A former Milan school occupied by migrants and the homeless has become a den of crime and drug abuse, according to a member of Senator Matteo Salvini’s League party.
The League’s Silvia Sardone, a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) and Milan municipal councillor, spoke out about the situation at the former school located along the Via Zama in the eastern part of the city.
“The matter is getting grotesque,” Sardone told newspaper Il Giornale, and questioned why the current leftist mayor of Milan, Beppe Sala, had not done anything about the rising levels of crime.
Sardone has documented the state of the area since February, filming the conditions which show former classrooms filled with garbage and padlocked after being turned into makeshift housing:
“Unfortunately, these are the results of [the Italian Democratic Party’s] unrestrained reception policies: undocumented stragglers, ghosts in the Italian State, who commit repeated crimes while institutions remain silent,” she said.
After asking the municipal government if conditions had changed since February, Sardone said she received a reply from authorities that the situation had remained the same and was told that police intervention would be in vain unless the building was sealed up.
“So why don’t they seal [the building]?” Sardone said, adding: “Perhaps it is convenient for them to keep such a large building so full of immigrants, drug dealers, and thieves, away from the [town] centre? The matter is becoming grotesque.”
The abandoned school is just one of many derelict or abandoned areas which have been used as housing by migrants or for drug dealing.
Italian television presenter Vittorio Brumotti has exposed many similar drug-dealing neighbourhoods on the satirical programme Striscia la Notizia and has been physically attacked several times by migrant drug dealers.
The most recent attack took place days ago after Brumotti and his cameraman arrived at the location of an abandoned factory in Reggio Emilia.
The pair were attacked with bottles and rocks immediately upon arrival but were saved from further harm when around a dozen police arrived.