Mjaft! Movement to Frattini: No to Racism

28 October 2008

Mjaft! Movement held protests yesterday, October 27, during the meeting of Italian Foreing Minister Franco Frattini and Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha, against the discriminating actions of the Italian government to divide the Italian students from the immigrants` children so that they study separately as well as some other initiatives which are pure racist-oriented reforms.

Mjaft! protesters waited for Frattini at the entrance of Government building in Tirana and greeted him with a huge banner saying No al RAZZISMO (No to Racism), and played for him the Giovinezza, the anthem of the fascist youth used by the fascist regime until WWII.

\"We appreciate bilateral meetings with our Italian neighbors but we cannot turn a deaf ear to such discriminating policies undertaken by Berlusconi`s Government. Dividing the students in different classes according to their nationality is racist toward the emigrants` children\", Elisa Spiropali from MJAFT! said, adding that it was the Government`s duty and obligations to lobby for improved status of Albanians in Italy.

Such policies were strongly opposed by Italian citizens as well. Italian opposition also protested against fingerprinting of Roma children which they viewed as a racist oriented policy. Albanian government, unlike other European governments, has not made public its stand in such sensitive actions which directly effect Albanian immigrants to Italy, as well.

This is another in a series of anti-racist protests Mjaft! Movement has organized, including protests to support immigrants` rights in Greece, United Kingdom, etc.