'White Christmas' in Italy, one free of foreigners

In Northern Italy, the xenophobic political party Lega Nord has been taking ever more stringent measures against foreigners, promising voters a 'white Christmas'.

“Are they going to send us home now?” is the question constantly on the lips of immigrant children in the North-Italian town of Coccaglio. “The foreigners have to leave because there are no more jobs,” Italian students said, parroting what they hear at home.

Coccaglio is in the midst of social upheaval, and at Luca Marenzio high school, teachers are having a hard time keeping it outside of their school doors. “The pressure coming from parents and the propaganda against foreigners on television are overwhelming,” said teacher Patrizia Amadori.

Not referring to weather conditions

At the root of the turmoil in Coccaglio, a town of 8,000, lies a recent remark by its new councillor responsible for public order, Claudio Abiendi, a member of the xenophobic Lega Nord party. He forecast a “white Christmas” recently, but he wasn’t referring to weather conditions. He was talking about ridding the town of foreigners. “Christmas is not a celebration of hospitality, but of the Christian tradition and our identity,” he said, justifying the actions taken by local government.

That government hopes to “clean” its civil registry before Christmas. The police will soon be paying a visit to immigrants whose residency permit might have expired, 500 in all. If they fail to show a renewed residency permit, they will be scrapped from the civil registry. While this could open up the door to deportation, the move is mostly intended as a scare tactic.

“Our village is peaceful and there is no crime. The problem here is 80 percent of social support payments are made out to foreigners,” said Agostino Pedrali, the councillor for social affairs and also a member of the Lega Nord. “People have given us their vote because they want us to clean this place up, and so we are,” Pedrali said.

Illegal immigration a punishable offence

The words 'white Christmas' have been cause for public uproar throughout Italy, but this has not moved Coccaglio’s government to change its plans one bit. The mayor, Franco Claretti, enjoys the support of a large segment of the population that voted out the leftist government in favour of the Lega Nord last summer, as did many other towns in the Lombardy region.

Brescia, a town of 20,000, is one of the many other towns were measures against foreigners have been announced. In Brescia, foreigners are not eligible for the 1,000 euro bonus commonly paid to parents for every child born in 2008. In San Martino dall’Argine the government has called upon its citizens to report illegal immigrants. The town of Adro refuses to pay out rent subsidies, arguing that 80 percent of them goes to foreigners. Cheap housing is no longer available to foreigners in Castelmella. In Pompiano, Moroccan parents who have lived in Italy for 13 years were not allowed to bury their child.

A lot of these measures are presented as an integral part of the 'Security Package' the minister of foreign affairs, also a Lega Nord member, pushed through national parliament in May. The legislation has made illegal immigration a punishable offence. The new law was greeted with excitement in towns where the Lega Nord holds sway.

Turning into full-blown racism

“It’s not good to see so many immigrants idling around the town square,” said Michele, the owner of Bar al Centro. He has seen Coccaglio change in the last decade. The number of foreigners grew from 177 to 1,584. Most immigrants had jobs in construction or industry until recently, but when the recession hit they were the first to be let go.

Nowhere else in Europe has the immigrant population grown as strongly the last decade, professor Ilvo Diamanti said in a recent interview with the Italian weekly l'Espresso. Diamanti, who teaches political science at the university of Urbino, thinks the latent fear of foreigners is turning into full-blown racism, a change fuelled by Lega Nord’s harsh statements.

“Nothing is taboo anymore. Politicians say whatever they want citing the will of the people as an excuse. The danger here is that people will end up really thinking that way because politicians are talking that way,” Diamanti said.

People arrested and deported

Measures like the 'white Christmas' campaign are a cause of growing unrest among immigrants, the Tunesian Mohammed Khalifa said, standing at Coccaglio’s railroad station. “Everyone who doesn’t have their papers in order has fled. People are afraid to be arrested and deported.”

Khalifa has been living in Italy for eight years. He lost his job recently, was unable to pay the rent and has now been evicted. He sleeps in Brescia’s train station. “Father Giovanni gives me ten euros every week. That is my only source of income.” Next year, his residency permit will expire. “I need to find a job quick. Without work, I will be here illegally soon. I will be in it up to my knees then,” Khalifa said.