Prato, 20 km from Florence. Officially, 23,000 legal workers are hired here, but thousands of illegals also work in the biggest textile center in Europe lying in this medieval town. Reporters Géraldine Quidu-Desqueyroux and Livio Capra met those Chinese living in exile, who are wanted by Prime minister Silvio Berlusconi’s government.

In only two years, the population of Chinese illegal immigrants here has multiplied six-fold. Between 10,000 and 15,000 people live packed in slums, alongside the workshops they have created. Alerted by neighbours, Italian ‘carabinieri’ often raid the flats.

An advisor for integration at the Prato town-hall explains to FRANCE 24 the long process these immigrants follow to complete their Italian exile: “In China, they pay 25,000 euros to the mob for their journey and leave their own family members’ lives as a warrantee. Then, they arrive in Prato, a Chinese boss hires them for a 12 hour a day, and they are payed under the table 500 Euros a month.”

Workers arrested with no documents are led to the Italian authorities who work with the Chinese diplomatic department to identify the immigrants.

Usually, they are asked to leave the country in under two weeks. But, with no money and nowhere to go, their only option is to offer their services to another Chinese boss.

Yet some of these workers prove to be excellent entrepreneurs and sometimes take over an Italian textile company.

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