An Italian farmer has been reported to the police on charges of exploiting a young man from Mali. The migrant reportedly had to live in a cement cube measuring only a few square meters, without a proper bathroom.
Italian authorities have arrested six people who allegedly exploited hundreds of migrant workers in the southern Italian region of Basilicata. Another 19 people are being investigated for migrant labor exploitation.
Fifteen Afghan nationals recently won legal recourse and were granted French residency permits after having worked for the French armed forces in Afghanistan. Upon their arrival in France this summer they have been left to fend for themselves, without any social assistance.
The United Nations want Italy to do more to prevent the exploitation of migrant farmworkers and to dismantle the illegal labor system known as "caporalato."
Since June 11, around 40 undocumented migrant workers, hired to work for the courier delivery firm Chronopost, have been on strike outside the company’s facility in Alfortville, in the Paris suburbs. They say their working conditions are unacceptable and that the French company is taking advantage of their status to, in the words of one worker, “treat us like slaves.”
The Times of Malta has published a report claiming that migrants were subjected to ill treatment on a film set for an Italian production. Among them was a pregnant women. Several crew members reportedly resigned following the incident.
One year ago, 16 migrant farmworkers in southern Italy died on their way home when their vans were crushed by trucks in two separate incidents. Now, the local prefecture held a conference presenting the measures they are taking against the exploitation of migrant farmworkers.
The Maltese government has announced the creation of a special unit to fight the illegal exploitation of non-EU workers in the Maltese archipelago, which is on the rise due to the country's economic boom.
Humus is a service that wants to make farm work more sustainable and ethical in the Cuneo region in Italy. It allows different agriculture businesses to "share" workers. The goal is to provide year-round employment to workers, while firms only hire them seasonally.
A group of Italian doctors launched an appeal in the British Medical Journal to stop the exploitation of migrants who work in Italian farming. The doctors said the migrants are field slaves who allow for Italian tomatoes to be sold at low prices worldwide year-round.
In Germany, there are more migrants working in temporary jobs as subcontractors than in secure employment. Some say this is a good thing, because it means migrants are able to get a foot in the door of the job market. But are there also downsides to temporary agency work?
A report by the German Institute for Human Rights says German labor laws are utterly inadequate in protecting foreign workers' rights. Foreign laborers are often forced into hardships out of fear of losing their jobs.