The death of an Indian farm labourer in a gruesome machine accident in Italy is "just the tip of the iceberg" when it comes to the exploitation of migrant workers by rich Western nations, United Nations Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, Tomoya Obokata, said...

"These rich, wealthy Western countries are dependent on migrant workers, for example, in agriculture, construction and others," Obokata told Context in an interview.

"This is just a tip of the iceberg. Labour exploitation happens in a wide variety of sectors where Indian workers may go," he said, nearly a week after declaring on social media that he felt "outraged" by Singh's case.

Obokata said he hoped the perpetrators would be prosecuted and that Singh's family would get financial compensation.

The U.N. expert pointed to his predecessor Urmila Bhoola's 2019 report on agricultural workers in Italy, where she found that migrants accounted for nearly 17% of all those employed in the sector, almost a third of whom were Indians.

About 40% of the migrants in Italy's agricultural sector are irregular workers, according to the U.N...

Obokata urged destination countries, including Italy, Britain and Canada, to do more, such as review and change temporary worker programmes, to prevent labour exploitation...

Obokata said the Indian government must also crack down on "rogue recruiters", many of whom prey on desperate jobseekers, arrange dodgy jobs and charge exorbitant recruitment fees...