The exploitation of migrant workers is today a structural component of the labour market in Italy, especially in sectors such as agriculture, construction and domestic work. Such exploitation may range from the violation of contract provisions to severe abuse and trafficking. The migrants involved are oftentimes EU citizens (rather than undocumented third country nationals as one might expect) but also non EU citizens with a regular stay permit as well as asylum seekers and refugees.

By focusing on the exploitative working conditions experienced by migrant workers in the agricultural sector in Sicily, the workshop ‘Which Rights, Whose Justice: Severe Exploitation and Trafficking in Agriculture in Sicily’ reveals the structural factors that make farm-workers vulnerable to severe exploitation and critically examines related policy responses with a view for developing more effective strategies with regard to prevention of and protection from such severe exploitation.

The workshop was organised in the framework of the TRAFFICKO Project (co funded by the Open Society Foundations) and in cooperation with the association PROXIMA. It took place on the 3^rd of March 2016 in Ragusa, Sicily and involved key stakeholders, including judicial and law enforcement authorities, lawyers, policy makers, social workers, staff of trade unions and experts.

Programme