The immigrants Europe quietly wants more of
Without foreign farm workers the EU’s berries would go unplucked
LOOK OUT of a train window in Dutch farm country, and much of what you see is glass: row after row of greenhouses. At René Simons’s farm 60km south-east of Rotterdam, the raspberry bushes ramble across acres of trellises. The workers who pick them are mostly from eastern Europe—Poles and Bulgarians in peak season or Ukrainians, who often stay longer. “We have a few ladies from near Lviv now,” says Mr Simons. “We tell them, if it gets tough there, you can always stay here.”
This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “The immigrants Europe wants”
Europe November 2nd 2024
- Georgia’s ruling party crushes the country’s European dream
- Ukraine is now struggling to cling on, not to win
- Floods in Spain cause death and devastation
- Turkey could soon strike a historic peace deal with the Kurds
- The immigrants Europe quietly wants more of
- The power and limits of Emmanuel Macron’s diplomatic charm
From the November 2nd 2024 edition
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