Finland Times

Sources at the Thailand embassy to Helsinki said that most of the berry pickers did not accept the salary terming the amount as low, although they are entitled to return to the country.

The Labour ministry of  Thailand decided to pay the tickets for the 50 berry pickers but they are not interested to leave the country, Counsellor of the embassy Worawoot Pongprapapan said.

The embassy official visited  the Äänekoski  on Monday where they are residing and asked them to leave for the country by Monday or Tuesday but they declined to go back before the issue is settled.

Terming the situation unusual in Finland, Pongprapapan said that the embassy official said that they sought instructions from Bangkok  to know about the further course of action in this regard.

 Berry company Ber-Ex said that some of the berry pickers has accepted the salary but other declined as they thought the amount was low.

Earlier,  a group of about 50 Thai berry pickers working in a Berry company Ber-Ex  at Saarijärvi area in Eastern Finland filed a criminal case with the police against their employer. They claimed that they were the victims of human trafficking. 

But allegation  was rejected by the prosecutor.