The gang-rape horror that has reignited Italy’s immigration row

‘I urge you, I urge you, do not damage me… Please let me go.’ 

Those had been the phrases uttered by a helpless 13-year-old woman as she was allegedly dragged right into a public rest room by a gaggle of Egyptian migrants in Catania on the Italian island of Sicily final week. 

Her pleas had been ignored.  

Instead, she claims two of the migrants – each minors – brutally raped her for half an hour whereas the remainder of the gang allegedly restrained her determined boyfriend and compelled him to look at the horror unfold. 

All seven of the suspects arrived in Italy as unlawful migrants by boat, however had been granted momentary residency as Italian legislation doesn’t allow the expulsion of minors.  

News of the heinous assault prompted instant fury, with Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini calling for the perpetrators to be chemically castrated and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni vowing ‘justice might be executed’. 

The gang in query has since been shackled after DNA testing confirmed at the very least one minor had sexually abused the woman, and solely as a result of the eldest of the group was so disturbed by the actions of his underlings that he confessed to authorities. 

But the horrendous incident has additionally sparked a recent row over immigration coverage in Italy, which noticed a 50% improve in unlawful migrant landings final 12 months versus 2022 in response to the Interior Ministry. 

A choose few people got here out in defence of the perpetrators within the wake of the assault.

Catania bishop Luigi Renna was fast to warn in opposition to the profiling of migrants for violent crimes, declaring: ‘The crime dedicated by these younger immigrants should not lead us to generalisations, as a result of we all know that not all immigrants are violent, simply as not all younger Italians are violent.’

And immigration staff who knew two of the older teenagers concerned within the incident advised Italian media the boys had made efforts to combine with Italian society and had been pursuing work permits on the time of the assault.

‘We had no cause to suspect that they’d do something like that,’ they mentioned.

But a number of outraged officers and commentators referred to as for a crackdown on unlawful immigration, whereas others pointed fingers at Meloni’s authorities for its perceived inaction on the difficulty.

The Prime Minister’s dedication to strengthening immigration coverage was a cornerstone of her marketing campaign for workplace which noticed her name for the EU to launch a ‘naval blockade’ of African shores to show again migrant boats.

But Italy’s shores stay the first level of arrival for migrants journeying from North Africa.

Almost 156,000 migrants arrived by sea final 12 months alone – 17,000 of which had been unaccompanied minors – versus 103,846 in 2022.

Fabio Cantarella, the previous atmosphere and concrete safety councillor of Catania, mentioned: ‘The nationwide authorities has his tasks, above all of the Minister of the Interior (Matteo Piantedosi), who ought to discover the braveness to return to implementing the insurance policies of his predecessor, Matteo Salvini, in opposition to uncontrolled immigration.’

Salvini, the previous Interior Minister and now deputy PM, was one of the crucial outspoken critics of unlawful migration in Italy and is presently on trial after he banned an NGO rescue ship from docking in any Italian port in 2019.

Mayor of Catania Enrico Trantino added that he was involved about ‘safety issues’ within the Sicilian metropolis on account of excessive migration charges, however mentioned his stories had fallen on deaf ears. 

‘There is bitterness and ache – it’s as if all the metropolis was violated with this vulgar, vile and cowardly gesture. I hope that what occurred might be severely punished by the judicial authorities,’ he mentioned of the gang rape.

‘In Catania we now have a safety downside that we now have declared a number of occasions to the Minister of the Interior.’

Meanwhile, Cultura Identita – a basis devoted to the promotion of Italian artwork and tradition, launched a press release railing in opposition to immigration coverage, which prevents minors from being deported.  

‘We are confronted with yet one more bestiality, yet one more disgusting act perpetrated as soon as once more with shameless ferocity by a gaggle of boys who entered Italy illegally – minors (or self-styled minors) who couldn’t be repatriated.

‘This squalid reality ought to at the very least make us replicate on how uncontrolled and unlawful immigration causes a predictable and unmanageable emergency on the safety entrance in our nation,’ it concluded. 

Amid the criticism, Meloni, who heads the right-wing Brothers of Italy get together, is urgent on with efforts to handle the sky-high migration price.

Italy’s dedication to the safety of minors signifies that any migrants claiming to be beneath 18 years of age can’t be deported and should be granted momentary residence. 

Authorities have sometimes used psychological evaluations to determine the age of migrants who arrive with out documentation, main Meloni’s authorities to argue that many grownup migrants try to move as underage to profit from the protections.

But beneath new laws signed into impact in September final 12 months, authorities can now use bodily examinations, together with x-rays of wrist bones, to determine age within the hope grownup migrants making an attempt to recreation the system might be caught out. 

This got here regardless of a slew of specialists warning the bodily exams usually are not dependable sufficient to precisely calculate age. 

Italy’s parliament additionally signed off on measures granting authorities the fitting to carry migrants in detention centres for as much as 18 months whereas asylum requests are processed. 

It is feasible for migrants to keep away from being detained as they watch for the outcomes of their utility – for a cool 5000 euro charge. 

Meanwhile, a plan to construct migrant detention centres in Albania to course of asylum claims handed a key milestone when Albania’s constitutional court docket accepted the bilateral settlement.

Under the proposed scheme – which has drawn comparisons with the British authorities’s Rwanda plan – Meloni has mentioned the centres would be capable of home and course of in extra of three,000 migrants per 30 days. 

But this could nonetheless go away 120,000 migrants free to flood Italian shores every year, based mostly on 2023 arrival figures.

As the row over unlawful immigration continues, particulars of the horrible crime proceed to emerge in Italian press.

The 13-year-old sufferer mentioned she was strolling within the park along with her boyfriend when the group of seven descended on them and seized them each.

‘And they took us to the loos of the villa. It was a nightmare, there was nobody there at the moment,’ the woman advised La Repubblica.

She mentioned she was making an attempt to free herself, as was her boyfriend, however they could not overpower the seven youngsters.

Two of them allegedly raped her whereas the others watched. She mentioned: ‘And they compelled my boyfriend to look at too.’ 

‘He was screaming, he was determined. I mentioned: “I beg you, I beg you, don’t hurt me, let me go.’

The rape went on for 30 minutes at which point the couple were left to run away. They immediately alerted the Carabinieri, who managed to catch the group within 24 hours after one of the older boys who allegedly held back the boyfriend told immigration workers what had happened. 

The victim has identified the two underage alleged perpetrators of the rape, police said, while her boyfriend identified the five others who held him back and forced him to witness the brutal assault. 

DNA evidence successfully linked one of three minors in the group to the rape, prosecutors confirmed. 

Six of the seven suspects are being held in custody pending further investigation.

The remaining adult suspect was granted house arrest for complying with the police investigation.