It is not the fault of foreigners if a migrant who commits a crime finds himself at large

The voluntary association Il Terzo Mondo ODV firmly and bluntly condemns the fire at the diesel pump which occurred yesterday in Ravenna at the petrol station in Piazza Caduti sul Lavoro. An extremely risky move by a 25 year old foreigner. It was a very bad and dangerous episode which, without divine guidance, could have created an unprecedented massacre in Ravenna, making the intervention of the firefighters and the police and public safety forces complicated. I congratulate them on the promptness with which they respectively intervened to put out the flames and made the area safe.

It was an unacceptable crazy act. The incomprehensible thing about this matter is that it was committed by a citizen already known to the police and in fact by justice. And it is precisely starting from this last certainty regarding the unpleasant episode that I would like to address the people of Ravenna asking them not to lump everything together. It is not the fault of foreigners if a migrant who commits a crime finds himself at large.

When an Italian, French or any Westerner commits a crime abroad, not all Italians, French or Westerners are targeted.

Ravenna is not a jungle, nor a paradise. It is a quiet town whose safety is guaranteed by the numerous people, women and men of the police and security forces who professionally protect and defend the lives of the people and property present. This very serious episode is an isolated case committed by a single individual. A gesture obviously to be condemned with the utmost harshness, so that similar episodes never happen again.

Before the arrival of the firefighters, if it had not been the hand of God preventing the spread of the flames, anyone (Italian and foreigner, black and white) could have become a victim of this serious act.

A crime is a crime regardless of the origin of the citizen who commits it. And those who commit crimes are alone accountable to the law. Only with this spirit will we be able to safeguard coexistence, which is fundamental for the integration and growth of every person, a people or an entire nation.

The tendency to try to lump everything together in every circumstance is populism. It is avoiding one’s responsibilities by refusing to see reality.

Charles Tchameni Tchienga – President of the voluntary association Il Terzo Mondo ODV