Maroni: Situation in Rosarno the fruit of mistaken tolerance

Bersani: Bossi-Fini Immigration law not effective ,

12th January 2010: Home Affairs Minister Roberto Maroni has provoked strong criticism from the left wing political parties by saying that the violence in Rosarno was a result of years of mistaken tolerance of illegal workers in Italy.

He said the Government had inherited situations like those in Rosarno because illegal immigration has been tolerated for years. No effective action has ever been taken against illegal immigration in the past, he said.

Mr. Maroni claimed the problem could be avoided by a series of actions by the local authorities. He blamed the local authorities for having done nothing in ten years to solve the problem. “In two years, we have deported 40,000 illegal immigrants,” Mr. Maroni said.

Mr. Maroni said that they’ll deport all illegal immigrants who took part in the riots. The authorities are already identifying those held at Bari and Crotone immigration detention centres.

So far, it appears that most of those who took part in the riots are legal immigrants and asylum seekers. Mr. Maroni said the authorities were investigating if the ’Ndrangheta (most powerful organized crime group in the country) had provoked the riots.

The opposition has rejected Mr. Maroni’s claims that the riots in Rosarno were a result of years of mistaken tolerance of illegal workers in the country.

Opposition leader Pierluigi Bersani said Mr. Maroni is passing the buck. There is need of going to the root of the situation made up of “mafia, exploitation, xenophobia and racism," he said.

He also criticized the Bossi-Fini Immigration law saying that it is not effective in addressing the issue of immigrant labour.

“If in Italy no one wants to go and pick fruits, there is need of someone to do so, and that person must be in the country legally,” he said.

“If we are in a civil State, we cannot accept the existence of situations like the ones we’ve seen (at Rosarno),” he said. 

Mr. Bersani asked the Government to stop passing the buck on mismanagement of immigration to the local authorities. President of Reggio Calabria Region Agazio Loiero has also rejected Mr. Maroni’s claims saying that the first person to tolerate the situation in Rosarno is Mr. Maroni himself. The problem, he said, is not a health one, which is to be handled by the local authorities.