Pope Francis makes appeal for migrant workers

Pope Francis is calling for migrant farm workers to be treated with dignity, issuing an appeal as Italy weighs whether to legalize undocumented agricultural workers amid a shortage of seasonal farm labor due to the coronavirus emergency.

Francis said he had been struck by the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on migrant farm workers, who even before the pandemic lived hand-to-mouth with day jobs that paid 25 euro (USD 27). While migrants are not testing positive in great numbers, they have seen their precarious, off-the-books work dry up because of Italy's lockdown.

Francis said Wednesday at the end of his general audience that migrant workers in Italy are very harshly exploited.

He said: It is true that the current crisis affects everyone, but people's dignity must always be respected. ... May the crisis give us the opportunity to make the dignity of the person and of work the center of our concern.

Farm lobby groups and some Italian ministers have warned that spring and summer harvests are at risk because Italy's usual seasonal workers, many of whom live in Eastern Europe, are stuck at home because of virus travel restrictions.

Italy's agriculture minister, from the center-left Italy of Values party, has proposed legalizing them, backed by the interior minister and minister for the south who also wants to legalize Italy's army of foreign domestic workers who care for the elderly at home. But the majority 5-Star Movement is divided on the issue.