Bologna, 27 June 2024 – Gli nocturnal noises and fights are ‘business as usual’ for the residents of via dell’Angelo Custode, “forced for years to deal with the excesses of the foreign kids hosted at Casa Merlani”, they explain. “This time, however, all limits have been exceeded”. Recounting a sleepless night, which ended with the intervention of the carabinieriis a resident, Massimo Barilli, who is the spokesperson for the discontent also expressed by his neighbors through a letter, which begins with the account of what happened from 2.30am. “About ten boys had been chasing each other screaming with sticks in hand for almost an hour”, he reads. “One – the message continues – had climbed over the fence and entered our courtyard, collecting gravel and throwing it like rain (probably also hitting the parked cars)”. The neighbors then start filming the kids. Who, not at all scared, fill them with insults, continuing to scream. Until the arrival of the military personnel, who make them return to the community, bringing the situation back to peace.
“What happened – comments Barilli – is certainly not something new. Every day, for years now, we have been dealing with this situation, with the shouting, harassment and insults. These kids are stationed from morning to evening between via Siepelunga and via dell’Angelo Custode, apparently with nothing else to do. I wonder: but is this the management of unaccompanied minors? Who should help them integrate with our society do it like this?”, asks the resident. He adds: “If now they also start invading private courtyards to wage war, the situation will only get worse”.
“What happened – he echoes the advisor of Fratelli di Fratelli d’Italia Francesco Sassone – it is a very serious fact and it is yet another proof of the impossibility of coexistence of this center with the nearby residents who have now reached the point of exasperation. We are talking about a center for the reception of unaccompanied minors opened in 2015 whose agreement has been extended until 31 December 2025. Over the years we have repeatedly denounced the critical issues of this coexistence between guests and residents to the Municipality, remaining unheard and this is the result”. Which is why Sassone announces that he has “already filed a question to find out the exact number of guests currently present which, we remind you, can reach a maximum of 30, and how the controls are carried out by the cooperative in charge of management of the center during the night. Welcoming unaccompanied foreign minors does not mean that they can be allowed to do whatever they want in defiance of the most basic rules of civil coexistence. Residents are paying too high a price.”
