The League party in Italy has renewed its opposition to 'Ius Soli' (Latin for 'Law of the Soil') following a controversial New Year's Eve incident in Piazza Duomo, Milan. Dozens of migrants were recorded on video allegedly assaulting a statue and hurling insults at Italy and its police forces. The footage, widely shared on social media, has reignited debate over the proposed reform to grant automatic citizenship to those born in Italy.
Videos that have been posted on social media show a group of young foreigners involved in a number of brawls, insulting police officers and Italy while waving the flags of their countries of provenance. The incident took place in Piazza Duomo, in downtown Milan, on New Year's Eve.
The interior ministry announced on Thursday (January 2) that it is investigating the case to identify the young people involved. They are believed to be second-generation immigrants.
Police forces are examining the available videos and the result of the investigation will be presented to judicial authorities to evaluate potential legal action, according to investigative sources.
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The League party attacks Ius Soli, says youths not worthy of citizenship
The video featuring the offensive chants and aggressions, with dozens of young people who climbed on a statue in the square, was republished on X by the leader of the League party, Deputy Premier and Transport Minister Matteo Salvini.
Salvini commented saying: "How sad. Celebrating New Year's Eve with brawls and insults against Italy, Italians and the police is for jerks. They don't like our country? They should return to where they came from. We don't need them", wrote Salvini.
The leader of the League in Lombardy, Senator Massimiliano Romeo, also commented on the incident: "What occurred in Milan in Piazza Duomo the night of New Year's Eve should induce a serious reflection, with groups of young immigrants who assaulted our monuments, insulting our country, and police forces, waving the flags of foreign countries."
The episode, according to Romeo, "should induce reflection in those who would like to speed up the path to citizenship too quickly, selling it off, for young people like these, with simplistic rules like Ius Soli. What happened in Milan shows the exact contrary: these young people must learn our values."
Romeo concluded saying that the words pronounced by President Sergio Mattarella in his traditional New Year's Eve address to the nation "indicated the word respect as the term of the year."
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"We need this, teaching young people values like gratitude and the respect towards the country that hosted them", he noted.
Alessandra Corbetta, the League's whip in the Lombardy Region, also spoke about "shameful images", calling for the "repatriation of illegal migrants and criminals in their countries of origin."
According to Corbetta, "those who come to Italy to work and integrate in our country are welcome", but it is "necessary to revoke the citizenship and expel those immigrants who choose not to assimilate the culture of their host country".
Citizenship for migrant children is a hot topic in Italy with the League party opposing Ius Soli (Law of the Soil), or automatic citizenship for being born in Italy.