Migrant Protest in Florence

Dozens of migrants who survived the January 11 fire at their interim home in an abandoned warehouse in Sesto Fiorentino participated in a protest march down Florence’s centrally located via Cavour on the morning of January 12.  They also sat on the street to impede the passage of city buses.  The group gathered in the courtyard of Palazzo Strozzi intending to organize a sit-in on the second floor where the dissident artist Ai Wei Wei’s exhibition is hosted, but were stopped on the stairs.

Those at the head of the parade carried the sign “Ali Muse died thanks to the Italian government,” referring to the tragedy’s sole victim, a 35 year old native of Somalia.  Muse, as it turns out, had made his way to safety but returned inside the smoke-filled premises to retrieve documents that were necessary to bring his family to Italy.  Five others were injured by the blaze.

The protest was organized by the Movimento di Lotta per la Casa to emphasize the immigrants’ plight, which as Osman, their head, summed up as “disgraceful.  It is years that these people have been abandoned to suffer in silence.  No one came to our aid during this cold spell.  We would like to live in dignity.”

They are now temporarily housed in tents while the city council of Sesto Fiorentino is searching for alternative accommodations.  To read more in Italian, and see a photo gallery, visit Florence’s La Repubblica news site.