Whistle-Blower Law Unlikely To Help Italy's Migrants

http://www.npr.org/2012/07/24/157289830/whistleblower-law-unlikely-to-help-italys-migrants

Audio at: http://www.npr.org/2012/07/24/157289830/whistleblower-law-unlikely-to-help-italys-migrants

Italy recently approved a decree that would grant work and residence permits to migrants who blow the whistle on bosses who exploit them in the economy illegally.

But in places like the southern region of Calabria, the law has little chance of being applied at a time when the economic crisis increasingly fosters an illegal, underground economy.

The main activity in Calabria is agriculture. Thanks to vast citrus fields, it's one of the major stops for migratory workers, mostly Africans without legal documents.

They usually arrive in the town of Rosarno in the fall, in time for the orange and tangerine harvests. But it's midsummer and hundreds are already here, hoping for some meager work in the fields.