ITALY: GROUP OF 500 IMMIGRANTS AND SUPPORTERS ARRIVE AHEAD OF G8 SUMMIT MEETING TO DRAW ATTENTION TO THEIR "THIRD-WORLD" HOMELANDS

Record ID: 348901

  • Title: ITALY: GROUP OF 500 IMMIGRANTS AND SUPPORTERS ARRIVE AHEAD OF G8 SUMMIT MEETING TO DRAW ATTENTION TO THEIR "THIRD-WORLD" HOMELANDS
  • Date: 20th July 2001
  • Summary: (W5)GENOA, ITALY (JULY 18, 2001)(REUTERS) 1. SLV POLICE ON STREETS OF MAIN SHOPPING CENTRE/ BARRICADES CLOSING-OFF STREETS; MV POLICE INSPECTING IDENTIFICATION OF PEOPLE TRYING TO ENTER THE "RED ZONE" (4 SHOTS) 0.16 2. MV FIRE BRIGADE OFFICERS INSPECTING SEWERS FOR EXPLOSIVES; SLV RIOT POLICE WALKING IN CITY CENTRE (3 SHOTS) 0.30 3. MV WEAP
  • Embargoed: 4th August 2001 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: GENOA, ITALY
  • Country: Italy
  • Reuters ID: LVAAK3RGTGQZWLH9ER0NNCEEDDAP
  • Story Text: A group of 500 Italian immigrants and their supporters
    have arrived in Genoa ahead of this weekend's G8 summit
    seeking to draw attention to their third-world homelands.

    The immigrants, most of them originally from Africa,
    arrived at the railway station in central Genoa on Wednesday
    evening (July 18) in the first of numerous trains chartered
    for various protest groups seeking to draw attention to their
    causes at the Group of Eight summit.

    The protesters travel arrangements have been coordinated
    by the Genoa Social Forum, and umbrella organisation linking
    more than 600 groups worldwide created to organise protests
    against the G8 in Genoa.

    Bahtu, originally from Bangladesh, says he has come to
    Genoa "to protest against the programme of the G8 because we
    find them responsible for the economical crisis in our
    countries, especially India, Bangladesh and South East Asia."
    For Mehmet Alija, a Romany immigrant originally from
    Macedonia, the protest is an opportunity to "ask for our
    rights."
    More than 100,000 demonstrators protesting about the power
    of multinational corporations have vowed to besiege the annual
    summit, opening on Friday, of leaders from the United States,
    Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Canada and Russia.

    Drop the Debt, a British group campaigning for the
    abolition of much of the debt of the world's poorest nations,
    is one of the organisations hoping to make an impression on G8
    leaders this weekend.

    "1999 in Cologne they (the G8) solved the debt crisis - so
    they say. Last year they were bridging the digital divide in
    Okinawa under the Japanese. This year they're going to end the
    Aids crisis in Africa under the Italians. Already next year we
    can tell you the Canadians will talk about educating every
    single child," said spokesperson Lucy Mathew. "These are all
    really important issues and they need the attention of the
    richest countries, however they have to follow through, they
    have to make their commitments amount to something in the long
    term and that is why you'll see many peaceful people out on
    the streets making that point."
    Also arriving in Genoa on Wednesday were around 70
    cyclists, who spent four days cycling for Lecco, north of
    Milan. They brought with them a banner calling for the release
    of protesters who were arrested during violent protests at a
    European Union summit in Gothenburg in June.

    Some 20,000 police from around Italy have been assigned to
    contain the protesters as the leaders discuss the world
    economy and political trouble spots.

    Using concrete barricades and steel mesh fences, the
    police have closed off a key-shaped "red zone" in the heart of
    the city including the 13th century Ducal Palace where the G8
    leaders will meet and the old port where most of them will
    sleep on board a luxury ocean liner.

    Most of the protesters say they are peaceful, but
    authorities fear a hard core could repeat the scenes of
    violence seen at last month's European Union summit in
    Gothenburg, Sweden, and at several previous international
    gatherings.


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