Following two days of riots in the southern Italian region of Calabria, 300 African migrant workers have been transported to safety. They were taken by bus from the southern town of Rosarno to a rescue centre elsewhere in the region.
The riots began in Rosarno on Thursday when a Nigerian and a Togolese man were injured by an air rifle fired by a group of local youths. Hundreds of immigrants then took to the streets to protest. They clashed with the police and local inhabitants and destroyed cars and shop windows. Many migrants were, in turn, beaten with metal sticks. Eighteen policemen and 19 migrants were injured.
The disturbances continued on Friday with about 2,000 immigrants holding a sit-in in the centre of Rosarno, while Italian residents blocked roads and occupied the town hall.
Italy's main trade union, CGIL, says that around 50,000 immigrant workers in Italy live in poor conditions similar to those in Rosarno. It says immigrants employed as farm labourers are paid wages well below the legal minimum and are forced to work extremely long hours.
Map showing location of Calabria from Wikimedia Commons
Map from Wikimedia Commons
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"The riots began in Rosarno on Thursday when a Nigerian and a Togolese man were injured by an air rifle fired by a group of local youths.".......Youths injure two men with air rifle(s) and riots began from the shootings. Two men are hurt and the proper response by the immigrants was to riot. Sure, if you say so. { "Italy's main trade union, CGIL, says that around 50,000 immigrant workers in Italy live in poor conditions similar to those in Rosarno. It says immigrants employed as farm labourers are paid wages well below the legal minimum and are forced to work extremely long hours."......Did they riot because two immigrants were shot with air rifles are did they riot because the immigrants were paid wages lower than the legal minimum wages? Were they "forced" to work for lower wages or did they take the jobs at wages they knew were lower because they were illegal immigrants. The courts need to hold the owners of the business accountable for their crimes and they need to hold the immigrants accountable for their crimes of rioting and then deport all of them that are illegal immigrants. Both sides took advantage of the system.
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