Immigrants riot in Italy after 'racist' shooting
Hundreds of immigrant workers rioted through a southern Italian town after two of them were shot in what they claim was a racist attack.
There have been scuffles between the workers, mostly from African nations, and police and residents in the streets of the Calabrian town of Rosarno since yesterday.
The violence in the crime-ridden and volatile area started after two immigrants were wounded by unidentified gunmen.
Protesters then stoned police, attacked residents, damaged shop windows and cars.
The Interior Ministry said 14 people – including officers, protesters and residents – were injured in the riots, while seven immigrants were arrested.
The ministry said shops and schools in Rosarno were closed after the overnight violence and the protests were continuing.
Agazio Loiero, the governor of the Calabria region, said that the violence was “unacceptable” but the migrants have been “strongly provoked.”
Thousands of migrants move to the area each year where they help with the harvest as seasonal workers. Living in improvised dormitories, they are often underpaid and mistreated.
Calabria is also the base of the international crime syndicate called 'ndrangheta'. The unrest follows a recent decision by the Italian authorities to increase police numbers in the city of Reggio Calabria after a weekend bomb damaged a courthouse in what was seen as a move by the mob to intimidate magistrates.
The combination of ethnic strife and organised crime activity has sparked violence before among immigrant communities in southern Italy.
In 2008, migrants rioted in the Naples area after six Ghanians were murdered in a gangland-style shooting blamed on the local Camorra crime syndicate.
