[ad_1]
Thomson Reuters
By Alessandro Bianchi
VALI DEI MOCHENI, Italy (Reuters) – Agitu Idea Gudeta has built a flourishing business in her adopted Italy by manufacturing goat cheese and cosmetics in just a few years after having fled his native Ethiopia in 2010. a land dispute.
His experience is a shining example of what migrants can accomplish, with half a chance, although Gudeta fears growing hostility towards newcomers to Italy will make it more difficult for foreigners to contribute to the future .
"I created my space and I made myself known, there was no resistance to me," she told Reuters. "But (the experience) of those who come now … is obviously conditioned by ideologies based on lies that can create fear and resistance."
Gudeta, 40, has taken up residence in the mountains of the Trentino region, Valle dei Mocheni, bastion of the far-right League party, led by Matteo Salvini, the new Italian Minister of the Interior .
According to some polls, the League is today the most popular party in Italy, its support being fueled by its uncompromising stance against the arrival of more than 650,000 migrants, many of whom Sub-Saharan Africa, in the last five years.
Gudeta escaped from his hometown of Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, after his protests against so-called "land grabbing" – by which vast expanses of agricultural land been sold to foreign investors – have aroused the anger of the authorities.
Ironically, in Italy, she was able to use her common land in the northern mountains to build her new business, taking advantage of permits that allow farmers to access public land to prevent the local territory from being reclaimed. wild nature.
"While I was accepting another job, I started to reclaim the land and animals, starting with 15 goats, today I have 180 goats," he said. she said.
She employs a companion to help her business, La Capra Felice (The Happy Goat), and seeks to hire two other people, who will probably also be foreigners.
The Italians, she said, find it hard to keep up with the hard day's work, with milking starting at 5 am followed by long hikes in the pastures.
"Refugees integrate better into this work, because it is very tiring," she said. "Someone who has crossed the desert, crossed the sea, has physical resilience and also the motivation to redeem himself."
The secret was to try to make the most of everyone.
"Once (the migrants) are in our territory, we should not constantly try to marginalize them, which is negative and counterproductive," she said.
Interior Minister Salvini complains that Italy has welcomed too many migrants and accused the EU's allies of doing nothing to share the burden by refusing to distribute equitably asylum seekers on the mainland.
While locals appreciate Gudeta's efforts, many also support Salvini's promise to put Italy first.
"It's just using an iron fist for awhile to wake up the rest of Europe," said local resident Diego Detbadis.
(Written by Eleanor Biles, edited by Crispian Balmer and Gareth Jones)
Source link
