The mayor of Rome, Virginia Raggi, has criticized the return of about 40 people to a former factory on the outskirts of the capital. The group had been living in the derelict building when it was cleared in a highly publicized operation in December.
Dozens of people have returned to take up residence in the former penicillin factory on the eastern outskirts of Rome. The building had become a symbol of urban deterioration and had made headlines for a number of crimes that had taken place there. It was cleared in a major police operation on December 10. At that time, about 40 residents were still in the building, but it's thought that shortly before that date, around 600 people, mostly migrants, lived there. Following the complaint over the new occupation of the building, local police carried out a site inspection at the former factory.
Reoccupation 'unacceptable'
Rome Mayor Virginia Raggi, who had in the past warned about the possibility that migrants would return to the building, called the reoccupation "unacceptable". "Public money was spent, officers and resources were engaged. And now there's the risk of having to start all over again. After evacuations there needs to be surveillance," she tweeted.
The day of the evacuation, together with dozens of armored police vehicles, Interior Minister Matteo Salvini visited the site and commented on the operation. "Another day in the name of order and legality," he said at the time. Raggi had called on Salvini for a resolution to the situation just a few weeks prior to the clearing. "We will forcefully ask that this action is conclusive," she said in November. "Many times clearings have taken place but then the sites weren't secured, they weren't made inaccessible, so the people came back a few days later," she said.
Reoccupation after other evacuations
As well as the penicillin factory, two other occupied buildings in the nearby Tor Cervara area have also been cleared recently. The far-right Brothers of Italy party criticized the government, saying "The news that the former penicillin factory has been reoccupied after only 40 days confirms that the clearing carried out by the government and Mayor Raggi was a mere publicity stunt and nothing more. From the 5-Star Movement and the League, government continues through posts on social media, while illegality and unchecked immigration are still present."