By In Trieste
As the summer vacation season draws to a close in Trieste, a flare-up of Covid-19 cases is fueling a surge in anti-immigrant sentiment in Friuli Venezia Giulia, even though the government says that migrants are just a small part of the problem.
Although there have been outbreaks in migrant centers in our region, the seasonal summer flow of migrants heading to Trieste and Udine across the Slovenian and Croatian borders has intensified fears of a more general resurgence of the virus.
FVG’s president Massimiliano Fedriga in his speech on a national talk show Quarta Repubblica on Tuesday, 8 September underlined:
“Many illegal immigrants continue to enter Friuli Venezia Giulia these days. It is estimated that about 8 thousand immigrants cross the Balkan borders on a daily basis. There’s no real border control that would stop them from coming into our region and that’s a real problem.”
He added that “It is essential to revisit the Zampa Act proposed by the left wing party, which prohibits the control of a person who declares him or herself a minor. We have cases of 40 and 50 year old immigrants coming into Trieste declaring themselves minors.”
Fedriga’s speech underlines the challenges Italy faces as right-wing politicians seek to rekindle a polarizing debate about immigration in a country hit hard by the pandemic.
“We can’t afford that this region and our country, after all its efforts and the success in the fight against the horrific pandemic, finds itself in a difficult situation because of the lack of controls,” said Fedriga in his address to the Italian public.
