The dirty secret of Italy’s work visa bonanza

Written by: Aarthi Ramnath, Raghav Bikhchandani & Yash Budhwar

The dirty secret of Italy’s work visa bonanza

Between 2026 and 2028, Rome will dole out nearly 500,000 work visas to non-EU nationals—with the first batch of 165,000 issued next year. This is the second time that the staunchly anti-immigrant Giorgia Meloni government has expanded the work visa program. But why?

Italians need to eat: The nation’s dirty little secret is that its farming industry relies heavily on undocumented migrants—who account for 230,000 out of a total of a million farm workers. But the agriculture sector is still struggling—and needs at least another 200,000 workers a year.

Hate you/need you dynamic: In Italy and more widely in the EU, farmers are the political base of right-wing parties—who are also vocally anti-immigration. In fact, that’s often why they are elected. This in turn sets up an internal contradiction:

Governments are vowing to reduce immigration, but European agriculture depends on migrant workers. About 2 million Europeans cross borders to work on farms every year, according to EU estimates, plus another 400,000 from outside the union—perhaps a third of the bloc’s agricultural workforce of 7-9 million. Europe’s farmers have enormous clout, and tend to be part of the base of the hard-right parties that want to keep out foreigners. That has forced such parties to compromise on their anti-immigration slogans.

Point to note: Italy has Europe’s largest agricultural industry.

Ok, let’s exploit you: That hatred of migrant workers has proved to be lethal across Italy’s farms and vineyards. The unsurprising result is severe abuse and exploitation—in a black market controlled by agro-mafia gangs called the ‘caporalato’. Workers are mostly from Morocco, India and Africa—who are paid 50% less than their peers. They are also totally reliant on their employers for food, housing and transportation—creating the perfect conditions for slave labour. Example, Satnam Singh—who was left on the road to die after his arm was severed in an accident on a vegetable farm.

Wait, there’s more: Meloni’s rise to popularity was fueled by her virulent opposition to asylum seekers. Her government has targeted refugee boats—and NGOs who help them. Yet the same asylum seekers are used to fuel Italian wealth:

Many migrants are pushed to enter the agriculture sector, which requires a massive seasonal workforce, mainly in olive growing and viticulture. The availability of a foreign-born workforce has proved a backbone for the agricultural industry, which contributes tens of billions of euros annually to the Italian economy.

Data point to note: Nearly 400,000 farmworkers—80% of them migrants—were recruited through ‘caporalato’ channels in 2020.

The bottomline: It’s hardly surprising that Meloni is distributing work visas like laddus. The agricultural industry doesn’t have a homegrown workforce because young Italians refuse to do “back-breaking work under the sun.” So it needs desperate migrant workers—more so as each year brings record-breaking heatwaves. Btw, Firstpost’s headline for this story: “Meloni’s Immigration Bonanza to Woo Indians.”

Reading list: Reuters reports on the new batch of work visas. Migration Policy has a lengthy report on undocumented migrant workers in agriculture—while Al Jazeera looks at their exploitation in vineyards. BBC News tells the sad story of the death of Satnam Singh. Our Big Story looked at exploitation of foreign workers who toil in Italy’s luxury brand factories.

A lethal blast in a Telangana pharma factory

An explosion at Sigachi Industries’ SIGC.NS chemical factory has resulted in 39 deaths—and left 34 injured. More than 140 people were working in the plant at the time:

The blast occurred around 9 a.m. local time Monday at a plant in Pashamylaram, some 30 miles west of Hyderabad, the state capital. According to reports by local outlets, the explosion flattened a four-story building and threw workers hundreds of feet.

Half of the deceased have not been identified because their bodies are so “badly burnt and mutilated.” Experts estimate the energy generated to be equal to a 400-kilogram TNT blast.

About Sigachi: The company makes microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) used by pharmaceutical companies in countries around the world—from the US to Australia. It has five factories across India and subsidiaries in the US and the UAE.

The cause: has not been confirmed—but experts say the blast was likely a “dust explosion.” The manufacturing process involves a drier which sucks the moisture out of cellulose—and turns it into a fine powder. But the ignition temperature is relatively low at 232°C. Extra precautions have to be taken to ensure the pressure does not build up within the drier.

Why this is notable: India has the third-largest pharmaceutical industry in the world—accounting for over $30 billion in the last financial year in exports. Yet, safety regulation or oversight is scarce at chemical factories—where the risk of fires is high. In 2024, explosions in Andhra Pradesh, Mumbai and Chhattisgarh left 29 workers dead. Also this: Global union federation IndustriALL said that some 235 workers died across 116 industrial accidents in India between May 2020 and June 2021.

Reading list: CNN and Washington Post have a good overview of the blast. The Hindu has more on the cause.

The big question: Microsoft AI doctors

Microsoft claims to have built a new AI tool that can diagnose complex diseases 4X more accurately than human doctors. It also reduced treatment costs by 20% by selecting less expensive tests and procedures—because no one is paying the machine to gouge you.

How it works: The “Microsoft AI Diagnostic Orchestrator” is a veritable Frankenstein—-integrating (LLMs) such as GPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok, and others. The magic lies in the ‘Orchestrator’ bit:

Microsoft’s new system is underpinned by a so-called “orchestrator” that creates virtual panels of five AI agents acting as “doctors” — each with a distinct role, such as coming up with hypotheses or choosing diagnostic tests — which interact and “debate” together to choose a course of action.

This “chain of debate” forces AI models to offer a step-by-step account of how they solve problems.

What’s next: The company hasn’t released plans to take the tech to market—but it could eventually be integrated into Bing and its AI companion Copilot:

Increasingly, people are turning to digital tools for medical advice and support… Across Microsoft’s AI consumer products like Bing and Copilot, we see over 50 million health-related sessions every day. From a first-time knee-pain query to a late-night search for an urgent-care clinic, search engines and AI companions are quickly becoming the new front line in healthcare.

Wired has loads more on the new tech.

what caught our eye

business & tech

OpenAI hits pause for a week after top researchers jump ship to Meta—Zuck’s poaching spree sparks grief, burnout, and a viral meltdown.
Tesla stock tumbled 6% after Trump said he’d ‘take a look’ at deporting Elon Musk—just days after the CEO slammed his flagship ‘big bill’.
The US dollar is off to its worst yearly start since 1973—sliding further despite Trump easing tariff threats and markets bouncing back.
Dating apps only had one more target to achieve. Meet Doffair, a new dating app for dogs in Hyderabad—helping pups find playmates and beat loneliness—one tail wag at a time.
Amazon’s warehouses are nearing a tipping point—with over a million robots now almost outnumbering human workers.
Threads turns two with a big update—Meta’s finally added direct messaging as it tries to carve out space beyond Instagram.

sports & entertainment

The jury in Diddy’s trial has delivered a verdict on four of five counts—but is still split on the most serious charge of racketeering, as the judge urges them to keep trying for a unanimous decision.
Rodrigues and Amanjot powered India to a second straight win in the women’s T20 series—leaving England 0-2 down and sweating over skipper Nat Sciver-Brunt’s fitness ahead of the Oval clash.
Three ‘Rust’ crew members have settled their lawsuit over the on-set shooting that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins
MS Dhoni has officially filed to trademark his iconic nickname—‘Captain Cool’—with the status now marked ‘accepted and advertised’.
A minor boxer from Hisar has accused her woman coach of sexual assault during a training tour—an FIR filed by her mother details disturbing claims and raises fresh concerns over athlete safety.
A wild day at the Club World Cup—Al-Hilal stunned Manchester City 4-3 in extra time, while Fluminense sent Inter packing with a 2-0 upset in Charlotte.
The ‘Devil Wears Prada 2’ is officially in production—with Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci all back on set.

health & environment

The Telegraph has a good read on how residents of India’s hottest town, Sri Ganganagar, are adapting to life under brutal, unforgiving heat.
The Conversation has a good read on why banning left turns in the US could save lives, ease traffic, and cut fuel use—all in one go.
The IMD has warned of very heavy rain over the next week across Himachal, Uttarakhand, UP, Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan.
Late-night dairy may come with a dark side—lactose-intolerant folks are more likely to get nightmares and poor sleep, says a new study.

meanwhile, in the world

The Guardian has a must read on what unfolded in Gaza over 12 harrowing days—while global attention was fixed on Israel’s conflict with Iran.
Over 130 aid groups—including Oxfam and Amnesty—are calling for the shutdown of the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, accusing it of enabling attacks on starving Palestinians.
A new study has revealed that over 14 million people—including 4.5 million children under the age of five—could die due to Trump’s cuts to foreign aid.
After its conflict with Israel, Iran launched a sweeping crackdown—arresting hundreds, carrying out executions, and pushing for harsher spy laws as fears of deep Israeli infiltration grow.
The Trump administration raises the possibility of stripping NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani of his US citizenship—after a Republican lawmaker accused him of hiding pro-terror views during naturalisation.
Russian forces now occupy the entirety of Ukraine’s Luhansk region, according to Moscow.
The US has halted some weapons shipments to Ukraine, citing low stockpiles and the need to “put America’s interests first.”
Five years on from Beijing’s imposition of the National Security Law (NSL), Hong Kong’s last remaining pro-democracy party has disbanded.
The first set of ‘academic refugees’ fleeing Trump’s America has arrived at France’s Aix-Marseille University under the “Safe Place for Science" program.
The University of Pennsylvania, under a deal with the Trump administration, will now bar transgender women from competing in women’s sports.
Malaysia has launched its own trade war—banning US plastic waste shipments and saying no to America’s trash.
Hackers linked to Tehran have threatened to release emails more stolen from the Donald’s aides, having previously leaked a batch ahead of the 2024 election.

meanwhile, in India

Just 38 hours after the deadly AI171 crash, another Air India flight—AI187 from Delhi to Vienna—reportedly plunged 900ft during takeoff, triggering “stall alert” and “don’t sink” warnings.
The Supreme Court has introduced a first-ever formal reservation policy for the direct appointment and promotion of its staffers belonging to SCs and STs.
NHAI is under fire after its lawyer, during a hearing on a 40-hour traffic jam that killed three, asked why “people even leave home so early without any work”—sparking outrage from victims’ families.
Mumbai gets a taste of Franco-American cuisine and flair with SoBo 20’s debut.
Indian Express breaks down how the country’s energy stack can replicate UPI’s success in the power sector.

Five things to see

One: Last month, the US launched an attack on Iran’s nuclear sites—most important among these was Fordow—which the Donald claimed to have “completely and totally obliterated.” Then came the Pentagon report that concluded that the strike only set Iran’s nuclear program back “by a few months.” Now we have satellite images that show Iranians back at work at Fordow—building a new access road and moving in construction equipment to access the uranium. (Wall Street Journal, paywalled, CNN)

Two: Turkish police have detained four people for a cartoon depicting “Prophet Muhammad and Prophet Moses shaking hands in the sky as missiles fell below in a war-like scene.” It was published in satirical magazine LeMan last week. The cartoonist, the magazine’s graphic designer and two other senior staffers have been charged with “openly insulting religious values.” Je Suis LeMan. (Al Jazeera)

Three: These are our planet’s oldest rocks—found in a rock formation on the eastern shore of Canada's Hudson Bay. According to the researchers: "The volcanic rocks have to be at least 4.16 billion years old or older; I would argue that the best age for them is 4.3 billion years old.” As you can see, they are kinda underwhelming. (Live Science)

More impressive: This 40,000-year-old Mammoth tusk—which is also the world’s oldest boomerang. But here’s the weird thing: “Researchers worked out from its shape that it would have flown when thrown, but would not have come back to the thrower”—which is a basic requirement for any boomerang of any age, no? (BBC News)

Four: It was only a matter of time. A band called The Velvet Sundown is making waves on Spotify. It has half a million listeners in just a month after its debut. More astonishingly: “In less than a month, The Velvet Sundown has released two albums on Spotify, titled ‘Floating On Echoes’ and ‘Dust and Silence./ A third album is releasing in two weeks.” Of course, its effing AI. Also a dead giveaway: Their awful AI-slop insta images—like The Beatles inspired one below. You can listen to them on Spotify. (Ars Technica)

Five: This is the trailer for the much anticipated sci-fi ‘Project Hail Mary’—based on the best-selling Andy Weir novel. The plot revolves around a 6th grade science teacher who’s sent to space—11.6 light years from Earth—in search of a habitable planet. Of course, he meets an alien. The cast: Ryan Gosling and Sandra Hüller from the Oscar-winning film ‘Anatomy of a Fall’. The movie is slated for March 20, 2026. (The Verge)