Riace Mayor Domenico
Lucano, who was recently arrested over allegations of aiding
illegal immigration, said Tuesday that he was ready to continue
the southern town's widely lauded model to integrate migrants
without public money.
Central government is set to scrap the 'SPRAR' projects to
help migrants, citing alleged "serious anomalies".
The government has been accused of dismantling the Riace
model, which saw migrants help revive the small town in Calabria
whose population was dwindling, by several critics.
"Riace represents an idea that goes against the barbarian
civilization," Lucano said after a court hearing in Reggio
Calabria.
"We'll keep going the same even without public contributions,
because over the years we have built supports to integration
that today make the difference on our own.
"We won't have a SPRAR (centre) but voluntary reception, as
it started, without public money.
"We want to sent this message to the government.
"We want to exit the SPRAR system".
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