A memorandum of understanding signed by Morocco and Italy on March 28 in Palermo (Sicily), will enable Moroccan nationals to undergo vocational training to work in the country. The deal was approved by Sicilian and Moroccan trade union groups, who are offering seasonal jobs in Sicily for the beneficiaries. The Italian news agency Ansa reported that the agreement was signed by the Association of Foreign Workers of Sicily, the Human Solidarity Consortium, and the General Union of Moroccan Workers (UGTM). For the various parties, this framework opens new ways of preventing the exploitation of seasonal workers. According to the same source, the UGTM in Fez will have the task of supporting and funding training in Morocco and recruiting workers. The initiative is open to Italian companies, who can find out more at the website www.migrants.work. «We want to offer migrants appropriate alternatives to the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean Sea», said Paolo Ragusa, regional chairman of the Foreign Workers Association. Sicily's regional councilor for social policies, Nuccia Albano, continued, «Those coming from abroad can in this way be integrated more quickly and in a better way into the enterprises seeking qualified manpower». In fact, the signatory parties support this agreement as a way of recruiting qualified personnel with language skills, equipped to avoid abusive situations on the part of employers.
