Story perspectives

Two Pakistanis Arrested for Calabria Farm Workers' Arson Murder

6/4/2026

Summary

Police Arrests

Police arrested two Pakistani men for the June 1 fire that killed four migrant farm workers at a gas station in Amendolara, Calabria.
Surveillance video shows suspects pouring gasoline into a van, blocking its doors and igniting it after a wage-payment dispute, survivor Mohammad Taj Alamyar said.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called the murders shocking, pledged justice and said the case revives scrutiny of Italy’s caporalato system that exploits 230,000 farm workers.

Summary

Taliban Condemns

The Taliban’s foreign ministry condemned the killings of migrant farm workers as cruel, painful and inhuman and urged an Italian investigation.
Police identified four victims: Afghan nationals Amin Afzal Khogyani, 28; Safi Ejad, 27; Esmatullah Qaemi, 19; and Pakistani Waseem Khan, 29, and noted that a fifth Afghan, Mohammad Taj Alamyar, escaped.
Human-rights groups used the case to demand stronger legal protections for migrant farm workers vulnerable to exploitation.

History

Historical Context

In 2010 Italy enacted Law 190/2010, criminalising the caporalato system that had enslaved migrant farm workers across the south, a practice affecting close to 500,000 foreign laborers according to a 2015 ASGI estimate. The law’s precedent underpins Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s June 1 condemnation of the Amendolara arson, reinforcing EU-backed calls to protect Afghan and Pakistani agricultural workers.

1 of 3

Police Arrests

Police arrested two Pakistani men for the June 1 fire that killed four migrant farm workers at a gas station in Amendolara, Calabria.
Surveillance video shows suspects pouring gasoline into a van, blocking its doors and igniting it after a wage-payment dispute, survivor Mohammad Taj Alamyar said.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called the murders shocking, pledged justice and said the case revives scrutiny of Italy’s caporalato system that exploits 230,000 farm workers.

1 / 3