The front page of the leftist Italian newspaper Il Manifesto sums up the background to the riots in Italy succinctly. In Italy 'clan' refers to a criminal gang, so they are basically saying that the 'Ndrangheta are racists and they provoked the riots in order to induce the police to evacuate the migrants and sort out their problem of having too many foreign fruit pickers in the area for too little work. And they got to save money as well because the migrants left without picking up their wages.
And here is a video of some of the conditions that the fruit pickers were forced to live in. Very reminiscent of Calais.
In a typical denialist fashion, Andrea Ronchi, Italy's European affairs minister, was quick to jump to the defence of his country in the face of severe condemnation of the United Nations, the EU Commission and even the Pope. Here's what he had to say:
"In Italy, there is no racism. It does not exist. It is an accusation made by people who do not know Italy."
"We will give them (those making the accusation) a free tour, at our expense, to show them what there is in Italy: solidarity and welcome. But it is true there is a violent phenomenon - illegal immigration."
"These accusations are the fruit of a left-wing culture no longer in step with citizens. Italy is the most welcoming country in Europe, and anyone accusing us of racism is stupid."
"Italy has been alone on the economic and political front, facing the urgent problem of illegal immigration. I criticise Europe for wasting time in creating a refugees' rights agency."
Condemned by his own mouth.
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