Rosarno
Encyclopedia
Rosarno is a comune
(municipality) in the province of Reggio Calabria
in the Italian
region of Calabria
. It is about 70 kilometres (43.5 mi) southwest of Catanzaro and about 50 kilometres (31.1 mi) northeast of Reggio Calabria
. Rosarno stands on a natural terrace cloaked in olive plantations and vineyards on the left bank of the river Mesima
, overlooking the Gioia Tauro
plain. The town is an important agricultural and commercial centre and famous for the production of citrus fruits, olive oil, and wines. Its plain is among the most fertile in Italy.
. Present day Rosarno sprung up during the Byzantine Era and appeared for the first time in history in a document in 1037. Ownership of Rosarno was greatly contested, due to its strategic importance in giving a hold over of the fertile Mesima valley and was controlled by various feudal lords, including the Ruffo and the Pignatelli families.
An earthquake in 1783
completely destroyed the town. In the plain surrounding Rosarno, the tremors caused huge landslides which blocked the course of rivers; the resulting marshes led to a malaria
epidemic that killed more people than the earthquake itself. The town was quickly rebuilt and became a borough
in 1816. The town plan is typified by large squares and straight, wide streets that cross each other perpendicularly. The remains of the old feudal castle are preserved, along with a 16th-century coastal tower, the clock tower, the beautiful church of St. John the Baptist, the small church of the Crucifix, and various noblemen's homes, many of which have magnificent marble doorways from the last century.
-type criminal organisation based in Calabria. The local 'Ndrangheta dominates the fruit and vegetable businesses in the area, according to Francesco Forgione
, a former head of Italy's parliamentary Antimafia Commission
. Several powerful criminal clans originate from the town, such as the Bellocco
, Pesce
and Ascone 'ndrine. In October 2008 the mayor of Rosarno, Carlo Martelli from Berlusconi
's Forza Italia
party, was arrested for having links to organised crime and of having illegally favoured businesses linked to the Piromalli family
, one of the 'Ndrangheta's most powerful clans, from the nearby town of Gioia Tauro
.
In December 2008, the entire town council was dissolved on orders from the central government and replaced by a prefectoral commissioner because it had been infiltrated by 'Ndrangheta members and their known associates.
runs free clinics for undocumented migrants in Rosarno and other parts of Calabria. For a 12-hour work day they get paid € 20 and have to pay € 5 for transport to the fields.
In January 2010, after an attack on immigrant farm workers by local youths, rioting broke out. Youths in a car used air rifles to shoot and hurt several immigrants returning from working on the farms. The migrants clashed with police after taking to the streets. Cars were burned and shop windows smashed. Some 2,000 immigrants, most of them from Ghana
and Burkina Faso
, demonstrated in front of the town hall shouting "We are not animals" and carried signs saying "Italians here are racist". Several of the protesters were arrested and locals and immigrants were injured in clashes between the two groups and riot police.
After the attacks, the Italian interior minister
, Roberto Maroni
, a member of the anti-immigrant Northern League
party, said the tensions were a result of "too much tolerance towards clandestine immigration
".
Father Carmelo Ascone, the parish priest of Rosarno, said the situation of the immigrants reminded him of the circles of hell in Dante's Divine Comedy: "These people live in inhuman and desperate conditions." A spokesman for the International Organization for Migration
called the unrest "among the worst of its kind in recent Italian history."
After two days of violence the number of injured stood at 53, comprising 18 police, 14 local people and 21 immigrants, eight of whom were in hospital. Attacks against the migrant workers included setting up a roadblock and hunting down stray Africans in the streets of Rosarno. Some of the crop-pickers were shot; others beaten with metal bars or wooden clubs. All African migrant workers were moved out of town by police, while local inhabitants cheered and applauded their departure. They were loaded on to buses destined for immigrant holding centres elsewhere in Calabria, Naples
and Bari
.
Among the locals arrested for the attacks was Antonio Bellocco, related to members of the feared Bellocco clan
, which controls the area in which the fruit farms are situated. He was arrested and received another arrest warrant due to a police operation against the 'Ndrangheta clan on January 12, 2010. The operation was unrelated to the unrest, but the result of an ongoing investigation against the organisation.
Comune
In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...
(municipality) in the province of Reggio Calabria
Province of Reggio Calabria
The Province of Reggio Calabria is a province in the Calabria region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Reggio., it has an area of 3,183 km², and a total population of 565,866. There are 97 comuni in the province, see Comuni of the Province of Reggio Calabria.- Economy :The region is...
in the Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
region of Calabria
Calabria
Calabria , in antiquity known as Bruttium, is a region in southern Italy, south of Naples, located at the "toe" of the Italian Peninsula. The capital city of Calabria is Catanzaro....
. It is about 70 kilometres (43.5 mi) southwest of Catanzaro and about 50 kilometres (31.1 mi) northeast of Reggio Calabria
Reggio Calabria
Reggio di Calabria , commonly known as Reggio Calabria or Reggio, is the biggest city and the most populated comune of Calabria, southern Italy, and is the capital of the Province of Reggio Calabria and seat of the Council of Calabrian government.Reggio is located on the "toe" of the Italian...
. Rosarno stands on a natural terrace cloaked in olive plantations and vineyards on the left bank of the river Mesima
Medma
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, overlooking the Gioia Tauro
Gioia Tauro
Gioia Tauro is a comune in the province of Reggio Calabria, in Calabria , on the Tyrrhenian coast. It has an important port, situated along the route connecting Suez to Gibraltar, one of the busiest maritime corridors in the world....
plain. The town is an important agricultural and commercial centre and famous for the production of citrus fruits, olive oil, and wines. Its plain is among the most fertile in Italy.
History
Within the borders of Rosarno is the site of the ancient city of MedmaMedma
If you are looking for software/IT company Medma then go to their official website Medma or Mesma If you are looking for software/IT company Medma then go to their official website Medma or Mesma If you are looking for software/IT company Medma then go to their official website Medma or Mesma...
. Present day Rosarno sprung up during the Byzantine Era and appeared for the first time in history in a document in 1037. Ownership of Rosarno was greatly contested, due to its strategic importance in giving a hold over of the fertile Mesima valley and was controlled by various feudal lords, including the Ruffo and the Pignatelli families.
An earthquake in 1783
1783 Calabrian earthquakes
The 1783 Calabrian earthquakes were a sequence of five strong earthquakes that hit the region of Calabria in southern Italy , the first two of which produced significant tsunamis. The epicenters form a clear alignment extending nearly 100 km from the Straits of Messina to about 18 km SSW...
completely destroyed the town. In the plain surrounding Rosarno, the tremors caused huge landslides which blocked the course of rivers; the resulting marshes led to a malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
epidemic that killed more people than the earthquake itself. The town was quickly rebuilt and became a borough
Borough
A borough is an administrative division in various countries. In principle, the term borough designates a self-governing township although, in practice, official use of the term varies widely....
in 1816. The town plan is typified by large squares and straight, wide streets that cross each other perpendicularly. The remains of the old feudal castle are preserved, along with a 16th-century coastal tower, the clock tower, the beautiful church of St. John the Baptist, the small church of the Crucifix, and various noblemen's homes, many of which have magnificent marble doorways from the last century.
Crime
Rosarno is a hotbed of the 'Ndrangheta, a MafiaMafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
-type criminal organisation based in Calabria. The local 'Ndrangheta dominates the fruit and vegetable businesses in the area, according to Francesco Forgione
Francesco Forgione (politician)
Francesco Forgione is a member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies and the Communist Refoundation Party. He was chairman of the Antimafia Commission in 2006-2008.-References:...
, a former head of Italy's parliamentary Antimafia Commission
Antimafia Commission
The Italian Antimafia Commission is a bicameral commission of the Italian Parliament, composed of members from the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate . The Antimafia Commission is a commission of inquiry into, initially, the “phenomenon of the Mafia”...
. Several powerful criminal clans originate from the town, such as the Bellocco
Bellocco 'ndrina
The Bellocco 'ndrina is a clan of the 'Ndrangheta, a criminal and mafia-type organisation in Calabria, Italy. The 'ndrina is based in Rosarno, on the Tyrrhenian coast.-Powerful 'Ndrangheta clan:...
, Pesce
Pesce 'ndrina
The Pesce 'ndrina is a clan of the 'Ndrangheta, a criminal and mafia-type organisation in Calabria, Italy. The 'ndrina is based in Rosarno on the Tyrrhenian coast.-Powerful 'Ndrangheta clan:...
and Ascone 'ndrine. In October 2008 the mayor of Rosarno, Carlo Martelli from Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi , also known as Il Cavaliere – from knighthood to the Order of Merit for Labour which he received in 1977 – is an Italian politician and businessman who served three terms as Prime Minister of Italy, from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006, and 2008 to 2011. Berlusconi is also the...
's Forza Italia
Forza Italia
Forza Italia was a liberal-conservative, Christian democratic, and liberal political party in Italy, with a large social democratic minority, that was led by Silvio Berlusconi, four times Prime Minister of Italy....
party, was arrested for having links to organised crime and of having illegally favoured businesses linked to the Piromalli family
Piromalli 'ndrina
The Piromalli 'ndrina is one of the most powerful clans of the 'Ndrangheta, a criminal and mafia-type organisation in Calabria, Italy. The 'ndrina is based in Gioia Tauro on the Tyrrhenian coast. The Piromalli's are allied with their relatives of the Molè family, also from Gioia Tauro. Often they...
, one of the 'Ndrangheta's most powerful clans, from the nearby town of Gioia Tauro
Gioia Tauro
Gioia Tauro is a comune in the province of Reggio Calabria, in Calabria , on the Tyrrhenian coast. It has an important port, situated along the route connecting Suez to Gibraltar, one of the busiest maritime corridors in the world....
.
In December 2008, the entire town council was dissolved on orders from the central government and replaced by a prefectoral commissioner because it had been infiltrated by 'Ndrangheta members and their known associates.
Economy
Rosarno is largely agricultural, with citrus and olive groves and juice and candied peel factories. Much of the work is done by illegal immigrants from Africa and Eastern Europe, who gather every morning in the main street in the hope of being picked for a day job. In 2006 it was estimated that about 5,000 illegal immigrants lived in the Rosarno region. Many live in squalid conditions in abandoned factories with no running water. Médecins sans FrontièresMédecins Sans Frontières
' , or Doctors Without Borders, is a secular humanitarian-aid non-governmental organization best known for its projects in war-torn regions and developing countries facing endemic diseases. Its headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland...
runs free clinics for undocumented migrants in Rosarno and other parts of Calabria. For a 12-hour work day they get paid € 20 and have to pay € 5 for transport to the fields.
Tensions between migrants and locals
The situation has led to tensions between local inhabitants and the immigrants. In December 2008, a gunman entered a run-down factory where over a hundred farm workers were sleeping and shot two of them, seriously injuring a 21-year-old migrant from Ivory Coast. The migrant workers took to the streets peacefully, marching through Rosarno to deliver a request to the prefectoral commissioner at the town hall for more humane, dignified treatment.In January 2010, after an attack on immigrant farm workers by local youths, rioting broke out. Youths in a car used air rifles to shoot and hurt several immigrants returning from working on the farms. The migrants clashed with police after taking to the streets. Cars were burned and shop windows smashed. Some 2,000 immigrants, most of them from Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
and Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso – also known by its short-form name Burkina – is a landlocked country in west Africa. It is surrounded by six countries: Mali to the north, Niger to the east, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Côte d'Ivoire to the southwest.Its size is with an estimated...
, demonstrated in front of the town hall shouting "We are not animals" and carried signs saying "Italians here are racist". Several of the protesters were arrested and locals and immigrants were injured in clashes between the two groups and riot police.
After the attacks, the Italian interior minister
Interior minister
An interior ministry is a government ministry typically responsible for policing, national security, and immigration matters. The ministry is often headed by a minister of the interior or minister of home affairs...
, Roberto Maroni
Roberto Maroni
Roberto Maroni is an Italian politician from Varese. He is a member of the Northern League political movement. Since 1992 he is a Member of the Chamber of Duputies of the Italian Republic, always elected in Lombardy's districts and costituencies...
, a member of the anti-immigrant Northern League
Northern League (Italy)
Lega Nord , whose complete name is Lega Nord per l'Indipendenza della Padania , is a federalist and regionalist political party in Italy founded in 1991 as a federation of several regional parties of Northern and Central Italy, most of which had arisen...
party, said the tensions were a result of "too much tolerance towards clandestine immigration
Illegal immigration
Illegal immigration is the migration into a nation in violation of the immigration laws of that jurisdiction. Illegal immigration raises many political, economical and social issues and has become a source of major controversy in developed countries and the more successful developing countries.In...
".
Father Carmelo Ascone, the parish priest of Rosarno, said the situation of the immigrants reminded him of the circles of hell in Dante's Divine Comedy: "These people live in inhuman and desperate conditions." A spokesman for the International Organization for Migration
International Organization for Migration
The International Organization for Migration is an intergovernmental organization. It was initially established in 1951 as the Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration to help resettle people displaced by World War II....
called the unrest "among the worst of its kind in recent Italian history."
After two days of violence the number of injured stood at 53, comprising 18 police, 14 local people and 21 immigrants, eight of whom were in hospital. Attacks against the migrant workers included setting up a roadblock and hunting down stray Africans in the streets of Rosarno. Some of the crop-pickers were shot; others beaten with metal bars or wooden clubs. All African migrant workers were moved out of town by police, while local inhabitants cheered and applauded their departure. They were loaded on to buses destined for immigrant holding centres elsewhere in Calabria, Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
and Bari
Bari
Bari is the capital city of the province of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, in Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy after Naples, and is well known as a port and university city, as well as the city of Saint Nicholas...
.
Among the locals arrested for the attacks was Antonio Bellocco, related to members of the feared Bellocco clan
Bellocco 'ndrina
The Bellocco 'ndrina is a clan of the 'Ndrangheta, a criminal and mafia-type organisation in Calabria, Italy. The 'ndrina is based in Rosarno, on the Tyrrhenian coast.-Powerful 'Ndrangheta clan:...
, which controls the area in which the fruit farms are situated. He was arrested and received another arrest warrant due to a police operation against the 'Ndrangheta clan on January 12, 2010. The operation was unrelated to the unrest, but the result of an ongoing investigation against the organisation.