The death of a second Indian farm labourer in Italy within as many months has put the spotlight on reports of exploitative conditions faced by some migrant workers in Europe’s fields.
The prosecutor in the province of Latina has opened a manslaughter case into the death of Dalvir Singh, a flower picker, who was found slumped in a field during extreme summer heat on August 16.
The investigation will assess whether the employer was following labour rules. Autopsy results are still pending.
The death comes two months after Satnam Singh died after a workplace accident severed his arm in June, and has reignited debate on migrant working conditions in Europe’s agricultural sector.
From Spain to Poland, the European Union’s fruit and vegetable sector relies heavily on seasonal and migrant workers to plant and harvest crops. Many are at risk of exploitation, despite rules to protect them, say campaigners.
So why do slavery-like practices still exist on Europe’s farms and what is the EU doing about it?
What kinds of exploitation exist and who is at risk?
Labour exploitation includes violations of working hours, health and safety, and housing conditions, which are all regulated by law.
There are an estimated 2.4 million seasonal and migrant workers operating in European agriculture - a high-risk sector for labour abuses - according to a June report by the University of Comillas in Spain and Oxfam.
Migrant workers often receive meagre wages for long hours and are sometimes housed in cramped containers without access to running water or electricity.
Employers sometimes confiscate identity documents, and threaten violence or use sexual harassment, according to the report, all of which are linked to slavery-like practices in which the worker is not free to turn down work.
Most migrant farm workers come from neighbouring countries in eastern Europe or from north and sub-Saharan Africa, with a smaller number coming from Latin American and South Asian countries.
The food farming sector’s high demand for short-term and flexible labour, the shortage of official recruitment services and the geographical isolation of workplaces as well as a lack of law enforcement all contribute to labour violations.
Migrant farm workers are also at risk due to language barriers and a lack of labour regulation knowledge, meaning they don’t necessarily understand the contracts they sign.
Which European countries are likely to be hotspots for exploitation?
Germany, Italy, Spain, France and Poland employ the highest numbers of non-national farm workers, according to European Parliament data.
Such workers are covered by rules that grant them mostly equal treatment with EU nationals on paper, but the short-term nature of their work can make them vulnerable to exploitation.
According to 2021 data from Italy’s national statistics office Istat, about 11 per cent of Italian workers were employed illegally, rising to more than 23 per cent in agriculture.
From tomato fields to vineyards, there are documented cases of abuse across Italy’s agriculture sector. Human rights activists point to the illegal gangmaster system of hiring migrant workers by criminal organisations - known as “caporalato” - common in parts of Italy, which a United Nations expert has called a form of modern slavery.
In July, Italian police said they had freed 33 Indian farm labourers from slave-like working conditions in the northern Verona province and seized almost half a million euros (US$545,300) from their two alleged abusers.
What is Europe doing to prevent migrant worker abuses?
Labour exploitation and forced labour is illegal under many existing laws, such as the EU’s Charter of Fundamental Rights as well as seasonal workers and anti-trafficking laws.
The eradication of forced labour worldwide by 2030 is among the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. But enforcement is patchy, say human rights campaigners, who are calling on authorities to increase inspections and avenues for reporting abuses.
EU lawmakers approved a new law in April that would require larger companies operating in the bloc to check if their supply chains use forced labour and to take action against it, with fines of up to 5 per cent of global turnover on those that don’t comply.
The law - named the EU directive on corporate sustainability and due diligence - will apply from 2028 to EU-based companies that have more than 1,000 employees and a net worldwide turnover above 450 million euros (US$490 million).
Another new regulation seeks to ban the sale, import and export of goods made using forced labour from the bloc’s market. Although it largely targets abuses in overseas markets, the new rules cover the EU agriculture sector.
The rules will also include investigation and enforcement systems to stop products made with forced labour entering the EU market and will apply from 2027.
Oxfam’s Intermón Head of Private Sector, Nerea Basterra, said the new rules could end exploitation, “if European countries use it right.”
This story was published with permission from Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, climate change, resilience, women’s rights, trafficking and property rights. Visit https://www.context.news/.
