Italy's tax police free 33 Indian workers from 'slave-like' conditions on farms

Police seized almost half a million euros from the two alleged gangmasters

Italian border police officers at the French border in Frejus, southeastern France. AFP

Italy’s tax police said Saturday they had freed 33 Indian farm workers from “slave-like working conditions” in the northern province of Verona, while seizing almost half a million euros from the two alleged gangmasters.

Police said the two alleged abusers, also Indian, persuaded their fellow nationals to come to Italy, paying €17,000 ($18,500) each to obtain seasonal working permits.

The men were then obliged to work in farms for seven days a week and up to 10-12 hours a day, paid only 4 euros ($4.4) per hour, in conditions that the Italian police described as “slavery”.

Some of the migrants were also asked to continue working for free to pay an additional 13,000 euros ($14,200) for a permanent work permit, which in reality they would have never obtained, the police added.

The two alleged abusers are under investigation for crimes including enslavement and labour exploitation. The victim migrants will be offered protection, job opportunities and legal residency papers.

The issue of modern forms of slavery in Italy came under the spotlight recently following the case of Satnam Singh, a 31-year-old off-the-books Indian farm labourer who bled to death after being abandoned by his employer in front of his house after his arm was severed by a wrapping machine.

A Moody’s report published in March showed that Italy persistently exhibited the highest number in Europe of modern slavery events, with about 32,000 incidents over five years from 2018.