Migrant-supporting mayor arrested in Italy
ROME: A mayor held up as a model for migrant integration in Italy has been placed under house arrest, accused of involvement in organising “marriages of convenience” for asylum purposes.
Domenico Lucano (pic), the leftleaning mayor of Riace in southern Italy, has made headlines around the world for welcoming migrants to the sparsely populated village in Calabria in a bid to boost jobs and development.
The 60year old, also known as Mimmo, is also accused of skipping a tender process while awarding a garbage management contract to cooperatives with ties to migrants.
Prosecutors released a statement on Tuesday quoting telephone conversations in which Lucano promised an identity card to someone whose residency permit was no longer valid, saying the law prohib iting it was “stupid”.
He was also recorded strongly suggesting that an undocumented Nigerian get married in order to get residency.
His arrest has stunned some in Italy and reverberated around parts of Europe, where the “Riace model” – funded since the 2000s with Italian and European funds – has been hailed as a simple but effective way to both revive depopulated villages and house hundreds of asylum seekers.
“European cities must react! Barcelona with Riace!” said Ada Colau, mayor of the Catalonia city, who spent time in Riace this summer.
The immigrant programme has seen abandoned houses restored and craft workshops reopened in Riace, attracting tourists, and has been lauded by many as a model of integration.
Lucano was even named one of the 100 most influential personalities by Fortune magazine in 2016 and inspired a docufiction by Wim Wenders. The hashtag #Riace trended on social media following his arrest, and supporters and unionists called for a protest on Saturday in the village.
Antimafia investigative journalist Roberto Saviano denounced what he described as “the first step in the definitive transformation of Italy into an authoritarian state”.
“Does it seem possible to you that the problem in Calabria, land of drug trafficking and corruption, is immigration?” he asked, stressing that Lucano’s alleged crimes in no way personally benefited the mayor.
But Italy’s Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, head of the antiimmigrant League party, slammed “fake dogooders who would fill Italy with immigrants”.
The League’s coalition partner, the antiestablishment Five Star Movement, also declared on its blog: “Not one dime for Riace. The government of change has declared war on the immigration business.”
Lucano’s arrest comes on the heels of Salvini’s security and immigration Bill, which wants to cut back on small immigration projects inspired by Riace – favoured by the former centreleft government – and instead group asylum seekers together in large centres.