Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Rome on Saturday for rival demonstrations over migration policy, as a far-right petition calling for hardline measures is set to be discussed in parliament. The competing rallies highlighted deep divisions in Italian society on the issue.
An anti-migration march in the Prati neighborhood drew several thousand participants, while a pro-migration event in a separate part of the city attracted tens of thousands. Police deployed thousands of officers to keep the two groups apart, preventing clashes.
The demonstrations come after a petition advocating for sweeping measures targeting foreigners – including coercive returns to their countries of origin – gathered the 50,000 signatures needed to trigger parliamentary debate. Titled “Remigration and Reconquest,” the petition has pushed the once-fringe concept of “remigration” – which in far-right contexts can mean the mass deportation of ethnic minorities – into the political mainstream.
“We want to kick the illegal immigrants out – force them out, because they shouldn’t be here,” said Luca Marsella, spokesman for the neofascist group Casapound, at the anti-migrant rally. “And since we’re not politically correct, we’ll say we want to send the legal immigrants home, too – the ones who clearly haven’t assimilated or integrated.” During the march, many participants raised their arms in a fascist salute, shouting “Duce! Duce!” in reference to Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.
The debate represents a delicate balancing act for Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing coalition. While the anti-migration League party supports opening discussion on the petition, Meloni’s Brothers of Italy and centrist allies have been more cautious about endorsing a proposal linked to extremist circles. Critics, including opposition parties and legal experts, argue the proposal would violate constitutional and international anti-discrimination principles by targeting people based on ethnic background, including naturalized citizens and their descendants.
“The so-called remigration bill invokes a logic of exclusion based on ethnic and cultural background that is incompatible with the Italian constitution and the fundamental principles of the rule of law,” said left-wing politician Angelo Bonelli. The controversy comes even as Meloni’s government pursues a parallel policy of expanding legal migration, having approved a multiyear plan to admit hundreds of thousands of non-EU workers to address labor shortages in key economic sectors.
Source: www.aljazeera.com