Saviano Defends African Riots in Italy

Op-ed this morning from Roberto Saviano, the Italian reporter living in exile for his reports documenting the Italian mafia's abuses, on the recent immigrant riots in Italy.  Perversely, he argues, these immigrants might be Italy's last best hope for standing up to organized crime, which he says now controls most aspects of life in Southern Italy. Yet so far, the Italian government has done little to protect them, and in fact may have exacerbated their situation by relocating them away from their work.  Given the control the mafia exerts over their lives, and the blatant racism they face, the problems experienced by North African immigrants living in France, as he points out, seem comparatively tractable.