Punjabi farm labourer’s death: Italian police free 33 Indian farm labourers from ‘slavery’

The migrants were given farm jobs, working seven days a week and 10-12 hours a day for just 4 euros per hour, which was entirely docked from them until they settled all their debts, police said, describing the migrants’ treatment as “slavery”.

Italian police said on Saturday they had freed 33 Indian farm labourers from slave-like working conditions in the northern Verona province and seized almost half a million euros ($545,300) from their two alleged abusers.

The police action comes after Satnam Singh, 31, was dumped by an agriculture company owner on a road without medical assistance after his arm was severed by a heavy farm machinery on June 20 last month, causing his death.

Labour exploitation is in the spotlight in Italy following an accident in June in which an Indian fruit picker died after his arm was severed by machinery.

In the latest case, police said the alleged gang-masters, also from India, brought fellow nationals to Italy on seasonal work permits, asking them to pay 17,000 euros each and promising them a better future.

The migrants were given farm jobs, working seven days a week and 10-12 hours a day for just 4 euros per hour, which was entirely docked from them until they settled all their debts, police said, describing the migrants’ treatment as “slavery”.

Some were asked to continue working for free to pay an additional 13,000 euros for a permanent work permit “which, in reality, would have never been given to them,” the police statement said. The alleged abusers were charged with crimes connected to slavery and labour exploitation, while the victims will be offered protection, work opportunities and legal residency papers, the police said.

The police action came after Satnam Singh, 31, was dumped by the owner of the agriculture company on the road without medical assistance after his arm was severed by heavy farm machinery on June 20 last month, causing his death. Satnam was abandoned by his employer after a strawberry wrapping machine severed his arm in Lazio, near Rome, last month and died due to “copious bleeding”, the ANSA news agency reported. The Sikh casual farm labourer died in a hospital in Rome two days later after being airlifted there when he was eventually found.

Italian police have arrested the owner of the agriculture company Antonello Lovato after prosecutors bumped up the original suspected crime of manslaughter to homicide with “malice afterthought,” a statement from Latina prosecutors said. Satnam’s death has spurred outrage at gangmastering, which is widespread in Italy, especially in the south of the country. Gangmastering refers to the violent exploitation of migrant farm labourers.

Like other European nations, Italy has growing labour shortages often filled via immigration, particularly in lower-paid jobs, and has a migrant work visa system that has faced cases of fraud.

The country also has a problem with labour law violations. According to 2021 data from national statistics office Istat, about 11% of Italian workers were employed illegally, rising to more than 23% in agriculture.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said last month that Satnam, one of thousands of Indian immigrants who work the fields in the country, was the victim of “inhuman acts”.

“These are inhumane acts that do not belong to the Italian people. I hope that this barbarity will be punished harshly,” she said following a Cabinet meeting.

Opposition 5-Star Movement (M5S) leader Giuseppe Conte had urged Meloni to act to stamp out brutal gangmastering.