NGO Reports Unacceptable Work & Living Conditions for Foreign Labourers in Southern Italy

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Labourers in Gioia Tauro face inhumane work living conditions, MEDU has complained.
• MEDU said that despite millions being allocated for accommodation, labourers continue to live in tents and old containers.
• Italian authorities have been called to remove bureaucratic obstacles preventing the use of accommodation centres.

Doctors for Human Rights (MEDU), an Italian non-governmental organisation, has strongly condemned the harsh working and living conditions that foreign labourers from Western Sub-Saharan African countries face in Gioia Tauro.

According to the non-governmental organisation, even though millions of euros have been spent on the construction of appropriate accommodation, labourers continue to have very poor living conditions.

Complaining about the labourers’ inhumane conditions, MEDU said that they live in tents and old containers in Rosarno, San Ferdinando, and Taurianova.

The same revealed that the majority of them are young men with an average age of 35, mainly from Mali, Gambia, Senegal, Ghana, and Ivory Coast.

The dramatic conditions described in previous years appear today even more grotesque and paradoxical if we compare the inhuman images of life in the informal settlements with those of the container fields completed and never open or uninhabited buildings confiscated from the mafia and recently renovated to promote dignified living.

MEDU

As MEDU explains, more than half a million has been spent until now on the construction of accommodation for labourers in this part of the country. However, the accommodation doors still remain closed.

MEDU further notes that the EU allocated €3 million for the construction of six buildings with a total of 36 apartments in Rosarno, and the Italian Ministry of Interior allocated €2 million for a “VIllage of Solidarity”.

Nonetheless, despite such a high amount of money being allocated for the construction of proper accommodation for labourers, MEDU complained that the accommodation was never finished and that labourers continue to work and live in very poor conditions.

In addition, an amount of €650,000 was invested in the construction of a multifunctional centre in Taurianova, only for the centre to never be activated.

Further complaining about the current working and living conditions of foreign labourers in Gioia Tauro, MEDU said that the situation is a chronic disease that is having a negative effect on the area.

MEDU further stressed that the situation continues to repeat “like the seasons do” while adding that these poor living conditions make labourers feel like they have endless working days.

Taking into account the situation in the area, MEDU called for an immediate solution to be found.

The non-governmental organisation said that the authorities need to remove the bureaucratic obstacles that prevent the opening of the accommodation centres as soon as possible.

The same requires that the country ensures economic and social sustainability for everyone.