Chic Italian village balks at taking in refugees

ROME • Its tightly packed, pastel-coloured houses and yacht-filled harbour make it one of Italy’s most picturesque villages, but Portofino is in revolt against demands that it accommodate a group of migrants and refugees.

The village, which sits on the Italian Riviera and draws celebrities such as Beyoncé, Kylie Minogue and Elton John, says it simply does not have space for the asylumseekers.

The exclusive enclave’s resistance to the settlement plan is emblematic of dozens of Italian towns and villages which have protested against taking in migrants and refugees, as the government tries to manage a seemingly unending crisis with scant help from the rest of the EU.

Italy is struggling to accommodate tens of thousands who wait months, sometimes years, for their asylum applications to be considered after crossing the Mediterranean from Libya.

Portofino is one of 24 villages in Liguria which have been told they need to accept 700 migrants in order to ease overcrowding in Genoa, the capital of the region in Italy’s northwest.

Genoa is struggling to care for 2,500 migrants — twice as many as it is supposed to accommodate under a national plan.

But the majority of the towns on the list are balking at the resettlement plan.

“This is a really important tourist destination and we just don’t have spare accommodation,” said Matteo Viacava, the mayor of Portofino.

“The waiting list for residents who are waiting for council housing is already very long.”