August 18, 2020
On Sunday, Italy announced that it is shutting discos and nightclubs for three weeks as the number of Coronavirus cases has increased, particularly among young people. It’s the first reimposition of restrictions in the country, which for so long was the center of the global pandemic, since the government began easing its lockdown in May.
Far Right Seizes On Italy’s Renewed Coronavirus Restrictions To Bash Immigration
“We cannot nullify the sacrifices made in past months. Our priority must be that of opening schools in September, in full safety,” Health Minister Roberto Speranza said on Facebook.
Speranza on Saturday urged young people to be as cautious as possible, as “if they infect their parents and their grandparents, they risk creating real damage.” In addition to closing nightspots, the government is requiring that face masks be worn between 6 pm and 6 am in areas close to bars and pubs, and where gatherings are more likely.
Italy had kept clubs open despite mounting criticism that they attracted large crowds, that social distancing was not being respected and masks were not being worn.
But new cases in the past week were more than double the number three weeks ago.
And to the country’s far-right politicians, the resurgent coronavirus crisis has provided fresh fodder for their anti-immigrant agenda. Now, the reimposition of restrictions on regular Italian life at the exact moment migrant boats have begun landing has enabled the far right to stoke the fears of Italians afraid of an imported coronavirus second wave.
“The only problem related to the virus is not the boys who dance but those who disembark,” Matteo Salvini, leader of the far-right Lega Party, said at a news conference last week, per HuffPost Italy. “The enemy is not the boy who goes to the beach, disco or restaurant, but the thousands of migrants who land on our shores.”“Another 100 landed tonight,” Massimo Casanova, a Lega member who owns a nightclub in the beach town of Milano Marittima, told HuffPost Italy. “What is the point of picking on companies? This government has no idea what it means to run a business.”
In recent weeks, a steady stream of asylum-seekers have arrived in Italy, particularly from Tunisia, whose economy has been ravaged as a consequence of the pandemic. 
According to The Guardian, 1,277 migrants from Tunisia were intercepted by Italian authorities in the first six months of 2019. This year, that number rose to 6,628. More than 4,000 migrants were intercepted by Italian authorities in July alone.
With more and more boats arriving from Tunisia every day, the Italian island of Lampedusa has reportedly run out of room to quarantine new migrants, and tensions have flared amid worries that the new arrivals could lead to a new spike in coronavirus cases. With little room on Lampedusa, migrants are being transferred to other quarantine centers, putting local mayors on a war footing. 
“I don’t understand why the premier doesn’t declare a state of emergency” on Lampedusa, the island’s mayor, Toto Martello, told the Giornale di Sicilia newspaper.
Italian prosecutors are investigating two recent attacks against pro-migrant symbols in Lampedusa — a fire that burned hundreds of abandoned boats in the island’s “migrant boat graveyard,” and the vandalism of the Gateway to Europe monument, erected in 2008 as a memorial to migrants who died while attempting to cross the Mediterranean.
However, Giusi Nicolini, Lampedusa’s former mayor who won the UNESCO Peace Prize in 2017 for her work with migrants, has stressed that there “is no emergency.”
“They say we are overrun for political purposes,” Nicolini told the La Stampa newspaper.For politicians like Salvini, the coronavirus pandemic, which has claimed 35,000 lives in Italy since February, is just the latest excuse to demonise immigrants. 
During his tenure as Italy’s interior minister from June 2018 to September 2019, he repeatedly denied ships carrying migrants access to the country’s ports. Italian prosecutors have sought to bring kidnapping charges against Salvini in three such cases, and the Italian parliament voted last month to lift Salvini’s immunity from prosecution. 
Yet Italian authorities have continued to turn their backs on migrants seeking assistance. In April, the government declared the country’s ports “unsafe” due to the coronavirus pandemic and said it would not authorize the landing of migrant boats — an unprecedented move.
“For the entire duration of the health emergency, due to the outbreak of coronavirus, Italian ports cannot be classified as ‘safe places’ for the landing of people rescued from boats flying a foreign flag,” the government stated in an official decree.
In July, humanitarian groups photographed an Italian coast guard ship ignoring a migrant boat that was adrift in the Mediterranean with about 60 people on board.
While the rhetoric of politicians like Salvini has fanned the flames of division, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has been blasted over his silence on the arrivals. During mass landings and escapes from reception centers in the final week of July, Conte was criticized for simply claiming that “the situation is complex.” 
Meanwhile, humanitarian groups say there is little evidence that migrants are fueling the spread of coronavirus.
“There is no correlation,” Flavio Di Giacomo, a spokesperson for the International Organization for Migration, told Politico. “The far right will use whatever they find to create their anti-migrant message.”
With reporting from HuffPost Italy and Reuters. Related... Is It Even Worth Booking A Holiday Abroad Right Now? Michelle Obama: Trump 'In Over His Head,' Is 'Wrong President For This Country' I’m Leaving Britain, In The Middle Of A Pandemic, Because Of Brexit
Related Stories
Latest News
Top news around the world
Academy Awards

‘Oppenheimer’ Reigns at Oscars With Seven Wins, Including Best Picture and Director

Get the latest news about the 2024 Oscars, including nominations, winners, predictions and red carpet fashion at 96th Academy Awards

Around the World

Celebrity News

> Latest News in Media

Watch It
Ruby Franke’s Husband REVEALS Alleged Rules He Had to Follow at Home | E! News
March 28, 2024
_mU-3lE2QwI
#KenanThompson speaks out following the #QuietonSet documentary. (🎥: Tamron Hall Show) #shorts
March 28, 2024
8AGP-Gfw_Ek
King Charles Shares "Great Sadness" at Missing Royal Appearance | E! News
March 28, 2024
lyizFqf1kQY
Martha Reeves Walk of Fame Ceremony
March 27, 2024
QzyezumEPtQ
Eminem, 50 Cent & Snoop Dogg Present Dr. Dre with a Star on the Walk of Fame
March 19, 2024
4bNLs1hxVp8
Opening Remarks for the Variety Summit October 20th, 2023 Jay Penske
March 18, 2024
c6Z707iLq8E
Montell Jordan Dishes On Young MC Wedding, 'This Is How Date Night' Plans | TMZ
March 28, 2024
G3SMExj-qio
Davina Potratz Says TV Not Helping 'Selling Sunset' Relationship Woes | TMZ
March 28, 2024
D4piy4GNm4k
Logan Paul Rips Graham Bensinger Over Documentary, You Promised Apple TV+ | TMZ Live
March 28, 2024
NiSDpZhZklQ
Prince William pinned royal medal to Spice Girl Mel B’s boobs #shorts
March 28, 2024
O1cQ0UW9pco
Jennifer Garner shares ‘hard’ part of raising her and Ben Affleck’s kids
March 28, 2024
3Q7mZaVUdgc
50 Cent's ex Daphne Joy named as an alleged sex worker in Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs lawsuit #shorts
March 28, 2024
yhLFI8DG9rM
TV Schedule
Late Night Show
Watch the latest shows of U.S. top comedians

Sports

Latest sport results, news, videos, interviews and comments
Latest Events
28
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Playoffs - Women
PSG W - Hacken W
28
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Playoffs - Women
Barcelona W - SK Brann W
27
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Playoffs - Women
Chelsea W - Ajax W
27
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Playoffs - Women
Lyon W - SL Benfica W
17
Mar
SPAIN: La Liga
Atletico Madrid - Barcelona
17
Mar
ENGLAND: FA Cup
Manchester United - Liverpool
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Inter Milan - Napoli
17
Mar
GERMANY: Bundesliga
Borussia Dortmund - Eintracht Frankfurt
17
Mar
ENGLAND: FA Cup
Chelsea - Leicester City
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Roma - Sassuolo
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Verona - AC Milan
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Juventus - Genoa
16
Mar
GERMANY: Bundesliga
Darmstadt - Bayern Munich
16
Mar
ENGLAND: FA Cup
Manchester City - Newcastle United
16
Mar
ENGLAND: Premier League
Fulham - Tottenham Hotspur
16
Mar
SPAIN: La Liga
Osasuna - Real Madrid
13
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: 1/8 Final
Atletico Madrid - Inter Milan
12
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: 1/8 Final
Barcelona - Napoli
12
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: 1/8 Final
Arsenal - Porto
Find us on Instagram
at @feedimo to stay up to date with the latest.
Featured Video You Might Like
zWJ3MxW_HWA L1eLanNeZKg i1XRgbyUtOo -g9Qziqbif8 0vmRhiLHE2U JFCZUoa6MYE UfN5PCF5EUo 2PV55f3-UAg W3y9zuI_F64 -7qCxIccihU pQ9gcOoH9R8 g5MRDEXRk4k
Copyright © 2020 Feedimo. All Rights Reserved.