Hotels in northern Italy could be shut down if they house refugees
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Version 0 of 1. Hotels in northern Italy which play host to migrants risk losing their licence under a proposal drawn up by the right-wing party, the Northern League. In the proposed amendment to the Lombardy region’s rules governing tourism, the anti-immigration party has suggested banning hotels and guest houses from being used to provide shelter to people “who have entered Italy illegally”. According La Repubblica newspaper, businesses found flouting the rule could be fined between €5,000 and €10,000 (£3,674 to £7,348) in proposals due to come before the regional assembly in Milan on Wednesday. The leader of the party, Matteo Salvini, denounced hotels in the region who had “to wait for landings at Lampedusa” in order to fill their rooms, according to the Local Italia. Under the proposed measures only “real refugees” who have “entered the country legally” or “have a valid residency permit” will be able to be housed in the region’s hotels. The regional security minister, Marco Granelli told La Repubblica: "We want to dissuade the underground network of illegal activity and exploitation of new arrivals by traffickers. “Therefore, we are asking the regional assembly that controls are intensified and continued.” It comes just a week after the Archbishop of Milan urged the 1,100 parishes around Lombardy to open their doors to immigrants. Refugee care costs the Italian government an estimated €800m (£590m) a year and it currently offers private individuals, companies and NGOs €35 a day (£26) to look after them. It comes as EU leaders failed to reach an agreement on sharing 120,000 refugees between the 28 member states to ease the burden on Italy, Greece and Hungary. Germany’s vice-chancellor,Sigmar Gabriel, denounced the group’s indecision saying Europe “had made a fool of itself”. This newspaper has started a campaign for the UK to welcome a fair share of refugees. Click here to sign The Independent's petition |