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“What’s your job, Abdul?” asks woman on one side of picture. “During day I am a drug dealer, I steal bicycles at night,” replies young African man. “Two jobs! Toll Abdul, not like all se Italian loafers, “says woman smiling. The woman is Laura Boldrini, former president of Italian House of Representatives. The young man is emblematic of many refugees who live in Italy.
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The racist cartoon is being passed around in Italy just in social networks. Failures and tweets like Heh, little, take m home to your house, se Negroes – directed at a well-known Italian journalist – are now commonplace. Of course, not everything that is shared and sent to world on a daily basis is automatically mirrored for entire Italian society. But re are clear indications of a brutalization of discourse, a shift in debate to right.
Shots from air pistol
Because it is no longer only in anonymous outages on Internet. Just a few days ago, a one-year-old Roma baby was shot in Rome with an air rifle. The child had to be operated on and is still in danger of life. In early July, a young man from Ivory Coast and a woman from Nigeria were injured by an unknown air pistol. In Mestre, a dentist hung a sign before his practice: “My wife was attacked by a Negro.” On beaches of Rimini, activists from right-extremist group have organized Forza Nuova patrols, as well as on streets of Brescia in Lombardy, especially in neighborhoods where most foreigners live. Their justification: “The Italians are afraid here.”
Migrants, invasion, Islamism: in Italy practically nothing else is spoken of. Facts do not usually play a role in debate. This is a very different language: in first half of 2017 re were still around 170,000 refugees on Italy’s coasts, so this year re were only around 51,000 in same period. On or hand, number of deaths in Mediterranean has risen significantly. 629, according to International Organization for Migration (IOM), it was in June 2018 – 90 more than a year earlier.
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Anyone who dares to speak in Italian media about this declining development will be labelled as Buonista (in German: Gooder). An idiot who does not want to admit understandable fears of “normal” Italians. For latter are supposedly afraid that “uncontrolled immigration will destroy Italian culture”. Saving refugees in Mediterranean is no longer a moral obligation for many Italians.
What’s going on in Italy?
This stance is supported by right-wing populist government in Rome, consisting of Lega and five-Star Movement. It has announced that rescued refugees who are on board ships of EU naval mission Sophia will no longer be included in Italy. Italy, under current circumstances, is no longer able to participate in mission and behave accordingly, is succinct justification. So far, only refugee vessels of non-governmental organisations have been rejected.
What’s going on in Italy? How did it get that far? It seems that recent elections have lost all decency. Racism, hatred and agitation dominate public discourse. The front man of permanent derailments is Interior Minister Matteo Salvini – and not only since election victory of his Lega in March. Salvini has it simple, because opposition is quasi non-existent. The Partito Democratico (PD) is still arguing about former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and about role he will play in party in future. No one calls for demonstrations against racism and xenophobia, celebrities of country shine with absence. Apart from star writer Roberto Saviano or Antimafiapriester Don Luigi Ciotti, re is an unspeakable silence. The Democratic Italy seems to be paralyzed.
