by Keith Richmond
More than 300 black farmworkers have been driven out of the small Italian town of Rosarno in Calabria after clashes with locals during which several immigrants were shot at, run over and badly beaten up.
Police say the “illegal immigrants” were put on buses and moved off to detention centres. Now a further 500 African farmworkers – most understood to have residence permits – are being moved out to other areas to live and work.
The controversial round-up comes after several days of violence and in the wake of promises by Silvio Berlusconi to “crack down” on immigrants.
Jean-Léonard Touadi, who was born in the Republic of Congo and is Italy’s only black MP, said: “My fear is that the government will use this as an opportunity to expel those who do not have permits to stay in Italy. Immigrants are becoming the enemy. In an economic crisis, Italy has found a scapegoat on which to blame its woes.”
About 5,000 migrant workers, most of them from Africa, have been living in Rosarno, a town of around 16,000 people. Hundreds of labourers blocked streets to protest after a gunman opened fire on workers returning from the orange orchards. Local residents then attacked migrant workers with stones and metal bars – and tried to run them down with tractors – in an outbreak of vigilante violence fuelled by far-right groups. There have been reports, too, of Mafia involvement. The Mafia is said to control the supply of cheap labour to local farmers.
