How Fear of Albanians Went Mainstream in 1990s Italy

Prodi's decree increased the climate of diffidence toward Albanians. The Lega mayor of Acqui Terme, proposed to reward those who reported "extra communitarians". Journalist believed that the reward was meant for repatriating "clandestine" Albanians.

Police unions demanded the forced repatriation of all Albanians who, in their view, were involved in organized crime and used children as shields. A 25-year-old Albanian was killed by the police after that he and three others with whom he was travelling in a stolen car did not stop at a control. He was shot in the back.

According to the police, a gunshot was accidentally fired when the policemen was chasing the fugitives on foot. The policeman was neither suspended nor investigated. On November 29, the Italian government issued another decree for the repatriation of Albanians.

Italy offered 600,000 lire for adults and 300,000 lire for minors who decided to voluntarily return to Albania. On December 3, the police and the carabinieri stormed the camps and 650 persons were forcefully sent back to Albania. The Albanian embassy complained about the violent character of the operation.

The ambassador affirmed that the new law was published on the Gazzetta Ufficiale on December 2. Albanians were not given time to be informed of the decree and evaluate the incentives that it offered. The majority of migrants did not beneficiate from the incentives because they were not considered "voluntary repatriations".

The larger part of Italian public opinion agreed with the extreme measures adopted by the government. The president of Caritas, a Catholic humanitarian organization, said that it was better for Albanians to return because they could end up in the hands of criminal organisations. The geneticist Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza, said that migrants should be selected from departures so that only those with a certain degree of culture could come and not only thieves and prostitutes.

The leftist newspaper La Repubblica agreed with the Ministry of Interior that force was necessary to put an end to a situation that had become embarrassing and dangerous for Italian authorities.

One community singled out

The aforementioned opinions show that Italians of different social backgrounds had similar prejudices about Albanians. Police, religious leaders, academics and even leftist journalists, identified Albanians with criminals. The anti-Albanian narratives of the Nineties have transcended Italy and the 20th century and have become the most common way of singling out the Albanian community as an agent of crime and violence.

In order to halt this trend, it is necessary to raise awareness concerning the historical stigmatization of the Albanian community in Western Europe and eventually take legal actions against racists, be they underground far-right groups, or mainstream politicians.

Fabio Bego is a scholar and researcher of nationalism and the far-right.

The opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of BIRN.