Amnesty International has asked football's governing body FIFA to pay compensation of at least 440 million dollars to the thousands of migrant workers "who suffered human rights abuses" in Qatar during preparations for the 2022 World Cup. Amnesty has denounced the dire working conditions of migrant workers ahead of the tournament.
A branch of the Italian Farmers' Association 'Coldiretti' in the southern Puglia region says there it is facing a serious shortage of workers. It has urged the national government to speed up the issuing of permits for workers from outside the EU.
An investigation in Tuscany has found that three agricultural firms allegedly made hundreds of both Italian and foreign laborers work for up to 16 hours a day, paying them €2.50 per hour.
Europe's demand for fruit has turned Portugal's Alentejo region into a goldmine for landowners and corporations. Their laborers are mostly Asians hoping for a better life. But they pay a high price.
Italian police have reportedly discovered a factory producing counterfeit cigarettes in which ten foreign workers, among them Ukrainian refugees, were exploited.
The UN refugee agency has voiced concern about a program aimed at helping refugees from Ukraine coming to the UK. It said that the "Homes for Ukraine" initiative lacks adequate checks and could lead to exploitation.
The trade union FAI CISL in Italy is proposing a motion in parliament that would commit the government to protect the rights of migrant workers. "The 'gangmaster' system and ghettoes are not representative of Italian agriculture," the union said.
The German meat company Tönnies has stopped recruiting refugees at the Polish-Ukrainian border after being accused of trying to make 'money out of misery'.
Most of those who have fled Ukraine have been women and children. There are fears that they now face the risk of being trafficked and forced into prostitution.
Authorities in Germany and the Netherlands have raided accommodation centers where migrant workers are being kept in squalid conditions by unscrupulous employers. Police also confirmed that some are being smuggled in illegally from Eastern Europe.
An area with a high concentration of migrant workers in southern Italy is implementing a project that aims to help reduce labor exploitation and get migrants back on their feet.
Italian Labor Minister Andrea Orlando has warned against the risk of a new form of exploitation of migrant farmworkers in Italy, a "digital gang-master system." He reiterated that the government is committed to fight the exploitation of foreign workers in the agricultural sector.