Italy Immigration - Thousands protest against new immigration laws
TAPE: EF02/0042
IN_TIME: 00:48:31
DURATION: 2:27
SOURCES: APTN
RESTRICTIONS:
DATELINE: Rome, 19 Jan 2002
SHOTLIST:
1. Various of march
2. SOUNDBITE: (Italian) Fausto Bertinotti, President Italian Communist Party
"Imigrants are indespensible for the economy, and their presence is a message of civility. And since today's world is so opressed as ours is by the war, and civilization can break apart at any moment due to religous war, it is an extraordinary richness to find the Islamic culture in a Eropean city.''
3. Various of march
4. SOUNDBITE: (Italian) Bathe, Immigrant from Burkina Faso
''I feel accepted, but there are some things that we still have to overcome, like some racist things in the worlplace. And this anti-immigrant law that is being proposed shows that the immigrant is not yet to be trusted in italy.''
5. Various of march
STORYLINE:
Fifty thousand people took to the streets of Rome on Saturday as Italy's opposition parties organised a demonstration against proposed anti-immigration laws.
If passed, the legislation would deny immigrants the right to request citizenship, and would make it illegal for them to live in Italy without a permit.
But one of the opposition figures, Fausto Bertinotti, President of the Italian Communist Party, called their presence in Italy ''indespensible'' both for the economy and for the rich cultural diversity they contribute.
The marchers define the new laws as "unanimous racism'' and claim they would create difficulties for immigrants working in Italy as well as cancelling many rights presently granted to immigrants already living there.