Ramy Shehata is being hailed as a ‘hero’ in the Italian media. The 13-year-old school boy helped foil what is being branded as a ‘terrorist attack’ on March 20 in Milan. Ramy and his classmates were aboard a bus when the driver, an Italian of Senegalese origin, reportedly attempted to hijack the children and threatened to burn them alive within the bus. Reportedly, Ramy (who is of Egyptian origin) and one of his schoolmates, Adam el Hamami, (from a Morrocan family) managed to hide their phones from the driver who had already attempted to confiscate the other pupils’ mobiles. While pretending to pray in Arabic, Ramy is said to have covertly called his father and told him what was happening prompting a call to the Italian emergency services, and eventual salvation.

Since the events, Ramy and some of his classmates have been feted as heroes in Italy, invited on prime time television and to the Italian Euro 2020 qualifiers against Lichtenstein, played in Parma, where they got to meet the Juventus and Italy captain Giorgio Chiellini.

Feted as a hero

Ramy was also invited to the Egyptian embassy in Rome. There the Egyptian Ambassador to Italy Hisham Badr conferred an honorary recognition on Ramy saying he was "a symbol of fraternity [between Italy and Egypt]."

The German press agency DPA reported that Matteo Salvini seemed at first reluctant to confer honors or citizenship on Ramy, because of "criminal record" issues within his family. But on Monday that changed, and Salvini was quoted as saying "yes to citizenship to Ramy because it’s almost like he was my son and he has shown to have understood the values of this country."

Until Wednesday there seemed to have been a question over whether or not the boy who played a key part in the bus rescue, Adam el Hamami, would also receive citizenship. The Italian news agency ANSA reported that after the press conference both boys would receive Italian citizenship. Ramy is reported to have been born in Italy, but Italian law means those born on Italian soil to parents from other countries normally have to wait until they are 18 to be given citizenship. In order for it to be granted, they normally have to renounce the citizenship of their parents.

'Used politically'

At the press conference, Salvini said that he had the "disgusting feeling that the teens in Crema were exploited by some to wage a political battle." He confirmed that the citizenship would be conferred on the two teens but no one else, presumably referring to their families. He said it would take a few days to look in to which route the boys would be offered "without changing the law" in order for them to receive Italian citizenship. Some commentators on Salvini’s Facebook live of the press conference seemed angry that he was conferring Italian citizenship on them and called for them to receive a lesser or different honor instead.

In a telephone interview with national public radio station Rai Uno, Ramy and his father both declared themselves "very happy" with the news and thanked both Matteo Salvini and his co-deputy Prime Minister, Luigi di Maio.

On Salvini’s twitter feed, apart from expressing joy at meeting the Carabinieri and school children from the bus attack, he continued his tough line towards another Egyptian citizen who is alleged to have boarded another bus in Milan armed with a knife. The man in question was in Italy illegally, according to Salvini, and had been arrested and taken to a repatriation center in Turin. "He will be expelled" said Salvini, ending with the hashtag #dalleparoleaifatti (from words to deeds).