Shot:
A number of mostly Muslim migrants
hosted in a hotel in the northern Italian town of Chioggia [on the south end of
the Venetian lagoon] ripped down the Italian flag in protest of an Easter meal
of pasta in place of their usual chicken and french fries. The menu change triggered the anger of the
migrants, who then staged a protest. “No pasta, it’s a disgrace. We want our
chicken and french fries,” they reportedly shouted. Some of the migrants then grabbed hold of the
Italian flag hanging in one of the common rooms and ripped it down in protest. The police were called in and sent three
patrol cars to restore the calm, finally convincing the migrants to eat their
pasta. According to reports, the migrants’ anger may have been ignited by the
commemoration of Easter as a holiday more than just the corresponding change of
menu, since almost all of them are Muslims.
So far this year, the Italian
interior ministry has documented 16,075 migrants crossing to its shores, compared
to just over 10,000 during the same period in 2015.... [Since the recent effective] closing [of] the
so-called “Balkan route” north from Greece into Europe ... traffickers have
been scrambling to devise new routes to bring prospective migrants into the
continent, primarily through Italy....
[As] borders have been closed along migrant routes, Italy may be now
forced to hold on to the majority of people landing on its shores..... Italy has struggled to expand its capacity to
receive and process migrants. In March 2014, it was hosting 29,000 asylum
seekers; by 2015 the number had increased to 67,000, and this March the number
has risen to 106,000. This number is sure to increase dramatically in the next
several months.
A report from Libya claims there
are at least 800,000 migrants on the coast waiting for the right moment to
cross the sea to Italy.
The times, they are a-changing.
R Balsamo
h/t: Ed Driscoll
h/t: Ed Driscoll
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