Migrants Toil on Italian Farms to Put Food on European Tables

The desperate quests of record numbers of migrants to cross the Mediterranean have been well-documented. But few know that those who make it here often spend years trapped in an immigration limbo where the only way to make money is to do the back-breaking farm labor that locals shun — but which is critical to feeding the continent. This week, Interior Minister Angelino Alfano suggested that the newcomers do volunteer work while they wait for their asylum requests to be processed. They are more likely, however, to work under-the-table to earn cash to send home or to fund the next leg of their journeys north.
"The work is good," said Khamis, a 33-year-old from Sudan who was harvesting potato fields near Syracuse this week. He said he earned 50 euros ($56) a day, more than the amount typically cited by aid groups. Payment is usually cash in hand, but often a local agent gets a cut.