from quality to flash from housing boom boom time this is. welcome to the 77 percent. this week and d.-w. . in the capital they push you he says oh you've left some tomatoes there that you pick them up pick them up. if anything's left he's not happy. and slaps you in the face he hurts you he has no respect for you and that is slavery slavery not just exploitation. exploitation is something like poor pay but when they push you when you have to work in the burning sun and

have no say no papers and you sleep in the ghettos. all that is slavery is modern slavery slavery doesn't require chains no slavery is what's happening here this is slavery. the hundreds of thousands of seasonal farm workers from africa and eastern europe on fields in italy yvonne who comes from cameroon was once one of them. today he fights for their rights and against a mafia style system of dumping price's abuse of power and exploitation is on wants to bring the people who profit from that system behind bars and end the farmworkers

inhumane living conditions. this is typical housing for the immigrants he. used the fireplace for all kinds of things because there's no electricity no lights no running water nothing. but they know how to help themselves they use this for heating and cooking. gas the table. hears all and the plates they eat off. look here at 8 mattresses. yeah maybe 40 people can sleep here. 40 people you've seen it.

this is a typical house for 4 people. well sometimes plaster from the ceiling falls on them when they sleep it's much too cold here there are no windows they close up the openings with sheet metal so. the migrant workers have to buy old basic amenities from the criminal gang masters called the capper ali often they come from the same country as the phone workers. for rock mattress feltham and 10 year old who's. in that yellow house over there are italians. not foreigners italians. they do business with. us

it's the only house around here with running water and electricity. and the people have to go over there to charge their mobile phones because there's no electricity here they'll take $0.50 for charging a phone to wash yourself over there it cost a euro or euro and a half. disapprove it makes me want to cry. i feel disgust and hatred when i see human beings living under these conditions today in the 21st century in italy. so it's despicable so despicable and the whole world knows about it everyone knows about it but they don't care because these are migrants. the migrants are treated like animals. they are supposed to work to boost the business of the farmers and politicians. but no one sees them as people.

that's literally welcome to italy. says he knew the migrants who live in the camps are completely controlled by the people known as. make up or are there a kind of mafia. when the farmers need workers for the fields they call the cop alley on the phone. in the car but ali abuse this position of power to exploit and control the immigrants and they live side by side with them in their. you know. the a purely on basilica to regions of something easily a known as the country's vegetable gardens a purely alone produces

a 3rd of tomato harvest in the remote areas around the fields we find the so-called ghettos. with. entire shanty towns have grown up. while it also show. will need a hidden camera in the fields put down your big camera. but . probably don't want cameras. to fair because that would mean people could see their illegal business. they see me good of the immigrants don't like them because they don't want to be seen in the ghettos they were ashamed of being filmed and that someone in their home countries in africa might see them. when they talk with

their parents or friends in africa they tell them a very different story that their lawyers. i work in an office they lie because they're ashamed to admit that they live under these conditions. more than 3000 people live here ger in the harvest most are africans people who have been arriving on italy shores for the past decades and to italy feels it's been left to deal with without help from europe many of the farm hands are undocumented the government turns a blind eye without these low wage workers produce would end up rushing in the fields. there's all the garbage everywhere there are mosquitoes and flies and it stinks. these camps have no sanitation they are lawless places that might pose

a personal risk to yvonne he believes that the death threats he received originated here the capper ali who live here know him as a tenacious opponent for years he has been going to camps like these together evidence of the gangmasters illegal activities he seeks out eyewitnesses identifies perpetrators he knows many of the residents and their stories. like this man from sudan who fled to italy around 20 years ago. and yet. his dream of a better life ended in the shack where he sells used clothes his customers are refugees from around the world. right. in front of the store a man suddenly approaches yvonne knows him as

a couple rally for a while he hides his anxiety but then asked. to end the visit quickly. only if you don't want an end to these ghettos we want infrastructure water light kitchens decent sleeping arrangements and my dream is to achieve that with a no cop organization. but. if lives and works in raw and not far from the vatican. here in his apartment he founded no cop it's a system that certifies produce found and ethically acceptable conditions. look

up. no copies based on article 4 of the universal declaration of human rights which says no one shall be held in slavery or servitude slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms. no cop is an organization that says no to the cop at all auto system of gangmasters . it works with a system of labels. you need to get it unity kit we'll put these labels on all the products from farmers who don't exploit their workers. what. they call call of them we will monitor to ensure that the rights of the farm workers are respected they. feel different sure they do and we have formed a partnership with the union of small farmers called ultra greek ultra. people.

they have around $60000.00 farmers in their association. so we're starting out with a good little base. in 2017 yvonne sunny i was made and night of italy's order of merit. he was awarded the owner by a talian president. that his commitment to human rights and his efforts to expose mafia like structures in farming. that was a grandiose moment in my life. a unique moment because i received this honor from a country that was not my own i'm not a talian i'm cameroonian for the moment. and receiving this prize from a country that is not my own makes me very happy.

though. in 2017 yvonne also became a father it was a good idea but it was overshadowed by death threats his enemies knew that yvonne was determined to take them to court to the highest court in the country if need be . the fia weighs heavily on his wife or on ika. i mean actually if you will that all. 3 point you were 13 ok last threats are unfortunately a sign of how well he's doing his work. how much he's disturbing the interests of the big players. and that's very disturbing to us as a family. with the u.s. army will especially when he goes back to the places where these threats are coming from from you know we pray for him. that we were a that he will reach his goal without harm or useful but of course.

they're going to get there and he was what i wanted in a van has shown that he's very brave and very obstinate. and he's demonstrated that change is possible slowly through hard work and the sacrifices he makes i support him every day in this battle that he fights. back in 2007 if i am came to italy not to fight but to study he been fascinated by the country since his youth it all went well until he failed an exam and lost his scholarship at his university in 2 and. he needed cash and his search for work took him to nada in the south of the country to harvest tomatoes. he arrived at this train station on july 10th 2011 what he experienced then changed

his life forever. today he's returned to the site on the edge of town where back then some 1000 workers from africa were living in tents under plastic tarps or out in the open. sit down and watch play place there was unbelievably filthy and hot here. and i asked the good lord where have i ended up here. want to be an image like come from a completely different context interregnum there i lived in a decent house a student dormitory with a toilet dollars my own room a bed. and then suddenly i found myself here sleeping on a mattress on the ground. as

he takes us across the property if i'm discovers that farm workers a living here again. there are not many of them but the conditions are hardly better than they were when he was here. 3 days after i arrived i encountered a couple who called themselves making. he was from sudan he was a big strong guy called mekhi. for the next 4 days yvonne worked on the field brutally supervised by making. he was paid 3 and a half year as for

a $350.00 kilo crate of tomatoes on the 1st day he managed to pick 4 cranks that made 14 deros he had to pay $10.00 of them to make even transport food and water so after a 14 hour day in the heat and with bt meds in mind for euros. that's how it was. and if you got sick i remember one mate of mine. he fell down just like that. the sun was too strong he just collapsed. and that was hard to. when he fell i went over to him and asked him what was wrong with me he said. i got some water and trickled in on him this is your case and i told the cop what

a holiday. he has to go to the hospital. but i wasn't one nearby. hospital was far away. listening in the capital he said leave him there if you go to the hospital you'll have to pay 50 euros for the transport that's not exploitation any more for me that slavery a new slavery which. the man barely survived his collapse on the field. is a tough i sing i work for 5 days. and on the 5th day we said enough. we are angry enough is enough we want cars trucks we want our rights to be respected. we are tired of being treated like slaves this is us. yvonne helped organize a strike the 1st large scale uprising among seasonal farm workers in italy the men

from the ghetto joined it telegram a local broadcaster reported on it then the death threats came and yvonne fled but his anger brought him back again after nearly 3 months the harvest was starting to rush on the fields the farmers gave in and offered higher pay and labor contracts the government in rome passed a law against the brutal capra lotto system and soon after the 1st trial of farmers and gangmasters began with the band's involvement. his fight for human rights has now become a full time occupation it's a fight on many fronts in production halls on the fields in court and increasingly at negotiating tables here in brazil a carter he's meeting with some farmers who'd like to have his partners as the

direct employees of the farm hands the meeting was arranged by events closest ally trade union leader gianni fabrice. italian fruit and vegetable production is hovering on the brink. our products are subject to price dumping. the retailers say to the pharmacy we'll pay you the same price for your peaches as we pay for peaches from morocco or turkey or all that much cheaper than yours you want to sell that's the price that's the reality of farming in italy. well system here and the system is kept alive by the big companies in the food industry sector st. clair pushing down the prices to rock bottom

so that the farmers have no margin to maneuver. so they are forced to exploit their workers. yvonne is working with farmers and trade unionists to find a better way. of you. know. we have to raise people's consciousness and beg for consumers to have more social responsibility. consumers have to realize that behind the kilo of tomatoes that they buy is work a little work in which people are being exploited for. work which is ethically correct and if this rethink doesn't happen we are dead. few days later if i am receives a message that gives him a boost and italian supermarket chain office in his 1st deal it will take an initial batch of no cut products worth up to

a 1000000 euros in its assortment that will make it attractive for farmers to work with yvonne and his organization. in the town of yvonne shows how the no cap system works here a farmer picks up his workers himself rather than leaving the transport to the criminal labor brokers. psyche for an awful this is what gives the copper ali their power that's how they bring their workers to the fields. and there's no public transportation so with the cars but eileen who take care. if they're transporting and abused them in a cup why not use. the gangmasters pack up to 30 people into a van that is authorized to hold a maximum of 8 years it would be graveling in those overfilled vans is terrible.

not much uppity if most of them don't have any windows because the cop at all you don't want the police to see that they're carrying 20 to 25 people. for ok so inside there's hardly any air there are deaths every year shock i mean. within the space of 2 days in august 28th seen 2 separate crashes of overfield vans claimed the lives of 15 african were because. of what i wanted to be different. so these guys these workers came here in a normal vehicle. they didn't pay anything for the transport. as you can see their clothing is white like it's work clothing line in moscow they

also have protective masks and gloves to protect their hands. we're taking care of safety in the workplace superpower. before anyone starts working here he gets a contract and the pay is in accordance with legal requirements. the last tomatoes of the season being picked on this failed one of the workers thomas from guyana agrees to talk with us briefly. we don't have contracts. don't know contracts or account work because an era or telly if you don't have to walk contract or walk i mean you can walk to be always in company. it think i'm a bad person or i think i'm ounce i'm not the one be nuts i mean one being different new fun if skin black and red black blood c.d.c. intern so all we are one defend calista one people the

man on whose fields thomas and the others are working also sees it that way. peavy known as family has been growing organic vegetables here for 30 years. hey guys just pick the red tomatoes just the really red ones. that are. just step even your own as workers have contracts he's one of a growing number of farmers who want to break out of a system of extreme price pressure that's turning them into perpetrators a little a couple of other medical for me the couple are allowed to system is the worst mistake in existence since you're using a labor force that's being fundamentally exploited. that harvesting tomatoes is very exhausting and so this labor should be accorded a proper value them and. that's another reason why it's important to make contracts and protect the workers. the more. they're called for the tomato harvest we pay

$5.00 euros net power plus social contributions that's twice as much as in the cup or a lotto system. i reckon i've been through the entire system of the tomato harvest needs to change the battle against these prices is extremely tough and there are big difficulties that it was . an italian trade union has calculated what a solution might look like if the big retail chains paid the farmers just $0.02 more per kilogram of tomatoes they would have $235000000.00 euros more income with that they could set up humane housing and working conditions for the farm workers and the problem with the copper ali would vanish on its own. it's late october 28th election in southern italy. lawsuit against gangmasters

unexploited farmers has been going on for 5 years. in discourse he celebrated a great triumph the explosives were convicted in the 1st trial but now their appeal could end in a dramatic to fate. today we are in appeals proceedings. there. is in the 1st trial 9 were sentenced to 11 years in jail. they were convicted of to an italian that is of enslavement. 9 capitally and 3 italian farmers were convicted. at the start we were around 50 people who went to the police to press charges

fairly normal we named the names of all those who exploited us today there are just 8 of us with that courage i and the main witness the more disciplined. the other side seated here in the dark have been defending themselves with all available means the farmers have shown up within a matter of expensive lawyers but yvonne has been steadfast. simu sukkoth because all those men are guilty of abusing workers i was a victim of that and i denounced it goes. if the appeals court was up hold the guilty verdict it would be a remarkable success for yvonne be it a symbolic one. if. it's in a clear because of course say it's clear that this trial has not changed the working conditions for the farmhands in the fields. of ridiculousness the caliber

lotto system is still in place everywhere in italy. and the terrible living conditions of the people in the ghettos without. water or light are still there i knew that this trial would not change all that. nonetheless yvonne sagna sees the trial as a milestone. several up in the soup it's worth fighting. we're living in a world where you have to fight if you need a solution if you don't fight nothing will change. things will only change if you fight. we are prepared salsa and sports.

and. you know this is you know 5 minutes 4 minutes. past the hour and putin. has it all. the face in the pantheon of the great tennis certainly he's one for the ages. i'll. ask of tennis. stars july 10th on t.w. .

this is new. live from berlin hong kong's need to carry lam saying the territories controversial extradition will is day i don't chief executive had hoped the announcement would be enough to end a mass exodus getting ready to return to the streets also coming out of the don't go down and island of lampedusa has become the front line in group stadol for the migration and the role of risky ships in the mediterranean has been to both sides of the argument.