A union in Italy FLAI CGIL based in Foggia has spoken out against the living conditions of migrant laborers, living in the Borgo Mezzanone makeshift camp in Puglia, saying they are inhumane. Migrants there are forced to live in makeshift aluminum huts with temperatures reaching over 40 degrees celsius and lacking all basic services, stated the union.
The extreme temperatures hitting much of Europe in recent weeks have been particularly harsh in southern Italy and are making the conditions for migrants living in the Borgo Mezzanone camp, or ghetto even worse, say representatives from one of Italy's unions FLAI CGIL in Foggia.
The temperatures are already at the upper limits, says the union, if one touches the metalsheet that are used to build the makeshift shacks, a person risks burning themselves.
This is the reality for thousands of migrants living in the Borgo Mezzanone ghetto. According to the union, the camp houses almost 5,000 migrants, many of them from Nigeria, Mali and Gana, and working in the fields surrounding the camp.
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The camp is one of the largest ghettos in Europe
Migrants there live in makeshift huts built out of metal sheets that become extremely hot in summer, with temperatures reaching over 40 degrees celsius.
Representatives from the union say that those living in the camp are trying everything to escape the heat. "They take bricks and try to build improbable housing that is more resistant than the existing ones," for instance.
Many of those living there actually possess residency permits in Italy, and a number of them are waiting for their permits to be renewed.
"I've lived in the ghetto for seven years. There isn't any shade or water, and it is extremely hot. We are five living in this makeshift hut and it is suffocating," says Adam, 34, from Guinea Bissau. He has been living in Italy for 11 years.
Lamin who is from Senegal, 24, says the same. He ended up living in the ghetto since he arrived in Italy seven months ago. "It is extremely hot in here. We are four in a hut. It is difficult to breathe well. Today we don't have any water because they brought it yesterday. They only deliver water twice a week, and if we are warm we go to the fountain in the nearby neighborhood. To cook we use the electric stove because the gas one is very dangerous, or we get food from outside," he said.
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Temperatures as high as 49 degrees celsius
"The temperature on the ground reaches as high as 49 degrees celsius, while the metal sheets reach approximately 40 degrees celsius," explains Giovanni Tarantella, the Secretary General of the Union FLAI CGIL in Foggia.
"Migrants who have not had their residency permits renewed yet are willing to endure any type of proposal as long as they can work. They work for small change and in inhumane conditions. What makes the situation even worse is the lack of hygiene services," Tarantella adds.
"Despite the existence of laws that forbid working in the warmest hours, between midday and four pm, we often see migrants on bikes under the sun during those hours of the day going to or coming from work. There in Borgo Mezzanone it is not living," says Domenico Rizzi, President of the province of Arci Foggia, an organization that works to support migrant rights.
"Do you think it is humane to live this way? When will that ghetto be dismantled now that there are the PNRR funds available?" he asks.
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Working in the heat
It isn't only in Borgo Mezzanone but also in the region of Lazio, the province that surrounds Italy's capital Rome, where the practice of making migrants work under the sun has spread.
The President of the Indian community of Lazio, Gurmukh Singh, says: "There are people here who work even during the warmest hours of the day. For these reasons I am considering filming a video and publishing it, to show what happens and have people understand it is dangerous to have persons working in this heat."
Singh recalled the order, which has been in place since June 5, decreed by the President of the region of Lazio, Francesco Rocca, where he forbids working under the sun for prolonged periods between 12:30 PM and 4:00 PM. The decree is expected to last until August 31.
"We must increase controls", says Islam Kotb, the Secretary General of FAI CISL in the Lazio town of Latina, just south of Rome.