Italy’s Northern League party leader Matteo Salvini vows to deport migrants

Far-right Northern League party leader, Matteo Salvini, in the lead-up to the general election in Italy on 4 March, has vowed to deport hundreds of thousands of migrants over a period of five years.

The party says that if it is elected, it will force an estimated 400,000 migrants back to their countries of origin.

“The only antidote to racism is to control, regulate and limit immigration.

There are millions of Italians in economic difficulty. Italians are not racist, but out-of-control immigration brings with it far from positive reactions. We want to prevent that,” Mr. Salvini said according to various news sources.

Meanwhile, NGO Doctors without Border (MSF) has expressed concern over the “inhumane” living conditions of about 10,000 migrants living throughout Italy.

In its new report called “Out of Sight”, published on 8 February, MSF said the Italian government is struggling to cope with the more than 180,000 asylum seekers and refugees currently living in the county – most of them housed in or near Rome.

“Refugees and migrants are living on the margins of society because of an inadequate reception system and harmful border policies. What is more, policies designed to foster social inclusion of migrants and refugees at the national, regional and local level are poorly implemented,” said Giuseppe De Mola from MSF.

Many migrants find themselves homeless and end up living on the street or in informal, illegal settlements in abandoned factories, office blocks and car parks.

Six months ago, police evicted more than 800 Eritrean and Ethiopian migrants from a former office block in central Rome, who had been living there for four years.

“They told us to go with them in buses because they would provide a solution for us,” says Bereket Arefe, an Eritrean refugee who has lived in Italy since 2005, according to the Guardian newspaper. “But when we arrived at the police station, they said: ‘The building is evicted, our job is done.’ I asked: ‘And where do we go now?” and they said: ‘Go on the street or book a room in a hotel.’

TMP – 01/03/2018

Photo:Matteo Salvini, the leader of Lega Nord.