Italy’s Immigration Boot Camps for Migrants
Al Jazeera (2020)
Film Review
This documentary is about and appallingly racist boot camp for African migrants in Bergomo Italy. At the so-called Academy for Integration, inmates study Italian five mornings a week and perform unpaid community service four afternoons weekly. They are required to wear uniforms (which they iron themselves), make their beds with army-style corners, follow a rigid time table and stand when the white boot camp director enters the room. They are forbidden to complain about racial or anti-immigrant injustices.
Although the camp director supports Italy’s center left coalition, the Academy is located in the heartland of Italy’s far right Tricolour Flame Party. As chief of staff for Bergomo’s mayor, the influence he carries with local businesses means he’s in a good position to place Academy graduates in permanent jobs.
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