PCP in Alentejo wants to denounce companies linked to the exploitation of immigrants

This Friday, the PCP defended that the Judicial Police (PJ) operation in the Beja area against a network that exploited immigrant workers “can only be effective” and “consistent” if the owners and companies involved are also convicted. .

In a statement, PCP’s Alentejo Regional Office (DRA) described Wednesday’s PJ police operation as “positive”, “targeting illegal immigration and human trafficking networks.”

But, he emphasized, this “can only be effective, coherent and consistent if all those, namely owners and companies of Portuguese and foreign nationality, who enrich themselves through this type of criminal contracts, are fully identified, accused and condemned” .

For the Communists, “it is absolutely essential that the investigation deepen the entire cycle of cultivation, human trafficking and direct or indirect recruitment, as networks of illegal immigration and slave labor would never exist if there were no companies feeding on this criminal business of millionaires.”

The DRA said in a statement that the operation, with 35 detainees belonging to a criminal organization that exploited immigrant workers, “just wasn’t too late.”

In view of “the existing signs and the situation on the farms of the region, there is a long overdue need for decisive, quick and consistent action by the government and competent authorities to protect the labor, social and human rights of these workers, regardless of their place of birth or nationality,” the PKP said.

What the authorities have now verified, he stressed, is only part of the countless cases of overexploitation and denial of labor and social rights to thousands of workers in the region.

According to the party, the government is “far from having exhausted the means at its disposal to control, prevent and combat these crimes”, and it is necessary that the various bodies competent in these matters intervene “on a permanent basis in order to put an end to genuine organized networks and “mafias” and strive to create conditions for the reception, integration, residence, regularization and job security” for all workers.

Referring to the expansion of the irrigation perimeters of Alqueva and Mira or the possible construction of infrastructure that has long been in demand by the people of Alentejo, PCP warned that “the need for labor is expected to increase.”

Therefore, he argued, “it is necessary that the various structures of the central apparatus of the state take measures that, in an articulated and coordinated manner, will prevent further labor and social crimes and provide decent conditions for reception, housing and integration.” thousands of workers at these construction sites.

To combat “the root causes of this social scourge, it is necessary and urgent to seriously invest in agricultural production, raise the wages of agricultural workers, combat instability and promote employment stability, along with other structural measures to combat Alentejo desertification.” the communists suggested.