The Mayor of Riace Lucano in Milan, crowd to meet him. Sala: "Mimmo, we are with you"

"I am happy to receive my colleague from Riace here." The intention of Milan is not to exploit the figure of Mimmo – said Mayor Giuseppe Sala inaugurating the evening – we are here to listen and try to help this man who did things, told me his story, so I say to everyone, let's wait to judge. "It has been several days since Sala announced that he wanted to meet Lucano, placed under house arrest – later become a residence ban in his country – for an investigation into the aid to immigration smuggling and illegal immigrants placed in the care of the waste collection service, accusations related to its model of reception of refugees "Riacè".

Lucano thanked me for the reception: "I would never have imagined that one day a large and important city of the world like Milan would host, it was not in my goals to become so famous, suddenly – Lucano told his story, often interrupted by thunderous applause – but there is a thirst for humanity.We all want respect for human rights. There is nothing shocking in the desire to help people beyond races and origins. " And again, he explained the "Riace model": "We found ourselves in this situation because one morning at dawn on the beach, a boat arrived full of people.The houses of our historic center were abandoned We did not even have the economic possibilities We brought candles for the houses that were once again inhabited, and new immigrants arrived so, as for a destiny destiny, but no matter they have the darker face, they are human beings, a fantastic process, in a place of depopulation, organized crime.When the story began to structure, we joined the national program for asylum seekers and we have also become a destination for solidarity tourism, as a small municipality opened spontaneously at the reception, which intrigued those who are thirsty for humanity, who want a world without barriers, where everything the world has the same rights, it is to revive Riace ".

The opportunity for Sala to sound the alarm on the absence of a national plan of integration: "The mayors play their role, in Milan, our rule is to welcome and we are alone. We make our voices heard that the time is too long to decide on applications for international protection. Do not say that 35 euros a day are only used to feed the children because they are also used for integration and work. Mimmo did what I would have done. Justice will take its course, but I would have done the same thing for it. This story teaches a lot. "

"But the attack against the already reduced rights of migrants is that the most serious and visible aspect of a policy that operates in a precarious way, reduces the protection of those who They work there, reduce social services and favor tax evaders.All of this – explains one of the meeting's organizers, Basilio Rizzo of "Milan in common" – we feel it's imperative today. to be on the side not only of migrants but of all those who resist and oppose this drift by maintaining the principles of civil coexistence, of humanity, of respect for the dignity of all. Two of these experiences are particularly significant: the great solidarity, human and political, which has manifested itself around the experience of Riace and his mayor, and around the children of Lodi, children of foreign citizens, victims of odious discriminatory measure ".