Italy: Asylum-seekers clash with police
2011-08-01 17:53
-
Lonely Planet Italy
Lonely Planet's most successful European guide takes readers beyond the usual cities into the heart...
Was R249.95
Now R212.46
buy now
Rome - Hundreds of asylum-seekers clashed with riot police near an immigrant
centre in the southern Italian city of Bari on Monday in a protest to demand
refugee status that left at least 35 injured, news media reported.
Protesters hurled rocks and metal bars at police, who responded with tear
gas and live rounds fired into the air.
The rioters blocked a main road and a railway and set off fires, throwing
stones also at passing vehicles and destroying a passenger bus.
A building in the immigration facility was wrecked, a report said.
The road was later cleared by police but the railway remained blocked by
large rocks placed by protesters and negotiations were held to end the
stalemate.
Train services were suspended on the affected line and several regional
train services cancelled or delayed.
"Those found to be responsible for these actions should be
punished," junior interior minister Alfredo Mantovano told reporters.
The protest was the latest in a series of riots at refugee centres in Italy
filled with African migrant workers fleeing Libya in recent weeks.
- SAPA
