BORGO MEZZANONE — Italy forfeited 54 million euros in European Union housing funds intended for migrant workers in Borgo Mezzanone after failing to spend them before a deadline. The funds were allocated to move workers into proper housing.

The settlement of Borgo Mezzanone, located between the disused runways of a former military airfield, has existed since 2005. It lacks natural shade, drinking water, and sanitary facilities. Residents use a shopping trolley to haul water containers from two tanks provided by local authorities, boiling the water for drinking or washing. The population can reach an estimated 4,000 people during peak summer months, with seasonal workers picking melons, apricots, and cherries in the Puglia region of southern Italy.

Dr. Camilla Faragona, who works with the humanitarian organization Intersos, stated that the health of young, healthy individuals deteriorates year after year due to the living conditions and labor exploitation. Intersos provides free health and social assistance in the area, operating a mobile clinic on the outskirts of the shanty town. Francesca Palazzo, the project leader for Intersos in Foggia, noted that "People returning from the fields cannot cool down." Palazzo added that workers suffer from heat and thirst, and frequently visit the clinic for heat-related problems during this period.

Marco Pellegrini, a member of parliament from Foggia and the opposition Five Stars (M5S) party, described the living conditions in Borgo Mezzanone as "inhumane" in a ministerial question earlier this month. Pellegrini asserted that the loss of EU funds constituted a "complete failure" by Giorgia Meloni's right-wing coalition and suggested the government stalled on spending the funds because it "did not look favourably on the attempt to regularise" migrants. He characterized the situation for migrants, stating that they are "often exploited, forced to work at an exhausting pace in the fields for very low pay, then returning to a punishing ghetto."