Sunday,
September 24, 2006
"Alleged" Scandal of Missing
Poles in
The
ANNOTICO Report
In it's never ending attempt to discredit
The
Headline, tells you of a Shocking Scandal in
that NO
Missing Person can be attributed to Gangsters.
A
Polish Web Site was set up with the photos of 119 Persons who said they were
going to Italy to work, at least half to Foggia, and Vanished,
The
site could Not establish that all of those claimed made it to
One
of the persons listed, Graznya Predotka
reported from
However
a Journalist trying to sensationalize a Non Story, and offered NO PROOF,
but stated certain POSSIBILITIES to make his story, that was actually
CENTERED on poor working conditions for migrant farmers MORE READABLE.
The
claims that 14 Poles COULD have been killed in
Only ONE
has proved to be MURDER: a Polish man, hit over the head with a shovel,
by a FELLOW POLE, who has been arrested.
'We
do NOT have a SINGLE case of violent death under investigation,' said
BUT, Let's
Not let TRUTH/FACTS get in the Way of a GOOD STORY !!!
????
===========================
Scandal
of 'Missing' Poles Shocks
Gangmasters hunt down illegal pickers who try to flee tomato
fields
The
Guardian Unlimited
Barbara McMahon in
Sunday September 24, 2006
Graznya Predotka was calling from
Predotka said she had disappeared
of her own free will, leaving
The brutal rule
of gangmasters was revealed after a joint Italian and
Polish operation busted a human trafficking ring. There are claims that 14
Poles could have been killed here. Among the alleged murders was that of a
45-year-old named only as Slamovit, whose burnt body
was found last July outside Stornara, a small hamlet.
His passport had been placed on his body. Others were reported drowned in
irrigation tanks or run down on narrow country lanes.
There was added
drama in the account of Italian journalist Fabrizio Gatti in L'Espresso, who went
undercover to reveal the miserable existence of the immigrants. He said it was
possible people could have been murdered. He said those who tried to run away
were hunted down by gangmasters, and he talked of the
atmosphere of menace in the fields.
Woyciech Unolt,
at the Polish embassy in
Italian police
say they have investigated the Slamovit case. Tests
show he was drunk when he died. Police believe he was probably asleep in
accommodation that caught fire and surmise he was found by other illegal
immigrants, who dumped him with his passport for identification, because they
were fearful of being caught without work permits.
Road accident
victims have been killed by hit and run drivers while walking along dark,
country lanes. Some deaths were alcohol-related, others natural. Only one has
proved to be murder, according to the Italian police: a Polish man, hit over
the head with a shovel, was attacked by a fellow Pole during a row. A man has
been arrested. 'We do not have a single case of violent death under
investigation,' said
What remains
under investigation are the human rights abuses of the illegal immigrants who
pick the 'red gold'. Forty per cent of all Italian tomatoes are grown in
Two weeks ago,
150 farms were inspected by officials from the Ministry of Employment: 84
producers are now facing fines for hiring workers without proper work
contracts. Pickers under 18, some of whom have entered
An Italian woman
and a Tunisian woman are said to be gangmasters who
could assemble a team of pickers in less than half an hour. They reportedly
sold workers polluted water. They were arrested three days ago. The Tunisian
has also been charged with an assault last year on a Romanian whose arms were
broken with steel bars after he complained about exploitation.
Police say they
are continuing their investigations, but corrupt practices continue.
African teenagers
John, Yusef and Bright wander around
A few hundred
yards down the road is a similar building, also without cooking or toilets. The
inhabitants are from
Accommodation is,
by choice, segregated on racial lines. The Africans - from
John, Yusef and Bright are paid 4 (#2.60) each to fill a box the
size of a small skip with tomatoes. They have to pay the driver 5 to take them
to work and earn in total about 20 to 25 a day. 'The work is hard. They talk to
us without respect,' shrugs Yusef, who hopes one day
to go to business school. 'We don't have documents. We have no choice."
The trio are unaware of the furore
over the missing Poles in
The
ANNOTICO Reports
Can
be Viewed, and are Archived at:
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