Italy’s tax police said Saturday they had freed 33 Indian farm workers from “slave-like working conditions” in the northern province of Verona, while seizing almost half a million euros from the two alleged gangmasters.
Police said the two alleged abusers, also Indian, persuaded their fellow nationals to come to Italy, paying €17,000 ($18,500) each to obtain seasonal working permits.
The men were then obliged to work in farms for seven days a week and up to 10-12 hours a day, paid only 4 euros ($4.4) per hour, in conditions that the Italian police described as “slavery”.
Some of the migrants were also asked to continue working for free to pay an additional 13,000 euros ($14,200) for a permanent work permit, which in reality they would have never obtained, the police added.
The two alleged abusers are under investigation for crimes including enslavement and labour exploitation. The victim migrants will be offered protection, job opportunities and legal residency papers.
The issue of modern forms of slavery in Italy came under the spotlight recently following the case of Satnam Singh, a 31-year-old off-the-books Indian farm labourer who bled to death after being abandoned by his employer in front of his house after his arm was severed by a wrapping machine.
A Moody’s report published in March showed that Italy persistently exhibited the highest number in Europe of modern slavery events, with about 32,000 incidents over five years from 2018.
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Investing success often hinges on discipline and perspective. As markets fluctuate, remember these guiding principles:
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
'The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window'
Director:Michael Lehmann
Stars:Kristen Bell
Rating: 1/5
Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
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Game Changer
Director: Shankar
Stars: Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, Anjali, S J Suryah, Jayaram
Rating: 2/5
Profile
Company name: Marefa Digital
Based: Dubai Multi Commodities Centre
Number of employees: seven
Sector: e-learning
Funding stage: Pre-seed funding of Dh1.5m in 2017 and an initial seed round of Dh2m in 2019
Investors: Friends and family
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Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
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Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni
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Rating: 3.5/5
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The past Palme d'Or winners
2018 Shoplifters, Hirokazu Kore-eda
2017 The Square, Ruben Ostlund
2016 I, Daniel Blake, Ken Loach
2015 Dheepan, Jacques Audiard
2014 Winter Sleep (Kış Uykusu), Nuri Bilge Ceylan
2013 Blue is the Warmest Colour (La Vie d'Adèle: Chapitres 1 et 2), Abdellatif Kechiche, Adele Exarchopoulos and Lea Seydoux
2012 Amour, Michael Haneke
2011 The Tree of Life, Terrence Malick
2010 Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Lung Bunmi Raluek Chat), Apichatpong Weerasethakul
2009 The White Ribbon (Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte), Michael Haneke
2008 The Class (Entre les murs), Laurent Cantet
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The Details
Kabir Singh
Produced by: Cinestaan Studios, T-Series
Directed by: Sandeep Reddy Vanga
Starring: Shahid Kapoor, Kiara Advani, Suresh Oberoi, Soham Majumdar, Arjun Pahwa
Rating: 2.5/5