ITALY'S GOVERNMENT ON FRIDAY AGREED TO OPEN UP THE COUNTRY'S LABOUR MARKET TO WORKERS FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION'S 10 NEW MEMBER STATES, DPA REPORTED. "WE HAVE REMOVED THE DISCRIMINATION PREVIOUSLY INTRODUCED TOWARDS COUNTRIES THAT HAVE JUST JOINED THE EU," CABINET UNDERSECRETARY ENRICO LETTA TOLD REPORTERS IN ROME. THE DECISION BY THE ROMANO PRODI GOVERNMENT FOLLOWED RECENT MOVES TO THIS EFFECT BY FINLAND, GREECE, PORTUGAL AND SPAIN. BRITAIN, IRELAND AND SWEDEN WERE THE FIRST TO SWING OPEN THEIR DOORS TO THE EU'S NEWCOMERS SHORTLY AFTER THEY JOINED, IN MAY 2004. THE REST OF THE OLDER EU STATES MUST OPEN THEIR LABOUR MARKETS TO NEWCOMERS BY 2011. THE 10 COUNTRIES THAT JOINED THE EU TWO YEARS AGO ARE: THE CZECH REPUBLIC, ESTONIA, HUNGARY, LATVIA, LITHUANIA, POLAND, SLOVAKIA, SLOVENIA, MALTA AND CYPRUS. THE GOVERNMENT'S ANNOUNCEMENT CAME JUST THREE DAYS AFTER ITALIAN POLICE FREED MORE THAN 100 POLISH CITIZENS HELD AS SLAVES IN LABOUR CAMPS IN SOUTHERN ITALY. THE POLES WERE FORCED TO WORK FIELDS IN THE SOUTHERN REGION OF APULIA FOR UP TO 15 HOURS NON-STOP AND PAID A PITIFUL AMOUNT OF MONEY. MORE THAN 35 SUSPECTS, OF WHICH 16 IN ITALY AND THE REST IN POLAND, WERE ARRESTED ON CHARGES OF INTERNATIONAL HUMAN TRAFFICKING AND CRIMINAL ASSOCIATION IN A JOINT OPERATION INVOLVING ITALIAN AND POLISH POLICE. THE WORKERS WERE ALLEGEDLY CONFINED TO LIVING IN CAMPS AND WERE TORTURED AND BEATEN BY ARMED GUARDS IF THEY TRIED TO ESCAPE.
