Some foreign Expo 2027 construction workers were misled by their employers by claiming that the "white card" they were given was actually a work permit
While representatives authorities in public, they talk about the hundreds of millions of euros invested in construction Expa, the stories of some foreign workers reveal a grimmer reality.
Through the testimonies of those who worked on the construction site of this national project and through the trail of inspection records and court proceedings, Ivana Milosavljević in a text for CINS reveals how some foreign workers become victims of illegal work.
Yusuf Firat Baran was finishing his work on the construction of two villas in Montenegro, when a friend called him.
"We need you, come in." Beograd and we will work together," Yusuf remembers the phone conversation.
The Serbian company Antares construction, for which, he says, his friend worked, got a job as one of the construction subcontractors within Ekasp.
The government sees the world exhibition as a development opportunity for Serbia. The country is investing billions of dinars, and the complex is being built rapidly.
Yusuf states that he did not hesitate much: he knew that with his experience and knowledge he could arrange a better-paid job on the construction site. He also speaks English, which should be an advantage on large projects.
He soon entered into negotiations.
Yusuf agreed to receive the minimum wage through the company in Turkey, where he would be employed, and the rest "on hand". As he says, the company said that they would provide him with an invitation letter to enter Serbia and a work permit.
He agreed, but he had no doubt that everything would not be exactly like that.
After arriving in Belgrade, Jusuf says that he briefly handed over his passport to the company. The company was supposed to report his whereabouts and he would receive a so-called "white card" as confirmation of this. As he told CINS, he was told that this should be enough proof that Yusuf is working legally while waiting for a work permit.
"They told us that the Serbian bureaucracy is slow."
Yusuf started working.
According to him, the company appointed him as one of the bosses on the construction site. His task was to interpret project plans to the workers, to check for construction errors, and to keep records of the number of working hours.
He worked with his team on the construction of one of a total of 11 residential buildings in the Expo complex.
The business, he explains, did not go smoothly. Deadlines were tight, and they were required to be precise.
"They didn't accept half an inch of error."
He worked at the Expo for about three months when, at the beginning of February 2025, the Republic's labor inspector came to the construction site unannounced, Yusuf remembers:
"Egyptians, Peruvians, Arabs, who worked for other subcontracting companies fled the construction site in panic. We stayed."
Yusuf did not understand what the inspector was looking for. The workers called Emrullah Kaya, a translator who also worked for Antares construction and was at the construction site almost every day.
"The inspector asked me 'who works here, who do you work for, do you have permits'," translator Emrullah told CINS, adding that he answered her questions.
In the report made by the inspector, which was obtained by CINS, it is written that on the construction site that day she found 26 workers of the Antares construction company who did not have work permits. Among them were Yusuf, as well as the translator Emrullah himself.
After the inspector's visit, tension arose in the company.
Colleagues from the company who worked with Yusuf that day asked him why they didn't run away when they saw the inspector coming.
"Son, why should we run? We were given a white card, we are legal," Yusuf remembers his reaction.
Yusuf states that until that day he did not know that he was actually working illegally.
"They told us that the 'white card' we have is a confirmation that we are there legally," Yusuf explains to CINS.
Lawyer Ivana Cvetković explains that the white card is just a registration of residence and that every foreigner who enters Serbia, whether he comes to work or as a tourist, must register.
"Employers say 'here's your white card, you have a work permit,' but that's not the same," Cvetković told CINS.
Read the full text on the CINS website.
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