Heat, overwork kills Indian migrant worker on Italian farm

A 54-year-old Indian migrant worker, who worked on a flower farm, has died from a combination of extreme summer heat and a heavy workload in a field near the city of Latina in central Italy. Dalvir Singh, from Punjab, India, sent regular remittances to his family and had intended to return home within the next few years as he found it increasingly difficult to work in the fields every day as he grew older.

His son and his son-in-law are now trying to take his body back to India.

This is the second death of an Indian worker on an Italian farm in three months. In June, a bleeding Satnam Singh, also from Punjab, was left to die by his employers after an accident while at work.

The "brutal" treatment of migrants working on Italian farms is often controlled by gangmasters who take a portion of their wages, with many workers living in ghettoes or abandoned buildings, reported The Guardian.

Activists in Italy have highlighted that these bosses and gangmasters exploit workers by forcing them to work in extreme heat, with many enduring shifts lasting 10-14 hours a day, creating slave-like conditions for migrant workers in Italy.

Colleagues of Dalvir Singh told The Guardian that he had never been sick and was a “kind man who always worked hard".

Singh died on August 16.

An autopsy report is expected next month, as local prosecutors continue to investigate the circumstances of Singh's death, including whether his employer took proper measures to protect workers from the heat.

INDIAN MIGRANTS FORCED TO LIVE IN POOR CONDITION

In July, Italian police rescued more than two dozen Indian migrants from a farm in central Italy, saying they had been "reduced to slavery" due to debts, having their passports taken away, and being forced to live in poor conditions.

The month before, Satnam Singh, a farm worker who also worked on a farm in Latina, died after his employer allegedly abandoned him on a road following an accident where his arm was severed.

Instead of helping Satnam Singh, his employers "dumped" him like a "bag of rubbish" near his home.

Tens of thousands of migrants have been working in fields across Italy, picking tomatoes and other crops, while the country has been hit by continuous heatwaves since mid-June.

INDIANS MADE TO WORK LIKE SLAVES IN ITALY AMID EXTREME HEAT

The Italian Meteorological Society reported that average summer temperatures in Italy between June and August have risen by 1.5°C over the past 30 years, from 1994 to 2023.

This extreme heat has created dangerous conditions for low-paid workers who are working outside to harvest fruit and vegetables.

It's unclear how many workers have been hurt or killed due to the extreme heat in Italy this summer.

However, Italy is believed to have had the highest number of heat-related deaths in Europe last year, with more than 12,000 fatalities, according to The Guardian.

The Italian health and safety authority has stated that work-related accidents caused by heat are often not recognised as such. Instead, they are usually reported as fainting, falls, or similar incidents.

Despite Italy's profitable food industry, these workers face low wages, long hours, and limited job protection. Many of these workers live in poor conditions, such as overcrowded ghettoes or abandoned buildings.