Authorities in Rome are considering whether buildings confiscated by the Mafia could be used to accommodate migrants, the Associated Press reported.
This step came after the police were criticized for the clashes that broke out in an attempt to evacuate migrants illegally staying in a building in the capital. On 31 October, the authorities will present the results of an analysis of 200,000 mafia-confiscated apartments and tell them which ones are becoming temporary homes for migrants. According to Virginia Raji, Mayor of Rome, illegally settled people are in about 100 buildings in the capital. She defended the actions of the police that used water cannon against asylum seekers last week.
Migrants, mainly from Eritrea and Ethiopia, settled in a central square after having been expelled from a neighboring building where they had settled back in 2013. The UN criticized the expulsion of migrants, given that these people were not provided alternative shelters.