Italian agricultural organization Coldiretti said the region of Apulia, in southern Italy, has been assigned 320 additional non-EU laborers for farm work in the region, which is in serious difficulty due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Twenty-four migrants who have applied for asylum or have international protection in Italy will participate in a training near Siena (Tuscany) to learn how to harvest grapes and olives in the land of the Brunello wine.
The Italian farm group Coldiretti has warned that nearly 50,000 workers could be lost during a critical phase of the harvest. The association has called for new rules on non-EU migrant workers and an extension of stay permits.
Labor unions CGIL and FLAI CGIL of Siena said they received reports of exploitation and violence against foreign workers in companies that offer specific services to farms in the area of Val d'Elsa, in the Italian region of Tuscany.
A large French wine producer has started a project in collaboration with an association of former professional rugby players. The project provides training and seasonal jobs to refugees in the vineyards of Château Pédesclaux in southwestern France.
The Italian Civil Protection Service has build a "COVID camp" in Borgo Mezzanone, Puglia, equipped with housing units to allow for the treatment of COVID-infected migrants who live in the area.
Authorities in Italy's southern Puglia region are trying to fight the gangmaster system. They have rebranded the migrant tent camp in the city of Foggia, a 'Citadel of Hospitality' to try and end exploitation.
If you want to work in the EU, skills and qualifications may be enough to get a visa. But it's a different story for those without sought-after skills, for whom one of the few legal routes is with a temporary permit for seasonal work.
The organization Doctors for Human Rights (MEDU) denounced the alarming living and working conditions of foreign farm workers on the Gioia Tauro plain in Calabria, southern Italy.
After several road accidents involving migrant farmworkers, street lights in the plain of Gioia Tauro, southern Italy, are being repaired. The Italian interior ministry says it is working with local authorities on improving public transport in the area and providing migrants with items such as safety vests.
A reported 800 residents in the area of Cassibile, some 15 kilometers from the Sicilian city of Siracusa, have signed a petition against the construction of a village meant to host seasonal farm workers.
The farmhands' union Ubs in Calabria has denounced yet another road accident involving a migrant worker. The Union stressed that that the security of foreign workers is not safeguarded.