Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2023, published 112nd ILC session (2024)

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Italy (Ratification: 1934)

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The Committee notes the observations of the Italian Union of Labour (UIL), the Italian Confederation of Workers’ Trade Unions (CISL) and the Italian General Confederation of Labour (CGIL), communicated with the Government’s report.

Articles 1(1) and 2(1) of the Convention. Exploitation of foreign workers in an irregular situation. The Committee previously acknowledged the difficult situation faced by Italy in relation to the increase in irregular immigration flows. The Committee also recognized the Government’s efforts to combat gangmastering and the labour exploitation of migrants through the implementation of various projects and initiatives and requested the Government to pursue its efforts in this regard.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication in its report concerning the adoption of a three-year Plan to Combat Labour Exploitation in Agriculture and Gangmastering for 2020–22. The Government indicates that the Plan was elaborated in consultation with the competent national and local institutions, workers’ and employers’ representatives in the food and agricultural sector and leading associations in the tertiary sector. The Committee observes that the Plan provides for priority actions in four strategic areas, including prevention; enforcement; protection and assistance; and labour and social reintegration. The Government further indicates that more than €700 million has been allocated for the implementation of the Plan. In addition, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry, and the National Association of Italian Municipalities signed a protocol of understanding to ensure the coordinated implementation of the actions set out in the Plan. As envisaged in the Plan, the National guidelines on the identification, protection and assistance of victims of labour exploitation in agriculture were adopted on 7 October 2021.

The Government further refers to the P.I.U.-Su.Pr.Eme (Individualized Exit Paths from Exploitation) project, co-financed by the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy and the European Union, which aims at providing legal, administrative, social and health assistance to third-country nationals who are victims or potential victims of labour exploitation in the southern regions of Italy. Within the framework of the Su.Pr.Eme. Italia and A.L.T. Caporalato! projects, in 2020, 758 inspections were carried out which covered 4,767 foreign workers and identified various violations of the labour legislation in relation to 1,069 workers, including 205 potential victims of labour exploitation. Furthermore, according to the Protocol signed in 2021 with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), IOM cultural mediators with expertise in different languages participated in labour inspections with a view to facilitating the exchange of information with foreign workers. As regards the application in practice of section 603bis (unlawful intermediation and labour exploitation) of the Criminal Code, according to the data from the Ministry of Justice, in 2021, there were 572 registered cases against 1,170 persons; 233 cases of prosecution against 523 persons; and 93 convictions, involving 150 persons, handed down by first instance courts.

The Committee notes the observations of the UIL, the CISL and the CGIL indicating the need to decriminalize the offence of illegal immigration established by section 10bis of Legislative Decree No. 286 of 1998 (Consolidated text of provisions governing immigration and rules on the status of foreigners). The UIL, the CISL and the CGIL point out that foreign workers in an irregular situation who are victims of labour exploitation may be reluctant to cooperate with the inspection authorities due to the risk of deportation. In this respect, the Committee notes the Government’s reply that inspection authorities are obliged to report identified workers without residence permits to the law enforcement bodies. The Government further indicates that inspectors may request the competent authority to facilitate the issuance of a residence permit to a victim of labour exploitation. According to the Government, for the period from January to June 2022, a total of 313 residence permits were provided to foreign victims of violence and exploitation.

The Committee further notes that in its 2022 concluding observations, the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights noted a rise in the number of irregular migrants and increased risk of their exploitation (E/C.12/ITA/CO/6). The 2022 report of the United Nations Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises refers to the cases of labour exploitation of migrant workers, particularly through the caporalato system, which is an illegal form of outsourcing the hiring and exploitation of manpower through intermediaries (A/HRC/50/40/Add.2).

The Committee also observes that in its 2023 conclusions on the application of the Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81), and the Labour Inspection (Agriculture) Convention, 1969 (No. 129), by Italy, the Committee on the Application of Standards noted with concern several issues regarding compliance with the Conventions, in essence related to labour inspection with respect to the employment of migrant workers in an irregular situation. In this regard, the Committee recalls its comments under the Migrant Workers (Supplementary Provisions) Convention, 1975 (No. 143), in which the Committee emphasized the need to address migration in abusive conditions and irregular migration with full respect for migrant workers’ human rights.

While taking due note of the measures taken and the complexity of the situation on the ground, the Committee requests the Government to continue its efforts to prevent migrant workers from being caught in abusive practices and conditions of work that could amount to forced labour and to ensure the effective and adequate protection of migrant workers who are victims of forced labour, irrespective of their legal status in the country; this protection should include access to information about their rights, as well as effective procedures to seek redress and obtain compensation. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken in this respect, particularly as regards the sectors where migrant workers are predominantly employed, such as the agricultural and garment sectors. The Committee also requests the Government to provide information on any assessment of the results achieved through the implementation of the Plan to Combat Labour Exploitation in Agriculture and Gangmastering for 2020–22. The Committee also requests the Government to continue to strengthen the capacity of law enforcement bodies to identify and investigate cases of labour exploitation as defined and criminalized under section 603bis of the Criminal Code in order to ensure the imposition of sufficiently dissuasive penalties on perpetrators.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.