Fifty-five Filipino and Bangladeshi workers were discovered in a situation of modern slavery at a construction site in the port of Antwerp, Belgium, the prosecutor’s office of this Flemish city announced on Tuesday, which opened an investigation.

The investigation was entrusted to the Labor Audit, a section of the prosecution specialized in crimes committed in the workplace, which confirmed that “55 potential victims” had “manifested” and that now they must be interrogated.

Such a number of people exploited in a single workplace is unprecedented in Belgium, according to the Payoke center, an association specialized in hosting victims of human trafficking.

From two to four euros per hour of work

These men worked as welders and pipefitters “on a quay in the port of Antwerp”, a spokesman for the Auditors said, without specifying the name of the company in question.

According to several local media, they came under the authority of a company specializing in industrial pipes that acts as a subcontractor on a construction site for the firm that manufactures Borealis chemicals in Beveren, near Antwerp.

These 55 workers are mostly Filipinos and the alert was given for the first time fifteen days ago through the Philippine consulate in Antwerp to which some of them had complained about their situation, explained the director of the Payoke center contacted by AFP.

“They received two to four euros per hour of work, or about 600 euros per month. It is clear that they were in a very precarious situation,” said Klaus Vanhoutte, who runs one of the three centers in Antwerp. victims of modern slavery.

“This case is just the tip of the iceberg”

According to him, the network that exploits these Asian workers circulates them in various European countries, with “work permits issued in Hungary and Poland.” “Some had already worked in Germany and a group was preparing to leave for Greece,” added Klaus Vanhoutte.

“This case is just the tip of the iceberg,” Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne was quoted as saying by the Belgian news agency.

The minister mentioned a figure from the Global Slavery Index -data each year by the NGO Walk Free Foundation-, according to which there are “23,000 people in Belgium who are victims of exploitation or modern slavery”.

To combat this scourge, the Belgian government announced on Monday the opening of a website, which presents itself as a single point of contact that allows victims to find help in different situations (sexual exploitation, work, forced criminality, organ harvesting, etc.).