Thousands of Indian farm workers on Tuesday called for an end to “slavery” in Italy after the brutal death of a worker exposed the brutal exploitation of illegal migrants.
Satnam Singh, 31, who was working without legal papers, died last week after his arm was chopped off by a machine. The farmer he worked for dumped him, along with his severed arm, on the side of the road.
“He has been thrown out like a dog. This exploitation happens every day and we suffer from it every day. It has to end now,” said Gurmukh Singh, head of the Indian community in the central Italian region of Lazio.
“We didn't come here to die, we came here to work,” he told AFP.
Children held up brightly colored signs that read “Justice for Satnam Singh” as they marched through Latina, a rural town south of Rome that is home to tens of thousands of Indian migrant workers.
Indians have been working in the Agro Pontine (Pontine Marshes) since the mid-1980s, harvesting pumpkins, onions, beans and tomatoes, as well as farming flowers and producing buffalo mozzarella.
Singh's death is under investigation but has sparked a wider debate in Italy about how to tackle the employment of illegal migrant workers and systemic abuse in the agricultural sector, where abuse by farmers and gang bosses is rife.
“Satnam died in a day. I die every day because I too am an industrial casualty,” said Parambar Singh, who suffered severe eye injuries in an industrial accident.
“My boss said he couldn't take me to the hospital because I didn't have a contract,” said the 33-year-old, who has struggled to find work since then.
“I've been waiting 10 months for justice to be served,” he said.
According to Osservatorio Placido Rizzotto, who analyzes working conditions in the agricultural industry, workers receive an average of 20 euros ($21) a day for a maximum of 14 hours of work.
WATCH: Protests in Italy after death of Indian farm worker Satnam Singh, PM Meloni laments tragedy
Far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni aims to reduce the number of illegal immigrants to Italy while increasing legal migration routes for non-EU workers to address labour shortages.
But only around 30 percent of workers granted visas actually travel to Italy, meaning there are never enough workers to meet farmers' needs, according to the Confaglicoltura agribusiness association.
Meloni said this month that Italy's visa system was being exploited by organised crime groups to smuggle illegal immigrants into the country.
She condemned the circumstances of Mr Singh's death as “an unacceptable inhuman act by the Italian people”.
“I want to see this barbarism punished severely,” she told ministers last week.
Italy's financial police identified around 60,000 illegal workers between January 2023 and June 2024.
But Italy's largest trade union, CGIL, estimates that more than a quarter of the country's seasonal agricultural workers – 230,000 people – are without a contract.
Some are Italian, but most are illegal foreigners.
Female workers are treated particularly poorly, earning even lower wages than men and in some cases suffering sexual exploitation, the report says.
“We all need regular employment contracts so we are not trapped in this slavery,” said Kaul Akbir, 37, part of a group of women in brightly colored saris marching behind community leaders.