Interior Minister Angelino
Alfano said Monday that the illegal occupation of homes in Milan
is "totally unacceptable" and the Italian government is "ready
to take action".
In an interview with television program 'La telefonata di
Belpietro', Alfano said the government has approved a law that
includes measures against illegal property occupation.
"We will not accept that this lawlessness goes ahead," he
added.
The city council in Milan says there has been a jump in
complaints about aggression and violence surrounding the illegal
occupation of houses, often by immigrants.
The public housing agency has reportedly seen a significant
jump in the number of illegal occupants who force their way
through locked doors into vacant homes and settle in.
In a 24-hour period in mid-October, inspectors confirmed 24
of 39 complaints of squatters and in 16 cases, could not
convince occupants to leave.
Similar levels have been reported for two years, with some
1,400 Milan houses illegally occupied since the beginning of
2013.
Politicians from the centre-right Forza Italia (FI) and
Northern League have complained that crimes by foreigners,
particularly rape and sexual violence, have risen rapidly in
areas where squatters stay.
"The illegal squatting in public housing in Milan is a
national emergency," said Mariastella Gelmini, a Lombardy
regional coordinator with FI, founded by ex-premier Silvio
Berlusconi.
"The situation is dramatic, with neighborhoods dominated
by criminal gangs who run a real squatting racket".
The Milano head of Italy's Conference of Italian Bishops
(CEI) urged compassion and better treatment of people who have
no other homes than those they occupy illegal.
Cardinal Angelo Scola called Sunday for "solidarity" with
those who are in crisis.
During an open-air Mass, Scola said that he understood the
hardship and trials being placed on the community, but said
Christians should be able to balance "rights, duties, and laws".
Waves of migrants have arrived in Italy, fleeing war and
famine in the Middle East and Africa in particular.
But with the economy stagnant for the past six years,
steady employment and rental money has been increasingly hard to
find in Italy.
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