Italy’s north refuses to take more migrants

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The regional president of the northern Italian region of Lombardy has refused to accept any more migrants into the province in comments backed by other regional leaders.
Roberto Maroni of the right wing Lega Nord, or Northern League, said he had instructed mayors and other officials in his region on Monday to refuse to accept any more migrants allocated to them by the central government.
Municipalities that refused to comply with the order would have their funding from cut, Maroni, who presides over Italy’s most populated region, said.
Maroni, asked followers on Twitter if they agreed with him that “Lombardy mayors must refuse to welcome clandestine migrants” or face the punitive measures.
Giovanni Toti, the newly-elected president of Liguria, also in the north, backed that stance. “We will not receive any more migrants,” he said.
Morini was further backed by Luca Zaia, the right-wing president of Veneto, who said the region, which includes Venice was “like a bomb ready to go off”.
“The social tensions are absolutely crazy,” Zaia said, according to the AFP news agency.