Italy's regional governors expressed their commitment to hosting residence and repatriation centers (CPRs) to redistribute migrants across the country at a meeting on Monday (October 2) in Turin for the National Festival of the Conference of Regions and Autonomous Provinces.

But they said they can't carry all the weight and called on the European Union for support.

Role and responsibility of Europe on immigration

Veneto Governor Luca Zaia highlighted the European Union's responsibility on the matter: "Europe is not dealing with this biblical exodus, it is not considering Italy's borders as European borders anymore. It's important to highlight this, because we are becoming Europe's soft underbelly and, little by little, we will also become its refugee camp," he said.

"On the one hand...those fleeing death and famine must have a dignified hospitality. On the other, the appearance of our communities is changing and, for this reason, we should reconsider healthcare and educational services -- social services in general," he continued.

Similar observations were made by Massimiliano Fedriga, president of the Conference of Regions and governor of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, who, like Zaia, is a member of the League party.

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Solidarity towards the South

Governor of the northwestern region of Liguria Giovanni Toti said it is the responsibility of the interior ministry to "do anything useful to stem such a complex problem, as we have already done when we made our ports available for the docking of ships" carrying migrants.

"The arrival of so many migrants in our country can't only fall on the shoulders of southern regions," he stressed.

Arno Kompatscher, president of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano in northern Italy, expressed a more specific position.

"We are available to host a CPR in our territory because we don't think it's possible to continue with the blame game, but under a few conditions: first of all, it shouldn't be regional but should affect together the two autonomous provinces of Trento and Bolzano with 50 immigrants for each province," he said.

"In addition, only people who have been convicted of a crime and/or who are considered dangerous" should be hosted in the centres, Kompatscher continued.

The controversial nature of the issue was highlighted by Flavio Di Muro, mayor of the Ligurian city of Ventimiglia on the border with France.

"Citizens aren't asking for a CPR or legal matters that are difficult to explain, but for the removal of irregular people from the city who are responsible, day and night, of brawls and crimes, who don't want to be integrated and refuse hosting," he explained.

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