Since the beginning of 2025, eight deaths have already been recorded among migrant farmworkers living in informal settlements in Apulia and Sicily. These deaths, documented by INTERSOS field teams, are the result of extreme marginalisation—deaths that could have been prevented. “We call for concrete action to ensure equitable access to housing, legal and social protection, and fair and safe working conditions—fundamental elements to guarantee dignity, respect, and health for all.”
“Between the end of April and the end of May, we witnessed two sudden cardiac arrests just days apart, both happening right in front of our eyes. To our knowledge, neither individual had any known medical conditions that might have suggested such a dramatic outcome,” says Beatrice Sgorbissa, INTERSOS medical coordinator in Italy. She recalls the incidents that took place in Borgo Mezzanone, Apulia, in the so-called ghetto where thousands of foreign agricultural laborers live.
“These men, both in their mid-40s, were treated by our mobile clinic, but unfortunately, they did not survive after being transferred to the hospital in Foggia. After their deaths were declared,” she adds, “we were not given any further explanation regarding the exact causes.”
In just four months—from January to May—INTERSOS staff working in informal settlements in Borgo Mezzanone (Foggia), as well as in Palermo and the provinces of Trapani and Agrigento in Sicily, have recorded eight deaths among the people living there. These were deaths that could have been avoided, and that are clearly linked to harsh living and working conditions, and the many barriers people face in accessing social and healthcare services.
“We had been following two individuals for some time, both of whom had been living in Italy for years,” says Eva Pinna, INTERSOS project manager in Foggia. “Both suffered from serious chronic illnesses—diabetes, kidney issues, hypertension, vascular disorders—but were unable to receive consistent care due to bureaucratic delays in renewing their residency permits, the complete lack of dignified housing alternatives outside the settlement, and unstable employment. Without regular, structured medical assistance, their conditions deteriorated over time, ultimately leading to deaths that, under different circumstances, would have been preventable.”
These and other deaths are an alarming signal of how urgent it is to address a crisis that remains both invisible and deeply systemic. The deceased were people living in conditions of extreme marginalization—homeless individuals, exploited migrant laborers working in the fields, men and women forced to live in informal settlements that bear no resemblance to dignified housing. Conditions that should be unthinkable on a continent like Europe. These are people living in constant social, economic, and medical exclusion.
These are deaths from medical causes, made fatal by structural neglect. No one should die under such circumstances in 2025—not in Italy, nor anywhere else.
These are not isolated incidents. They are the result of a system that continues to condemn the most vulnerable not only to exploitation and a life on the margins, deprived of fundamental rights, but also to face occupational hazards and preventable health issues that tragically become fatal far too early and unjustly.
These deaths are yet another tragic manifestation of deep-rooted inequalities that affect those with the fewest means to defend themselves—inequalities that, ultimately, concern us all. These are not just bodies to be counted and managed—these were people, and we will never stop doing our work in their name, for as long as it takes.
“As INTERSOS, we will never stop calling for a dignified, coordinated, and effective response from local authorities in the areas where we operate, as well as from national institutions,” says Marcello Rossoni, INTERSOS Country Director for Italy.
“The right to health is a fundamental human right, enshrined in the Italian Constitution and in international treaties to which our country is a signatory, as well as protected by the World Health Organization. In 2025, in Italy, this right must be guaranteed to every individual—regardless of race, religion, or socio-economic status.”
“After years of working closely with people living on the margins—years marked by chronically inadequate structural responses,” Rossoni adds, “we are calling for a serious and tangible political commitment to promote genuine access to healthcare services, and to break down the barriers that severely limit access for those in hardship. We also call for concrete action to ensure equitable access to housing, legal and social protection, and fair and protected working conditions—essential prerequisites to guaranteeing dignity, respect, and health for all people.”
In 2025, some deaths provoke public outrage, while others continue to go unnoticed.
In 2025, indifference cannot—and must not—be the only response.
In 2025, people will still die—but we will never accept that anyone should die of marginalization.