Opening door to migrants, some Italians defy government line

ROME (AP) — Italy has made headlines as a hard place for migrants recently, with racist attacks against blacks on its soil and a new government closing Italian ports to people rescued in the Mediterranean Sea.

But not all Italians are on board, and some are even reaching out to migrants.

Barbara di Clemente, a 79-year-old grandmother, opened her heart and home to Moriba Mamadou Diarra from Mali, hosting him at her two-bedroom apartment in Rome for the past four months. The 18-year-old says he fled his country because there, his “rights had been denied” and he couldn’t study and build a better future for himself.

Uproar after Italian minister wants to end anti-racism law

ROME (AP) — An Italian minister is facing broad condemnation after calling for the abolition of an anti-racism law, with key members of the government including the prime minister distancing themselves from the statements.

Family Minister Lorenzo Fontana, of the far-right League party, on Friday called for abolishing a 1993 law condemning racist violence, hatred and discrimination, saying “globalists” were using it to “disguise their anti-Italian racism as anti-Fascism.”

The president of Italy’s Union of Jewish Communities, Noemi Di Segni criticized the minister’s words, saying the law should be enforced and defended.