page_title: Environmental racism in Europe
section_title: Migrant agricultural workers
hierarchical_section_title: Environmental racism in Europe / Western Europe / Italy / Migrant agricultural workers
caption_attribution_description: Piana di Gioia Tauro, Agrumeti vicino Rosarno
context_page_description: Environmental racism is a term used by Enikő Vincze for "the practice of environmental injustice within a racialized context", in which "socially marginalized communities and minority groups" are subjected to disproportionate exposure of environmental hazards, denial of access to sources of ecological sustenance such as clean air, water, and natural resources, or infringement of environmentally related human rights.
  According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, environmental justice is "the fair treatment for people of all races, cultures, and incomes, regarding the development of environmental laws, regulations and policies".
  As applied to Europe, patterns of "environmental racism" have been postulated in particular toward Romani communities.
  According to Trehan and Kocze, "EU accession for the post-socialist countries has resulted in a de facto centre and periphery within Europe itself, thus exacerbating the already marginal economic and political position of Roma in Europe whose communities continue to subsist as internal colonies within Europe."
context_section_description: In both Southern and Northern Italy, large numbers of migrant workers from Africa and Asia produce agricultural goods within a context of severe social and environmental marginalization, lacking access to clean water, utilities, housing, and wage security while facing exposure to harsh working conditions and harmful pesticides. As of 2015, the Italian Association for Legal Studies on Immigration (ASGI) estimated that there were likely close to 500,000 regular and irregular foreign agricultural workers in Italy, of whom 100,000 were believed to be at risk of severe marginalization with regards to living conditions and social mobility.
  According to a report by Amnesty International, there is "a causal link between labour exploitation of migrant workers and the measures adopted by the Italian government with the stated view of controlling and regulating migration flows". The report focused on the Latina and the Caserta areas where large numbers of workers are of Indian (mostly Punjabi) and African origin respectively, the latter of whom are mostly from Burkina Faso, Ghana, Nigeria, Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia. In Calabria, immigrant fruit pickers for the orange juice industry have been identified as subject to notably exploitative social conditions.
  While some migrant agricultural workers are paid well and welcomed as economic contributors for helping fill jobs that established Italians are often reluctant to perform, the average wage in Italy for migrant agricultural workers is only 33 dollars a day. In the Latina area alone, 61% of agricultural employers were found by Italian regulatory inspectors to be in contravention of social security and employment laws. In Caserta, migrant agricultural workers partake in the tomato, fruit, dairy, watermelon, and orange industries, often under exploitative or substandard employment conditions. In particular, the fast-growing and lucrative Italian tomato industry, which sources 60 percent of processed tomatoes consumed in the UK and half the entire European Union supply, producing a total export value of 1.5 billion Euros in 2014, has been identified as a significant source of workplace abuse. While 70% of Italy's tomato production is generated from the areas of Puglia and Emilia Romagna, severe abuses of tomato pickers have been documented throughout Italy, including most provinces.
  On January 7, 2010, there was an outbreak of violence in the citrus-producing town of Rosarno, Calabria in the aftermath of a drive-by shooting that targeted two migrants. Following the shooting, hundreds of migrants marched through the town to protest their living conditions, an event that ultimately led to confrontations with riot police and the torching of vehicles. According to Amnesty International, "The clashes were followed by a "migrant manhunt" carried out by some local residents. In a number of separate incidents during the following days, two migrants were reportedly beaten with iron bars, five deliberately run over by a car and a further two injured by shot-gun pellets. In total, 53 persons were hospitalised, including 21 migrants, 14 local residents and 18 police officers." Following the incident, a mass detention of migrants remaining in Rosarno ensued. In the words of one worker from Ghana,
  In Rosarno we were working from morning to night, picking oranges, for 25 euros a day; but we had to pay 5 euros for transport, so we had only 20 euros left. There were some abandoned factories where one would build a shelter with some cardboard – one was called the Ghana ghetto. That day [i.e. the day of the clashes, 7/8 January 2010] we decided to go and buy something in town. Some boys were shot by Italians. We decided to do a demonstration about that, because that was not the first time. That's where all the problems started. There were fights between blacks and whites. But we did not want to fight the Italians; we wanted to go to the Comune [the local administration]. No Italian would pick oranges for 25 euros.
  A major issue for migrant workers in the Rosarno citrus industry are health conc
caption: Citrus orchards near Rosarno, where anti-immigrant violence and clashes occurred January 2010
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