand for less labour migration to the Netherlands. He advocated for incentives for labour-saving automation and robotization instead.
This panel seeks to visibilise the role and situation of migrant workers in the Netherlands’ agri-food chain. Besides, it engages with the question whether robots are a realistic replacement for migrant workers in the Dutch agri-food chain, as well as which forms and resistance, alliances and policy advocacy can make their working conditions more decent.