Mohammed Elmajdi, president of volunteer group Anolf Puglia and the territorial leader of the CISL labor union in the southern city of Foggia, was "violently attacked and abducted for nearly an hour by a group of aggressive foreign migrants inside the so-called 'Gran Ghetto of Rignano' in San Severo, in the province of Foggia," according to a statement released by CISL on Thursday, August 11.

The labor union said it has "filed a detailed complaint to Carabinieri police about what happened."

Elmadji was reportedly visiting the camp "to organize measures of support and inclusion" which had been entrusted by the regional government to CISL as part of measures to fight the local gangmastering system.

Antonio Castellucci, the secretary general of CISL in Puglia, said the "aggression is of unprecedented gravity."

He described it as an "attack to the intention of establishing law and order in a degraded location that has long been considered as 'no man's land'".

Castellucci said CISL officials met with "prefecture authorities to request the constant presence of security officials at the camp" and for the incident to be discussed "at a technical meeting for public order and security." The camp at Rignano hosts nearly 1,000 people, mostly farmworkers.

'Violent acts deny rights to thousands of foreign workers', CISL

Local volunteer group Anolf and CISL said they will not fail "to guarantee the services" at the camp provided for by a convention they have signed with the Puglia region. They also asked the region to "intervene because full light must be shed" on the incident.

Carla Costantino, the secretary general of CISL Foggia, highlighted that "violent acts deny rights, work, legality and the search for a realistic pathway to guarantee legal protection to thousands of foreign workers."

The Puglia chapter of farmers' union Coldiretti condemned as "grave, unacceptable and incomprehensible" the "aggression against someone who fights daily" for the protection of undocumented migrants who arrive in Puglia, "guaranteeing dignified living conditions."

Expressing solidarity to Elmajdi, Coldiretti Puglia slammed as "incomprehensible" and "unacceptable" an "aggression against someone who is actively collaborating to build a model of development for agriculture, a source of great employment opportunities" that can be promoted "through transparency, legality and clear rules."

Pietro Piccioni, the federal delegate of Coldiretti Foggia, said it is "fundamental to ensure that agricultural companies can really benefit from the contribution offered by non-EU workers, tearing them away from a condition of invisibility".

Coldiretti recalled that in Puglia "more than one-fourth of Italian-made food" is obtained by "foreign hands" with "over 39,000 foreign workers providing 22.4% of the total days of work: in the province of Foggia alone, more than 973,000 days of work are provided by seasonal foreign workers -- 27.6% of the total days of work that are necessary for the sector."

'Grave incident, bullies will not prevail', councilor

"The aggression against Mohammed Elmajdi inside the 'Gran Ghetto' is a very serious incident that must push us to maintain an even higher level of attention on integration policies. We will not allow a few bullies to prevail," said Puglia's regional welfare councilor, Rosa Barone.

The councilor went on to say: "I know Mohammed and I want to thank him for his commitment in the fight against the gangmastering system and in the implementation of hosting and integration policies. As a region, we are working" to this end and "part of the regional plan for social policies is dedicated to the themes of immigration."

Planned actions include "the cultural, linguistic, economic, labor and socio-sanitary sectors," added Barone. The councilor announced that an "inter-sectorial meeting will be organized soon with all interested partners so the actions to promote inclusion planned by the region, for which Mohammed was visiting the camp, will be pushed forward and we will do this with even more determination, guaranteeing more security because similar episodes must never happen again," she concluded.