Italy Immigration Policy: Residents in Riace village face relocation

World
Europe

03:30

The Italian village of Riace gained international recognition a few years ago as a symbol of integration and tolerance for harboring refugees from war-torn countries. But today, the once thriving village is again on the brink of bankruptcy as Italy's populist government clamps down with new immigration policies. Natalie Carney has more.

You don't get much more quintessentially Italian than this. Riace, in the country's southern Calabria region, emerged from near desolation through a program that invited refugees and migrants to live in abandoned houses and start businesses.

"The shops were for tourists, for the people who came to visit, and cooperated in the economy of the village. Here there was a workshop of an Afghan man, here we see for example a textile shop. This phase that Riace is experiencing now is a great disaster for the village because it is a return to the past."

The program was so successful that in 2016 Fortune Magazine named Riace's mayor and program founder Domenico Lucano one of the world's 50 greatest leaders. Two years later and mayor Lucano is banned from Riace and accused of organizing "marriages of convenience" for immigrants. He denies the allegations.

DOMENICO LUCANO RIACE MAYOR "There are two accusations; one of aiding illegal immigration and the other for having assigned the collection of waste to social cooperatives where refugees were employed, therefore favouring the weakest."

Mayor Lucano's partner on the project has been vigorously campaigning on his behalf.

GIANFRANCO SCHIAVONE RIACE PROJECT PARTNER "The penalties that were issued were not correct because it has been an active project since 2002 and it is not clear why in 2018 it is no longer good when in previous years irregularities were never detected. We think that the issues are mainly political and not technical nor legal."

Since coming to power earlier this year, Italy's coalition government has been clamping down on immigration. In November, parliament signed into practice a controversial new migrant and security law, despite fierce criticism from opponents. This has led to federal funding for Riace being stopped and the relocation of hundreds of its residents.

NATALIE CARNEY RIACE, ITALY "The 'Riace Model' as its been coined has been replicated by more than 300 other communities in Italy and abroad. Yet with most of its residents forced to move out, this beautiful medieval village is on the verge of returning to bankruptcy."

Giovanni Maioli works with other communities to exchange good humanitarian practices, such as the Riace model.

GIOVANNI MAIOLI LEGAL REPRESENTATIVE, RETE DEI COMUNI SOLDALI "Riace now looks like the Raice of twenty years ago. It's again a ghost village. Something will happen to all the projects like Riace. After a few months, they will all end because the government agreed on a decree the interior minister really wanted."

Now, Italy's new immigration law will dismantle all the work Rete Dei Comuni Soldali and other NGOs operating in the country do. Yet Mayor Lucano says he's not surprised.

DOMENICO LUCANO RIACE MAYOR "I am now a mayor who is not mayor, I became a refugee in Italy as in most European countries, where everyone contributes to raising higher walls."

The government in Rome says the new law will bring security back to Italy, yet communities like Riace argue that by clamping down on immigration, their own security in building a better life is threatened. Natalie Carney CGTN, Riace, Italy.