Police in Italy announced they have freed 33 Indian migrants from abusive conditions and have seized $545,000 from their alleged captors, who are also Indian nationals, Reuters reported on Saturday, citing officials.
The rescued Indians had reportedly been lured to Verona in northern Italy on seasonal work permits by promises of a better life if they paid €17,000 each ($18,500).
However, they were then forced to work 12-hour days for about four dollars an hour until they paid off their original debt. Their ‘employers’ are now under investigation for possible crimes, including ‘enslavement’ and ‘labor exploitation,’ according to the report.
Some of the migrants were also asked to continue working for free as payment in advance of an additional €13,000 euros (just over $14,000) for a permanent work permit, which, in reality, they “would have never obtained.” The rescued workers will now receive protection and legal residency, police said.
The development comes against the backdrop of the recent death of an Indian farm laborer Satnam Singh, who was allegedly left to die after his arm was severed by machinery. The incident was highlighted by an Italian labor organization, which later took to the streets to demand justice.
Singh, 31, from India’s Punjab state, had been living and working for several years in the Latina province, around 40 miles from Rome. The region is home to a large number of Indian daily-wage laborers, primarily hailing from Punjab.
Instead of receiving help from his employer, Singh was “dumped like a bag of rubbish near his home,” a local trade body claimed. He was eventually airlifted to a Rome hospital but did not survive. The incident triggered widespread protests in Italy from the Indian migrant community, who rallied to demand better wages and working conditions.
Singh’s death has also been decried by several Italian politicians, including Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who raised the matter in parliament. The Italian PM has called for “harsh” punishment for those responsible after Singh’s “barbaric” death.
Many Indians, lured by the prospect of better pay, venture abroad in search of manual-labor jobs. Over 200,000 Indian immigrants are believed to be living this life in Italy. In all, there were around 13 million Indian nationals abroad in 2023, including “laborers, professionals, and experts,” according to New Delhi’s statistics. This year, around 6,000 Indian workers are being ferried to Israel under a bilateral agreement to meet a shortfall in labor due to the war in Gaza.
