By David Willey
BBC News, Rome
**The Pope has called on Italians to respect the rights of illegal migrants, after a wave of violence against African farm workers in southern Italy.**He said migrants may have different cultures and traditions, but were human beings entitled to respect.
Some 70 people - including migrants, police officers and local residents - have been injured after days of violence in Rosarno, in Calabria.
Hundreds of Africans have now been bussed by police out of the town.
Pope Benedict XVI spoke out strongly in favour of the rights of poor African farm workers, who have been the target of violence in recent days.
“We have to go to the heart of the problem, of the significance of the human being,” the Pope said.
The Italian government says it intends to expel hundreds of illegal migrants from north and west Africa who have been earning starvation wages as seasonal fruit, olive and tomato pickers.
Mafia link
But the problem is also closely related to organised crime in southern Italy.
The local mafia, called the 'Ndrangheta, controls the labour market which employs ever growing numbers of illegal seasonal day labourers.
The workers live in sordid conditions and are paid very low wages, out of which they have to pay kickbacks to their bosses.
At the moment they are picking mainly citrus fruit. It is backbreaking work which Italians now shun.
Wages are handed out in cash, labour laws and safety and health regulations are ignored, and no taxes or welfare contributions are ever paid.
The Calabrian mafia has become one of the most powerful criminal organisations in Italy in recent years, controlling much of Europe’s narcotics trade, and has now expanded into the lucrative field of immigrant management.