Sardinia's health councilor has suggested to welcome migrants to fight low birth rate and depopulation, sparking a controversy.
Sardinia's Health Councilor Luigi Arru has sparked a controversy after his suggestion to encourage migrants to relocate to small towns and cities in Sardinia to fight the declining population.
Negative political reaction
Paolo Truzzu, a member of the right-wing Fratelli d'Italia party, said the move would prompt an ''ethnic substitution'' of the local population. Amiliano Deiana, president of Sardinia's National association of Italian municipalities, said that it is ''wrong and short-sighted'' to see migration as ''the only type of repopulation''.
Criticism from small municipalities
Administrators of small cities also criticized the proposal: ''The councilor's statements sound like a true offense against Sardinians and in particular those living in central areas'', said Roberto Marino Marceddu, the former mayor of Gairo, a town of 1,420 inhabitants.
Marceddu is a son of migrants and the father of three adult children, including a daughter who has left the island to get a job. ''My daughter is 28 and has been living in France for the past year where she has found employment. She would like to come back to Sardinia but she can't. The same is true for my 21-year-old son who has moved to northern Italy. We must work to help our youths return''.