Satnam Singh: the death of a modern slave
Written by: Lucia Palmioli
The death of Satnam Singh, a 31-year-old Indian farmworker, on June 19, 2024, in a Rome hospital from serious injuries sustained in a work accident, has shaken public opinion and brought to light a dramatic reality: the exploitation and the use of day laborers that still plague the agricultural sector in Italy.
Singh, like many other migrants, had come to Italy after the pandemic, chasing the dream of a better future. Together with his wife, he worked illegally on a farm in Latina, in inhumane conditions and for a paltry wage. On June 14, while he was working, he was caught in a plastic wrapping machine, losing his arm. Abandoned by his employers in agony in front of his home, he died a few days later in hospital.
A widespread and deeply rooted phenomenon
Singh’s tragedy is not an isolated episode, but the consequence of a widespread and deeply rooted criminal system. According to the VI Report on Agribusiness and Gangmastering (VI Rapporto Agromafie e Caporalato dell’Osservatorio) by the Flai Cgil Placido Rizzotto Observatory, there are 230,000 irregularly employed workers in the agricultural sector in Italy, of whom about 55,000 are women and 30% are not migrants. This is a form of “modern slavery”, now almost normalized, that involves not only the exploited workers, but also the firms, the large-scale organized distribution, and, ultimately, we consumers, often unaware of the system behind the products we bring to the table.
The case of Latina and the Sikh community
The province of Latina is sadly known as one of the nerve centers of gangmastering in Italy. Here, as in other parts of the country, thousands of farmhands, including many Sikhs, are employed in conditions of extreme exploitation. As Marco Omizzolo, a sociologist and researcher who has been studying this phenomenon for years, points out, Sikh workers are often victims of violence and abuse. They are forced to take drugs to cope with the fatigue and inhuman working conditions, with serious risks to their health, as reported in the investigation “Doping to work as slaves”.
Italy has a law, but a change of course is needed
Gangmastering is not a problem exclusive to Italy, as it also afflicts, indeed, other countries such as France, Portugal, England, Spain and Romania. Italy is the only country in Europe to have an ad hoc law against the phenomenon, law 199 of 2016. The law, which stands out for its multidisciplinary approach, punishes both gangmasters and employers who benefit from their services. At the European level, the introduction of social conditionality in the new CAP, which requires companies to respect workers’ rights in order to access funding, is an important step forward. However, as Omizzolo points out, to eradicate the system, a more comprehensive and structural approach is needed, starting with changes to the Italian citizenship law and the abolition of the Bossi-Fini law and the logic that inspired the security decrees.
“Made in Italy”: behind the facade, the risk of exploitation
The image of “Made in Italy” evokes products of quality and respect for tradition, but this image is often deceptive. Behind excellent Italian products can hide stories of exploitation, black labor and violation of human rights. While the real challenge is at the political and cultural level, as consumers we have the power to make a difference, by asking, as an example, for information on the origin of the products and the working conditions of the workers involved in production.
