Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi has announced the deployment of 600 additional police officers to Milan, citing concerns over integration challenges and rising crime rates, particularly in areas with significant immigrant populations.
The announcement follows recent unrest in the Corvetto district, where a 19-year-old Egyptian resident, Ramy Elgaml, died in a road accident after a police chase, sparking mass protests by the considerable immigrant population.
During a meeting on security with Milan's prefect Claudio Sgaraglia and Police Chief Vittorio Pisani, Piantedosi confirmed that the reinforcements, planned before the Corvetto unrest, will enhance territorial control and improve public safety.
He offered damning statistics on the disproportionate involvement immigrants have in committing crime, noting that 65 percent of all offenses in the city are committed by foreign nationals despite representing 20 percent of all residents.
"These figures highlight integration challenges that must be addressed to reduce marginalization and its consequences," Piantedosi stated. He denied comparisons to the recent Parisian suburban riots, calling them "very exaggerated," but acknowledged that the Corvetto unrest signals issues requiring attention.
The Italian minister criticized the reliance on issuing residence permits as a solution to integration issues, pointing out the need for more comprehensive measures. He highlighted efforts already underway, noting over 40 high-impact operations and 162 arrests in Corvetto this year, but accepted that much more needed to be done.
"The second-most important city in Italy after Rome deserves all the attention it can get," he added.
Milan's left-wing mayor Beppe Sala echoed the need for investments in public housing and community centers to foster integration and accepted that the Italian city can no longer be considered a safe place to live.
"I won't claim Milan is a safe city, but it is making an effort to address challenges faced by all international cities," he said.
Sala claimed that migrant crime was a result of shortcomings in creating spaces for young immigrants to engage positively within their communities, linking the lack of such centers to increased alienation in the suburbs.
With over 60,000 public housing units out of Milan's 800,000 apartments, Sala described the distribution as "disproportionate," emphasizing the importance of equitable urban planning.
Italy's Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, whose League party first made its name in the northern Italian city and the surrounding area, remarked on the meeting in a post on X.
"Minister Piantedosi's data are crystal clear. Yet for the left, it is a non-problem, they seek justifications to the point of falsifying reality," he wrote.
"Woe to anyone who criticizes the dogma of indiscriminate reception at all costs, woe to anyone who criticizes environments in which foreign crime thrives in our cities, woe to anyone who wants to harshly apply the law to intervene in an increasingly unsustainable situation," he quipped.
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