Monday,
November 26, 2007
Cittadella:
40 miles from
The
ANNOTICO Report
What
the pompous englishman Peter
Popham calls xenophobia, I would call Sound
Policy.
Cittadella's Mayor is requiring every resident within the
city, (1) to have no criminal record (2) have regular
work with an income per family member of at least 5,000 (#3,600) ($10,000)
per year, and (3) had a home conforming to standards set down by the
town.
Just
as our Immigrant forefathers/mothers had to establish when they came through
Ellis Island (1) no criminal record (2) that they had
a job, or a patron that would assure that they would not become
burden on the welfare system (3) AND they had to pass a MEDICAL EXAM, and if
they had any communicable diseases, or even deformities (including minor ones
like glaucoma, cataracts) (they were Not permitted entrance, and were sent back
home).
The
Housing Codes are in effect in every city and is nothing new, and even here in
An
additional note: The hue and cry emanating from those quick to criticize Italy
at the slightest whim, regarding Italy's recent decision to deport
Romanians,....... the only ones deported are those with Criminal Records, which
is the Policy in most "civilized" countries, including the US,
(although not often enforced).
Further,
the reason that
Xenophobia in Italy: a Fortress Fights to
Keep out Poor
No
Actually the Criminals, and those who have no means of support, and would
become criminals or a burden on the System....
Independent
-
Peter Popham
November
27, 2007
The name fits the
place. Cittadella, a town 40 miles inland from
But while
medieval walls give a powerful sense of protection and enclosure, and make for
excellent picture postcards, they no longer keep unwanted people out. And keeping
unwanted people out is very much on Italians' minds just now, less than a year
after
Now Cittadella has become the first town in
This is
For a couple of
weeks the expulsion idea was all the rage. Mr Veltroni is a former communist but in no time the
post-Fascists had taken up the cry, demanding that tens of thousands of
foreigners be summarily booted out. At least 200,000 should be expelled from
But now, from the
opposite end of the country, comes a different idea for tackling the problem:
don't let the immigrants into your citadel-city to begin with. "The people
feel insecure," says Cittadella's mayor, Massimo
Bitonci, by way of explanation for the rules he has
imposed on foreigners who might fancy moving to his town. Aged 42, an
accountant by profession with an open countenance, a reassuring smile and
friendly manners, Mr Bitonci
has, for the past three weeks, been collecting a silly number of headlines and
television appearances for a man who is the mayor of a pretty little town with
a population of barely 20,000 where nothing much happens.
It all began on
16 November when his office published an ordinance spelling out the rules of
residence in Cittadella for Italians, non-Italian
members of the EU, and others. The novelty of this resided in the idea that the
mayor of a small town might assert the right to say who could and could not
live within his town's borders. Cittadella has never
in its history had that right. When the walls were built in the 13th century,
it was already a fraction of the city of
But Mr Bitonci is demanding that
right now. He belongs to the Northern League, the party led by the demagogic
Umberto Bossi whose original slogan was Roma ladrona! (Big thief
For the first
time in 800 years, Cittadella was making an attempt
to live up to its name.
Reaction to the
ordinance was swift and harsh. "A decidedly racist and discriminatory
measure which violates civil and constitutional rights," said the
government's minister for social solidarity, Paolo Ferrero,
of the regulations. The rules evoked "a climate of medieval obscurantism" , according to Andrea Martella,
a centre-left MP from
Events quickly
proved Mr Martella right.
When I visited Mr Bitonci
in his gleaming modernised town hall within Cittadella's walls, four days had passed since the
publication of the ordinance and he was aglow with the applause of other
Northern League mayors from the region. "The idea I launched was
immediately taken up by the mayors of many other small towns like ours in the
region," he said. "So far 40 mayors from
The townspeople,
he said, were right behind him, too. "There is a great popular consensus
on this proposal, which I consider to be an obvious, almost banal thing: in any
democratic state a foreigner can move from one place to another but he should
have a minimum of financial wherewithal, a respectable place to live, and above
all he should not have a criminal record."
Racism had
nothing to do with it, he insisted. "This is a small town, and until a few
years ago there were hardly any immigrants here. There were one or two
Moroccans who had been here for decades. They were well integrated; they had
families; some were married to Italians without any problem. But this is a
difficult moment."
The immigrants,
he claimed, had brought a crime wave. "This used to be an island of
happiness. Thirty years ago here in the countryside, people didn't even lock
their doors at night. There were problems connected to drugs but it was very
limited. But there has been an increase in crimes against property, especially
in recent months."
Walking the
elegant lanes of Cittadella's ancient centre,
"island of happiness" didn't seem too bad a description for it now:
signs of crime and degradation were hard to spot. A visitor unaware of the
controversy would conclude that this was a wealthy, complacent little place,
with all the charms of small Italian towns, the trattorias
and osterias, the boutiques offering panetone and liqueur chocolates. And if the locals really
do back Mr Bitonci's
ordinance, they were coy about admitting it. "I'd really rather not talk
about it," said one woman. "Not interested," said a bearded man,
who then called back: "I don't think the ordinance is going to work,
anyway."
"Not
efficacious": that is also the view from
A
rhetorical solution for an imaginary problem? Not as far as Mr Bitonci is concerned.
"According to a recent opinion poll, three Italians out of four these days
feel insecure," he said. "The public mood is one of grave
disquiet."
In another
attempt to calm that mood - or milk it for political advantage, take your
pick - Mr Bitonci's
administration in September set up vigilante patrols in the town with more than
60 volunteers taking turns in small teams to cruise through the town. They soon
plan to add two teams of armed security guard patrols to the roster, though
they have yet to catch any criminals in the act.
Less than a week
after the publication of the ordinance, the Italian state had its say: the new
rules were illegal, a usurpation of public functions which the mayor does not
possess, and he received notice that he risked being put on trial for the
offence.
It was a red rag
to the Northern League bull: last weekend more than 40 mayors and some 4,000
supporters poured into Cittadella to roar their
support for Mr Bitonci. The
effulgent mayor was there in the front line, complete with the Italian tricolour sash which mayors wear as their badge of office
adorned with a black cockade - a sign of mourning, he said, " for the death of the Italian state".
From the
platform, Flavio Tosi,
mayor of
Amid the bilious
rhetoric, a few obvious facts had difficulty making themselves heard.
Such as the fact
that the overwhelming majority of immigrants move to
And that within
living memory, millions of Italians were poor immigrants in North and
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