Afghans Escape Taliban to Quaint Italian Town—Only to Face Far-Right Wrath
AlamyROME—There is new life in the sleepy hilltop village of Roccaraso, a hamlet known for its sweeping views and nearby ski hills east of Rome. This town of just 1,600 permanent residents dates back to 975 A.D., but it was wiped off the map by German troops who hoped to use its vantage point to stage an attack on Rome during World War II. Now it has a new incarnation with hundreds of Italy’s Afghan helpers evacuated from Kabul settling into the military base that rose from the ruins of the second world war. A temporary mosque punctuates the cultural shift.But as idyllic as it is, the peaceful place has already drawn scorn from Italy’s right-wing politicians who say they will not tolerate a wave of Muslim migrants inundating largely Christian Europe, just as they said at the height of the Syrian war in 2015 when more than 1 million people from Syria, Afghanistan, and sub-Saharan Africa poured into European countries. Those who come in by military flights have to be accepted, but it is already numbingly clear that anyone else will not be welcome. Matteo Salvini of Italy’s popular rightwing Lega tweeted Wednesday, “Humanitarian corridors for women and children in danger certainly yes. Doors open for thousands of men, including potential terrorists, absolutely not.”The first of the Afghan translators and medical staff—men and women alike—who worked with the Italian Defense contingent in Afghanistan arrived in late June as part of Italy’s now-abandoned tiered plan to bring out the most vulnerable of its collaborators in small groups. The rest, who are arriving after being hastily shoved onto packed Italian military flights via Kuwait this week after the fall of Kabul on Sunday, will be taken there to quarantine against COVID before settling permanently. The Italian government is hyper-protective of them, fearful that even in the relative safety of Europe, those who collaborated with the American-led 20-year war could be targeted by rogue hitmen among Italy’s substantial migrant community. “We are taking no chances,” base commander Alessandro Pantaleo said. “They need to be protected even on Italian soil.”Read more at The Daily Beast.
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