On saturday 9 january 2010, residents from the Italian town of Rosarno attacked several African farm workers who had been rioting for two nights in protest at their conditions.
The violence broke out Thursday when hundreds of immigrants, most of them Africans employed illegally as farm labourers, demonstrated after some of them had been shot at with air rifles, they set fire to cars and smashed windscreens before police intervened, leading to a scuffle that left several of the demonstrators wounded.
The disturbances continued on Friday with about 2,000 immigrants holding a sit-in in the centre of Rosarno while Italian residents blocked roads and occupied the town hall.
Anti African Racism in Italy
On Friday, two immigrants were beaten and seriously wounded with iron bars. One of the wounded was admitted for brain surgery. Two other immigrants were hit in the legs with shotgun pellets and five more were deliberately run over by vehicles driven by locals.
African Riots and Clashes in Italy
African Migrants conditions in Italy - Mafia role
A priest, Luigi Ciotti, pointed the finger at the local criminal organisation which dominates Calabria.
"The mafia which controls the region cynically and pitilessly exploits the immigrants,.... ,The criminal bosses know that illegal immigrants cannot even try to rebel because they have no identity documents and there fore no protection from the state."
Conditions of living not suitable for animals
Italy Riots and France Riots Comparison
Directly or indirectly the migrants riots in Italy were inspired by the riots that happened in France 2005, 07,09 ...
the French 2005 riots began on Thursday 27 October 2005, triggered by the deaths of two teenagers in Clichy-sous-Bois, a poor commune in an eastern banlieue (suburb) of Paris.
This event ignited pre-existing tensions. Protesters told The Associated Press the unrest was an expression of frustration with high unemployment and police harassment and brutality. The rioters' suburbs are also home to a large, mostly North African, immigrant population.
Most of the rioters in France are french citizens of African origin, while the Italian migrants are all illegal migrants.
The French rioters are the local population and the clashes were with the police, while the African migrants in Italy clashed with both police and local population.
The African immigrants and their descendants number nearly 1 million (if not more) in the Paris+ suburbs region, while the African migrants in Italy number less than 100 000 for the entire country.
The french riots were triggered by the death of 2 teens while the italian riots were triggered by xenophobic behavior.
