Aid groups decry police raid to clear migrants in Rome piazza
ROME — Migrants in a Rome piazza threw rocks, bottles and gas cans at riot police using water cannons to clear out about 100 mostly Ethiopian and Eritrean asylum-seekers early Thursday as part of a security operation criticized by humanitarian groups.
At least two people were detained and 13 were injured.
The dawn operation comes days after authorities cleared most of the 800 migrants who had been squatting in an adjacent building since 2013.
Police said the operation was necessary because the migrants remaining in the piazza had refused to accept city-organized lodging and because of the risk posed by cooking gas canisters and other flammable materials.
Authorities have said such raids to clear migrants from buildings and squares, at least four since July in Rome, are part of antiterrorism measures.
Asylum-seekers, mostly women and children, who had been allowed to remain temporarily in a nearby building hung out signs saying, “We are not terrorists,” as some threw canisters into the street. They were also cleared out and brought to a police station.
The U.N. refugee agency, UNICEF and humanitarian organizations have protested Italy’s moves, saying they were carried out without warning and that there isn’t enough adequate housing for them and the hundreds more vulnerable asylum-seekers sleeping on Rome’s streets.
“It is a shame that the absence of alternative housing solutions brought about a violent situation,” Doctors Without Borders said, calling for “dignified solutions” for those who have been removed.
Italy is struggling to meet the demand to house migrants, with more than 98,000 arriving this year after being rescued at sea in rickety smugglers’ boats.