The mayor of Riace in
Calabria has come 40th in Fortune magazine's ranking of the
world's 50 greatest leaders for his work in rejuvenating the
once-dwindling town by recognising the potential of immigrants
in a way that could prove a model amid Europe's refugee crisis.
Domenico (Mimmo) Lucano was the only Italian on the list.
Lucano has welcomed thousands of refugees to the Calabrian
town, previously only famous for the two male bronzes that were
fished out of the sea in 1972 and are celebrated as supreme
achievements in Greek art as the Riace Bronzes.
"For decades emigration drained life from Riace, a village
of 2,000 on the Calabrian coast," Fortune said.
"When a boatload of Kurdish refugees reached its shores in
1998, Lucano, then a schoolteacher, saw an opportunity. He
offered them Riace's abandoned apartments along with job
training.
"Eighteen years on, Mayor Lucano is hailed for saving the
town, whose population now includes migrants from 20-some
nations, and rejuvenating its economy. (Riace has hosted more
than 6,000 asylum seekers in all.)
"Though his pro-refugee stance has pitted him against the
mafia and the state, Lucano's model is being studied and adopted
as Europe's refugee crisis crests," Fortune said.
Among the first to stress the importance of Fortune's
recognition of Lucano was Lower House Speaker Laura Boldrini,
who knows his work well from her previous position as
spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
She wrote on Twitter: "Satisfaction for Mimmo Lucano, Riace
mayor, a precursor in welcoming migrants and integration".
Former Calabria governor Agazio Loiero, who commissioned
Wim Wenders' short feature on migrants, The Flight, shot largely
in Riace, said: "the recognition given to Mimmo Lucano, the only
Italian among the most powerful leaders in the world, is news
that should make all Calabrians proud.
"Certainly, that adjective, powerful, today, generally
refers to a certain type of power.
"In Calabria, on the other hand, it can signify something
else: above all the capacity to welcome those who come from
far-off poverty, malnourished and unexpected. In this attitude,
inherited from our most ancient roots, Mimmo Lucano is truly
powerful".
Lucano himself said: "It is a recognition that in its
importance and prestige makes me slightly uneasy - this because
I don't aspire to high office or a career because I want to be a
man of the people and I want to help people in need, people I
see myself in.
"I hope this gratification may represent a positive turning
point for Riace and the whole of Calabria, giving even the 'last
ones' the possibility, which we obstinately seek, to see their
claims recognised".
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