Rome (AFP)

In Italy, he is a figure in the defense of agricultural workers, often undocumented migrants. The trade unionist Aboubakar Soumahoro is calling for emergency measures for these "invisible" people who are being pushed into a precarious state by the pandemic.

On June 16, during the "general assembly" of the economy organized by the government to prepare a post-pandemic recovery plan, Aboubakar Soumahoro was chained before the sumptuous 17th century Roman palace where the event was organized.

On that day, he wanted to make the voices of precarious people heard and demand a reform of the agricultural supply chain, a "national emergency plan for work" and a modification of the immigration laws.

"We are seeking government approval of a" food license "," said Aboubakar Soumahoro, in charge of the agricultural sector of USB, one of the country's main independent unions.

This "license" would require that it be stated on the packaging of the food purchased that it was produced without the exploitation of workers.

"If adopted, the device would allow consumers to know what they eat and farmers not to have their hands tied by large retailers," added the Italian activist, born in Côte d'Ivoire a year ago. 40 years.

This "imposes prices on them that do not allow them to make a decent living from their work," he accuses.

Hundreds of thousands of foreign agricultural workers are exposed to the risk of exploitation in Italy, according to the unions.

Some of them are subject to "caporalato", a modern form of slavery where intermediaries, often linked to organized crime, siphon a large part of the meager wages paid.

Arrived in Italy 20 years ago, himself a former tomato picker under the scorching Apulian sun (South), Aboubakar Soumahoro is today a leftist voice that counts in the Italian political landscape, and one of the few black personalities of the Italian public scene.

- "Neo-slavery" -

Often invited on television sets, active on social networks, he is reluctant to mention his atypical journey, preferring to highlight the hellish living conditions suffered by migrants employed in the countryside for the harvest of fruits and vegetables.

"I am nobody, I am just someone who is part of a collective struggle where we want to believe that dreams can come true," he replies.

"I experienced the same frustrations, the same humiliations, the same worries as a large number of young Italians," simply adds the activist.

He challenges the way the government recently decided to temporarily regularize irregular migrants, a measure which aims in particular to alleviate the shortage of agricultural labor after the coronavirus pandemic.

From June 1 to August 15, foreigners whose residence permit has expired since October 31, 2019 can apply for a residence permit for a period not exceeding six months.

By mid-June, 32,000 requests had reached the Ministry of the Interior.

"If we consider that around 600,000 people in Italy are without a residence permit, we can say that we are facing a failure, that it does not work," says Soumahoro.

According to him, the employers who are responsible for carrying out the process, for a flat-rate contribution of 500 euros, do not intend to do so "because not only is it too expensive, but there are also thousands workers excluded because their residence permit expired before the scheduled date "of October 31.

"We are asking for a regularization of at least one year because in a dramatic phase like the one we are going through, you cannot find a job in six months," said Aboubakar Soumahoro.

"One uses the argument of the color of the skin or the geographical origin to reduce people to conditions of neo-slavery", he castigates.

"But our fight also concerns working Italians, miserable people who live in difficult conditions".

The trade unionist also urges the executive to repeal security decrees, laws that had been passed in 2018 and 2019 by former Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, head of the League (far right).

These texts introduced the abolition of residence permits for humanitarian reasons, funds for the repatriation of migrants in an irregular situation and restrictions on rescuing migrants at sea.

These measures have not been changed by the coalition of the Five Star Movement (anti-system) and the Democratic Party (left), in power since last September.

"The government has told us it wants to reform these laws when we want them to be eliminated," said Soumahoro.

© 2020 AFP