Italian police evacuate 300 African migrant workers

Local people clapped and cheered yesterday as hundreds of Africans were moved by police out of a small town in Calabria following clashes in which immigrant farmworkers were shot at, severely beaten and run over.

More than 300 immigrants were loaded on to buses in Rosarno, destined for immigrant holding centres.

An immigrant was fired on from a moving car with a pellet rifle, bringing to five the number who have been shot. The first shooting, last Friday, provoked a violent protest march by Africans through Rosarno, which left 66 injured. A second immigrant was beaten with metal bars yesterday despite a heavy police presence.

"There is a very serious security problem here and many immigrants working on local farms are scared and just want to get out, even though many have not been paid," said Laura Boldrini, a United Nations official.

"My fear is that the Government will use this opportunity to expel those who do not have permits to stay in Italy," said Italian MP Jean-Leonard Touadi.

Reports emerged of Mafia involvement in a vigilante-style response by locals to the immigrants' protest, including setting up a roadblock and hunting down stray Africans in Rosarno. Among the Italians arrested was Antonio Bellocco, 29, a relative of the feared Bellocco clan which controls the area where the fruit farms are situated.

A year ago, two immigrant pickers were shot by a gunman in the disused factory where they were staying. "This is the very first time the Africans rebel against the local 'Ndrangheta Mafia which dominates the fruit and vegetable businesses," said Francesco Forgione, a former head of Italy's parliamentary anti-Mafia commission.

The Pesce and Bellocco clans are both believed to be involved in racketeering at the port of Gioia Tauro.

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