Romania to send gov't team to inquire into alleged workplace abuse of Romanian women in Italy

Romanian Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu on Tuesday announced that a government team would be sent to Italy to look into the alleged workplace abuse of Romanian women in Italy.

The decision came after a Sunday report in the British weekly The Observer that revealed that thousands of Romanian women farm workers were victims of abuse, including threats and sexual assault, in the Sicilian province of Ragusa.

The delegation, including minister for Romanians abroad Andreea Pastarnac and a representative of the Interior Ministry, will have meetings from Wednesday to Friday with local officials, as well as with representatives of Romanian organizations at work in Italy, and also with NGOs involved in defending the rights of foreign workers, according to a government press release.

The prime minister "follows with concern the situation of Romanians in Italy and is waiting with interest for the report of the government's representatives," said the release.

Local police were quoted as saying by the Observer: "Up to 7,500 women, the majority of whom are Romanian, are living in slavery on farms across the region. These women are working as slaves in the fields and we know they are blackmailed to have sex with the owners of the farms or greenhouses."

According to a press statement on Monday from the Romanian Foreign Ministry, "so far, no applications for consular assistance have been filed by Romanian nationals affected by the reported incidents."

Source: Xinhua