The future of Italy...

You can easily see the influx of illegal immigrants in Italy...

Como, Italy…Boatloads of illegal immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa and Arab North Africa land in Italy’s southern provinces, and then proceed northwards to the wealthier regions Lazio (Rome), Tuscany (Florence), Veneto (Venice), Piedmont (Turin) and Lombardy (Milan and Como).

These illegal immigrants can be seen in all the tourist spots throughout Italy and even in smaller towns such as Como, near the Swiss border. Their presence, while annoying to tourists and natives, is becoming increasingly menacing with their involvement in a new wave of crimes previously unseen in Italy.

The annoyance lies in the audacity with which these Third World infiltrators push their wares in people’s faces, often in a provocative way. The police look on passively, no doubt instructed not to interfere.

Inquiring into this untenable situation (immigrants constitute now 6.2% of Italy’s 58 million population), which may eventually prove to be detrimental to tourism and national identity, native Italians shrug their shoulders in a gesture of resignation. When prodded, most express their frustration by saying, “Our government promises a lot with words but does nothing in actuality.”

Italians, known for their love of life and tolerance towards others are getting fed up, albeit not totally focused on action. The October 30th, 2007, murder of an Italian woman by a Romanian immigrant brought the issue of immigrants’ threat to public security into sharper focus. Former center-right Prime Minister and opposition leader Silvio Berlusconi called on the Prodi government expel the Romanian immigrants (a large number of them are Gypsies/Roma people). Rome’s center-left Mayor Walter Veltroni was in a panic, demanding the central government act immediately.

On November 6th, 2007, the Prodi government came up with a decree, giving officers of the Interior Ministry the power to expel immigrant-citizens of EU countries. The decree does not however relate to the illegal immigrants that in proportion to their numbers commit far more crimes. It remains to be seen whether the new decree will be enforced?

In scores of impromptu interviews with local citizens during a recent visit to Italy, it was apparent that political-correctness and fear of being labeled “racist” have muted citizen’s complaints. Italians and other Europeans have remained relatively silent in the face of the ever-rising number of illegal immigrants (many of them Muslims from North Africa and Albania) who are in breach of Italian law (and that of other European Union member states as well). The only logical explanation for their inaction and seeming resignation to the marked changes taking place around them may just be a sense of guilt.