Deadly attack on migrants highlights issue of labour abuse in Italy

Article excerpt

Four migrant fruit pickers died in a deliberately set van fire at a petrol station in southern Italy, their bodies discovered Monday in Calabria. Surveillance footage captured two people igniting the vehicle and fleeing the scene. The deaths have reignited debate over the brutal labor conditions facing migrants in Italian agriculture, workers routinely trapped in debt cycles, confined to crowded housing, and subject to wage theft by farm bosses who operate with near-total impunity. The case exposes how systemic exploitation of undocumented workers persists despite periodic crackdowns.