Refugees arriving in Italy are being met with a rise in racist violence, an independent monitoring agency has warned.
The NGO Lunaria says the increase in the number of attacks is linked to the hostile political atmosphere.
“The political rhetoric is very violent,very aggressive towards refugees, asylum seekers and roma people,” says Grazia Naletto. “This triggers hostile and at times violent social behaviour towards these groups of people.“
Jerry Boakye has been left paralysed after suffering an unprovoked attack on a bus.
“He punched me from behind I fell down and that was it for me,” he says of his attacker. “I can never walk again. He broke my hands I have no power left anymore.”
His lawyer says part of the problem is the difficulty of integrating into Italian society.
“You should integrate those refugees who land in Italy,” says Hilarry Sedu. “But those who grow up here born from immigrant parents, they don’t need to be integrated into Italian society. They are born in it. Instead they need to be included in order to have the same opportunities as Italians.”
Source: EN
