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Yvan Sagnet: Campaigning for migrant workers' rights

September 16, 2024

Yvan Sagnet has been campaigning against the exploitation of migrant workers in Italy for years. His organization No Cap works to ensure fair conditions for laborers in the agricultural industry.

https://p.dw.com/p/4kgnO

Originally from Cameroon, Yvan Sagnet himself was an agricultural worker in southern Italy. He went on to found the organization No Cap, which campaigns for fair wages and conditions in agriculture, and against criminal exploitation of migrant laborers. Along with thousands of other migrants, Kausuu Kasseme from Gambia lives in the notorious Borgo Mezzanone ghetto, which lacks basic sanitary facilities. Twelve years ago, he was rescued crossing the Mediterranean in an overcrowded boat. But his hopes for a better life in Europe were soon dashed. As an agricultural laborer, he earns less than five euros an hour. Italy is one of five EU countries that do not guarantee a minimum wage. Yvan Sagnet is working to change that. Tina Agbonyinmoe from Nigeria works in a company that’s been certified by No Cap, packaging organic strawberries destined for supermarkets in Germany and Denmark. One of Europe's largest producers of organic strawberries, it offers workers fair conditions - and that’s largely thanks to Yvan Sagnet’s campaigning. But soon Tina Agbonyinmoe’s contract will end and she’ll have to look for a new job. A single mother of two, she fears that she will have to work ten hours or more, for significantly less money.