Several thousand representatives of the Indian community in the Rome region, opposition parties and civil society associations took part in the demonstration organized in Latina by the GGIL union, the largest in Italy. The rally comes three days after the sudden death of Satnam Singh, 31, who worked in the surrounding countryside, to denounce the system of exploitation close to slavery that many agricultural workers endure.
2 mins
The question that was raised is the following: will the death of Satnam Singh finally shed light on the “ slaves » invisible in Italy? This Indian agricultural worker was abandoned by his boss like a trash bag with, in a crate, the rest of his right arm torn off by an agricultural machine, reports our correspondent in Rome, Anne Le Nir.
The National Statistics Institute estimates the number of overexploited agricultural workers at 450,000. Among them, 70% come from non-EU countries and remain without a residence permit for a long time. So without an employment contract and paid between 25 and 30 euros per day.
Many representatives of the Indian community in the Rome region were present in the procession. The community numbers more than 30,000 people, mainly Sikhs.
As CGIL leader Francesca Re David recalled, “ There is an urgent need to put an end to companies violating the law introduced in 2016 to protect workers from slavery-like conditions “.
For her part, the leader of the Democratic Party (center-left) Elly Schlein stressed the need to “ structurally combat the caporalato “. This system of recruitment and extreme exploitation of agricultural workers, which approaches slavery and is established through mafia intermediaries, is deeply rooted in the Italian countryside.
After the incident, the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella also reacted, calling for “ put an end to illegal labor exploitation “, reported the DNA agency Kronos. According to him, it is a “ phenomenon which, with rigor and firmness, must be fought everywhere, totally eliminated and sanctioned, avoiding giving the erroneous and unacceptable impression that it is tolerated by ignoring it “.
Read alsoSummer series – Undocumented immigrants [1/5]: migrant workers in Calabria in southwest Italy