Thirty-three Indian farm labourers have been rescued from slave-like working conditions in Italy’s Verona province, the country’s police said on Saturday, Reuters reported.
More than five lakh euros had been seized from the possession of two of their alleged abusers, the police said.
Police said that the alleged gang-masters, who are also from India, took the labourers to Italy on seasonal work permits with a promise of a better future. The labourers had been asked to pay 17,000 euros each for this.
In Italy, the migrant labourers were given farm jobs in which they were forced to work all seven days a week for 10 to 12 hours each day, at only four euros per hour. These earnings were deducted in their entirety from them to pay off their debts. Reuters quoted the police as having described this treatment of the workers as “slavery”.
Some workers were ordered to keep working without pay to cover a 13,000-euro fee for a permanent work permit. However, the police said, the workers would have never received such a permit in reality.
The accused have been charged with offences related to slavery and labour exploitation, according to Reuters. Meanwhile, the rescued labourers will receive protection, job opportunities and legal residency papers, the police was quoted as saying.
In June, an Indian fruit picker died after his arm was severed by machinery in a town near Rome. The incident brought the exploitation of the country’s migrant agricultural labourers under the spotlight.
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