Immigrants violent, should pay to enter Italy-minister

Shasta Darlington:

Immigrants are naturally violent and should pay a bond to enter Italy, an Italian minister has said, in comments which could add to a lynching atmosphere that has gripped the north after two Albanians killed a barman.

Gangs described by police as skinheads and right-wing soccer fans injured two immigrants and smashed shop windows in retaliation this week after the barman was stabbed in a fight on Sunday night in the northern region of Varese.

"You can't add a high number of immigrants, like is currently happening, to a social fabric like ours. Albanians and other races have shown a higher tendency towards violence and aggression," Reforms Minister Roberto Calderoli told Corriere della Sera daily in an interview published on Wednesday.

"The rage reaches such a point it starts a series of reactions," said Calderoli, of the populist Northern League.

"It's not the right response and we don't encourage it but in cases like this, the idea of taking care of things yourself occurs. The time will come when people will react forcefully."

Two Albanians were arrested following the murder of the barman, which outraged locals and spurred gangs to attack at least two Albanian immigrants who were walking down the street and ransack a pizzeria owned by an immigrant.

Three people have been detained over those attacks.

On Wednesday, police were trying to remove banners demanding the death penalty for the two young Albanians.

Tensions reached a similar peak last year when two Milan jewellers chased, shot and killed a would-be-thief who turned out to be an illegal immigrant from Montenegro. Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in defence of the jewellers.

Interior Minister Giuseppe Pisanu has condemned the recent gang-style attacks but said the killing of the barman "confirms that illegal immigration represents a growing threat for law and order in our country".

Last month he said that illegal immigrants were responsible for up to half of all crimes in some Italian regions.

Calderoli, whose Northern League party has used anti-illegal immigrant sentiment and far-fetched proposals to garner voter support in its stronghold in the north, said he might have the solution.

"I am thinking of proposing an obligatory bond for every immigrant to obtain an entry visa into Italy," he said, without elaborating.

"The bond, whose value is yet to be determined, would be returned at the moment each immigrant returns to his country."

Calderoli also said immigration should be halted at the border "with the use of force, if necessary".

The League's party leader Umberto Bossi once said the navy should fire over the bows of the rickety boats of illegal migrants to deter them.

Nice to see a politician point out the problems created by immigration. Pity there aren't more like him.