Italy: Immigrants turn to crime due to poor support

Another interesting article on the topic of crime in Italy: Italian Men Commit More Rape Than Foreigners:

Italian men commit far more rapes in Italy than foreigners do, the director of the national statistics institute, Istat, said on Monday.

Addressing a United Nations-backed conference on gender statistics, Linda Laura Sabbadini said foreign men were responsible for just 10% of rapes committed Italy. She also noted that in the vast majority of cases, 69%,  the rapist is the victim's partner.

Not surprising news in itself, as Italian do constitute a big majority in Italy.  It would be shocking if they weren't responsible for most crime.  The article just forgets to mention how many immigrants there really are: Immigrants '6.2% of population'

The number of immigrants in Italy grew faster in 2006 than in any other European country to reach just under 3.7 million or 6.2 percent of the population, according to a new report by Catholic charities Caritas and Fondazione Migrantes.

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Many of Italy's immigrants were turning to crime because they were given a poor reception and too little support, according to a priest honored for his scholarly work.

Father Enzo Bianchi, who founded the Monastic Community of Bose outside the northern Italian town of Turin, was one of two authors awarded the Premio Grinzane prize at a special ceremony in Puglia at the weekend.

Bianchi (photo) said Italy was facing a "critical situation" because waves of immigrants were coming from poor countries. He said the government and individuals needed to do more to make immigrants welcome.

"There is no will to really do something for them, we push them into crime," Bianchi said. "We should ask ourselves what is the meaning of reception if we can't give them a house or food."

"There is no will to really do something for them, we push them into crime and this causes xenophobia."

Italy is still reeling from the brutal murder of a woman allegedly by an unemployed Romanian just over a week ago and prompted the Italian government to issue an emergency decree to expel immigrants deemed a security threat.

The country has also been inundated by waves of illegal immigrants from North Africa and the Middle East. In the latest wave, a cargo ship with 275 illegal immigrants was intercepted by Greek authorities on Sunday after the vessel suffered mechanical failure en route from Turkey to Italy.

Bianchi said it was time Italians recognised theirs was no longer a "monolithic culture" but a "multicultural culture".

"It takes great wisdom to handle this situation," Bianchi said."There is no intelligence especially from those people who are in charge."

Bianchi has combined a life of prayer and monastic work with intense theological writing and has published a number of books and articles promoting interfaith dialogue.

Referring to relations between Catholics and Muslims, Bianchi said he was encouraged by the recent letter by 138 Muslim scholars to Pope Benedict XIV that called for peaceful dialogue.

The Grinzane award is an international award that recognises authors who have made significant contributions to tolerance, solidarity and integration.

Source: AKI (English)