Dozens of Indian nationals, held in “slave-like” conditions on farms near Verona in northern Italy, have been liberated following a crackdown by Italy’s financial police, CNN reports.
According to a statement from the police, thirty-three Indian farm laborers were allegedly coerced into working over 10 hours a day, seven days a week, for wages as low as $4 an hour, which were sometimes withheld. The police also seized over $500,000 in cash and assets from two Indian nationals suspected of acting as gang masters, believed to be profiting from the exploitation of these workers as “low-cost labor.”
The operation comes in the wake of investigations into the death of a 31-year-old Indian national who tragically lost his arm in a farm accident in June.
The freed workers were reportedly lured to Italy by Indian “brokers” in collaboration with traffickers, promising legitimate jobs. Each worker paid more than 17,000 euros ($18,500) for travel and fake seasonal work permits. Additionally, many were charged an extra 13,000 euros ($14,100) for promised permanent work permits, which turned out to be false assurances.
“To guarantee their total silence and submission, the two Indian subjects confiscated the laborers’ passports upon their arrival in Italy and imposed strict restrictions, forbidding them from leaving their squalid living quarters under threat of physical retaliation,” the police statement highlighted.
Details about the identities and genders of the freed workers have not been disclosed.
Italian authorities are now investigating the business relationships between the suspected gang masters and other entities, including numerous companies allegedly utilizing the exploited “low-cost labor.”
Reacting to the situation, the Indian embassy in Rome acknowledged media reports and assured that they are coordinating with Italian authorities and the Indian community to ensure the safety and well-being of Indian nationals.
Italy has grappled with labor trafficking issues for years. In 2018, the financial police revealed that a significant portion of agriculture-related labor involved a gang master system, despite being illegal since 2016. This exploitative practice has persisted, facilitated by a sizable black-market workforce amounting to over 11 percent of the total labor force, according to police sources, which undermines legal protections and fosters conditions for labor trafficking.