Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala on
Wednesday called for a more even redistribution of migrants and
refugees across all municipalities in Italy in response to the
current reception crisis particularly as regards children
arriving in the country on their own.
"What I think is wrong is that the logic behind redistribution
is not clear and uniform," said Sala on the sidelines of the
inauguration of the Fei Jumping European Championship Milano
2023.
"Just as Italy is asking for migrants to be redistributed
throughout Europe, as mayor of Milan, I am asking for them to be
redistributed across all cities and municipalities," he
continued.
"Otherwise it is clear that the price paid (by Milan) is too
high," said Sala.
The problem is particularly acute for unaccompanied minors, who
by law should be accommodated in dedicated facilities offering
specialist services.
"The number of arrivals has increased significantly, in
demonstration of the fact that electoral declarations are
irrelevant," continued Sala.
The mayor said almost 1,300 unaccompanied minors have been
counted in Milan.
"But we know that there are another 200, 300, 400 that have not
been counted because they go undetected," he added, saying there
are "objectively too many".
"We have no reception facilities, and it is not just a problem
of providing accommodation, because either we manage to
integrate these youngsters, who are 16 years old, or they risk
ending up in the hands of criminals," said Sala.
"I think the first step is to ensure a fairer distribution," he
concluded.
On June 30, 2023, there were 20,926 unaccompanied minors in
Italy, according to labour ministry figures.
The number was said to be substantially stable with respect to
the end of the previous year (20,288) and 5,331 more than at
June 30, 2022, due largely to the significant arrival in Italy
of unaccompanied minors from Ukraine.
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