Europe

Slave trade in today’s Europe


Slave trades are now rampant in Europe. Even within the European Union slaves are traded out to relatively well-off countries from the countries of the east like Poland.

Recently in Italy, the armed police of Foggia hunted down quite a number of agents related to slave-trade and discovered, in a coach, immigrant labourers from Poland, all starved for bread and work, humiliated and extremely ill-treated even beaten to death in case of eventual protests against their wretched living. Some of them might have even committed suicide to escape their unbearable fate.

Hundreds of polish workers are reported to have been lured to get jobs in developed countries of Western Europe and finally are doomed to slavery. A few of these bonded labours told they had found the job offers published in the dailies of their country and some had been approached directly by local agents. To get a bid, each had to pay 150-200 euros to the agents. They had all been told of an Eldorado awaiting them in rich countries of the Continent.

In reality, lost for ever to their friends and family, they were all engaged in tomato harvesting at 2-5 euros par hour rate and were forced to toil 15 hours a weak, according to the report published in La Republica, a leading daily of Italy, on July 19,2006. In case of absence for one day in the work, they were fined 15 euros. Hardly a bowl of soup and some bread and water to meet the thirst and hunger of those weary bodies living in obnoxious accommodations without water or electricity!

EU’s policy toward other nations though crafted on the basis of human values like the respect for fundamental rights and freedoms, the protection of minorities or the guaranty of the rule of law, is found utterly belied and violated on its home front in this recent sweatshop incident in Italy.