Rudi Kennes

04/06/2026

Amin Fazal Khogjani, aged 28 (Afghanistan)
Ullah Ismat Qiemi, aged 19 (Afghanistan)
Safi Iayjad, aged 27 (Afghanistan)
Waseem Khan, aged 29 (Pakistan)

Four agricultural workers were burnt alive for asking for a work contract and to be paid after a month of work. For refusing to accept their condition of slavery, they were locked inside a car, drenched with fuel, and set on fire. A fifth worker, Mohammad Taj Alamyar, survived the attack by miraculously getting out of the car, and he was able to tell the story.

These workers had been in Calabria for a month and a half. They were working for long hours under the scorching sun of Amendolara to pick the strawberries that we buy in our supermarkets. They lived in a 2-bedroom flat with 6 other workers. Their living expenses and bureaucracy fees for their visas were detracted from their non-existing pay by their gangmasters. They even had to pay them 5 euros to work in the fields.

The Italian agricultural supply chain structurally allows these criminal behaviours to continue unpunished. These incidents keep happening and everybody is aware. Only in Calabria, an estimated 12,000 agricultural workers are employed illegally. They come from many different countries, and they are subject to varying working conditions, from being paid fewer working days than actually worked to conditions of total slavery, where passports are confiscated and workers are trapped in the hands of criminal gangs working for “entrepreneurs”.

We must never forget the names of Amin, Ullah, Safi and Waseem and the barbaric murder they were victims of. I will continue to push the European Commission to do everything in their power for these employment crimes to never happen again. We should all be ashamed that after a long trip from Afghanistan and Pakistan, this is how their life ended, and how Europe treated them.

We shall remember them through the words of their neighbours, who said they were kind and always bringing fruit to the children of their neighbourhood at the end of their working day.

Justice for Amin, Ullah, Safi, and Waseem!

01/06/2026

I am proud to be a Fossil Free MEP. I pledged to keep my distance from fossil fuel lobbying. In fact, I actually hardly even interact with the fossil fuel industry, but surely, if I did, these would be the terms.

I urge my colleagues to join here: https://fossilfreepolitics.org/mep-pledge/

01/06/2026

The European Parliament is a strange place. We debate Cuba but not Israeli crimes.

High Representative Kallas is very selective with her concerns about human rights violations. She can't see those in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, or the US, but when Cuba, Venezuela or Iran want to own their natural resources, then suddenly all she cares about is human rights, just like the CIA.

The situation of Cuba cannot be understood if we ignore the constant threat of military attack posed by the US. No country can grow while facing sanctions and a manufactured humanitarian crisis.

Blackouts, disruptions to water supply, transport, food distribution, and hospital services. The blockade is an act of genocide and collective punishment.

The embargo was explicitly designed to cause extreme poverty and despair so that Cubans would revolt against their government. This has not happened.

If we cared about human rights, we would defend Cuba and prevent any military attacks. Cuba is no threat to US national security.

We have a policy of constructive engagement, political dialogue, and cooperation with Cuba, let’s pursue it. Viva Cuba! End the blockade! Let Cuba breathe!

01/06/2026

The number of workers dying at work is still incredibly high, about 3,300 per year across the EU.

No worker should not return home after a day at work. Workplaces must be safer and employers must comply with health and safety rules. Ms von der Leyen's deregulation agenda will not help with that at all.

We need better enforcement and better protection of workers by limiting subcontracting, strengthening trade union involvement, and guaranteeing adequate funding and staffing to labour inspectorates.

01/06/2026

Nakba Day is the day of commemoration for the Nakba ("catastrophe") when Palestine was taken over by Israel and most Palestinians were ethnically cleansed starting in 1948. My colleague Rima Hassan is a second-generation refugee, born in a camp for displaced Palestinians. Relentlessly attacked for speaking out about crimes committed against her people, Rima hosted a very moving exhibition in the European Parliament explaining the history behind the Nakba. Solidarity with Rima and all Palestinians. Free Palestine!

27/05/2026

Aan al mijn moslimvrienden een gezegend Offerfeest en aan alle anderen een heel fijne zonnige woensdag !

25/05/2026

A 58-year-old domestic worker fell to her death in Dilbeek last Tuesday while cleaning a carpet in a private home. She fell out of the window when the balustrade of the balcony collapsed. An investigation is ongoing but this shouldn't have happened.

A worker didn't come home after her work shift because no appropriate checks on her workplace were undertaken before she started working there.

Workers employed under the "titre service" system have very little to no protection against these accidents, and there is a very high turnover due to the very poor working conditions. Unsurprisingly, women and migrant workers are the most affected and the most vulnerable.

The trade unions are rightly demanding that working conditions are improved and that health and safety requirements and training for workers and employers are made compulsory.

The fact that this sector is subsidised by the government makes these tragedies even more unacceptable.

The safety of domestic workplaces must be assessed by labour inspectors just like in any other sector.

Solidarity to the family of this worker and to all domestic workers, who help many families every day but whose work is hugely unappreciated and underpaid.

La femme de 58 ans est tombée, semble-t-il en secouant un tapis depuis la fenêtre d'une habitation à Dilbeek. La quinquagénaire n'a pas survécu. Une...

21/05/2026

This week in Strasbourg we had a debate about "providing certainty and predictability for EU businesses and quality jobs".

It's almost incredible that those who establish the agenda remembered that workers exist, because, so far, the Commission - and the majority in Parliament too - are extremely concerned about European businesses and, only when they realise that an economy actually needs workers, then they remember that workers are necessary too.

The extreme deregulation agenda of Ms von der Leyen's Commission continues undeterred, and our opposition too.