ITALY—Punjabi farmers are credited with keeping the world-famous Parmesan or Parmigiano-Reggiano and mozzarella cheese industries alive, but not many people know about the hellish conditions they live in. Many of them are subjected to inhuman treatment and racial discrimination at their workplaces.
From faraway, Italy appears as El Dorado, but once the Punjabi immigrants set foot on Italy’s shores, reality sets in, and it’s a monstrous one for many. Influential local mafia clan and unscrupulous landlords are exploiting gullible Punjabi youths who are landing in Italy with glittery dreams of building a dream career.
“My job starts at 4 am and goes on till 6 pm. I try to work non-stop for these 12-hours so that I don’t feel hungry as most of the times I don’t have any money to buy my lunch. Depending on the employer, we are paid between I1 to I5 per-hour,” said Kulvir Singh Antaas, who had illegally reached Po Valley, a small town in the province of Reggio Emilia in Italy that is famous for its cheese, around four years back.
Zorawar Singh, who is busy in cleaning buffalo pats at a sprawling cattle farm in Po Valley, said, “No local youth is ready to dirty his hands by joining this industry and they are running towards big cities. And everyone knows that Punjabis are the saviours of Italian cheese industry. Nearly 70% of the workforce in Italian milk farms is from Punjab, but still we are subjected to ruthless treatment and have to work in torturous conditions. There is no social security or medical insurance. Even if we are ill, we have to come for work otherwise we will have no money to buy next day’s food.”
Sikh farmers live in cramped quarters where several families share a single 40 square meter room for which they must also pay up to 500 Euros per month. Others sleep in shacks out in the open.
“I have done masters in Sociology from Guru Nanak Dev University in Amritsar but here I am washing cows and earning only 10 euro per day. And if I make any mistake, I am paid nothing.The owner of the farm is very cruel and abusive. I came here after paying Rs 8 lakh to a travel agent and mu monthly earning is just a tad more than Rs 25,000,” said another Punjabi youth, requesting not to be named, who reached Italy in August 2016. and plenty of arable land.
A quick visit to world-famous Italian milk farms in Po Valley and Novellara towns is enough to come across scores of Punjabis, wearing bright-orange turbans and sporting long beards, in each farm.
However, some old-timers maintained that Punjabi youths who are coming illegally are more vulnerable.
“I will not blame Italy for the illtreatment. Many of the Punjabi youth have either come to Italy through illegal means or have entered the country on student visa. In both conditions, they are not eligible to work here. But their desire to earn quick money brings them here in milk farms and some crooked landlords take undue advantage of their situation,” said Kareem Singh, who had migrated to Italy in early 1980s and since then six of his family members are working at a cheese farm in Italy.
“Yes, I must admit that sometimes we face discrimination because of our turbans and facial hair, but gradually local people have also started respecting our faith and religion.There are equal rights, weekly-offs, seasonal bonuses and annual leaves for Punjabis who are working here legally,” he added.
