The army in reinforcement in an epidemic center of the south of Italy where clashes take place

Text by: RFI Follow

A red zone was instituted on June 22 in a ghetto district of Mondragone, a town of 128,000 inhabitants located in the Naples region, because around fifty Bulgarian agricultural workers were contaminated with coronavirus. Strong tensions between Italians and migrants broke out to the point of having to call on the army which arrived this Friday June 26 to shield the isolation zone and control the situation which remains tense.

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From our correspondent in Rome ,   Anne Le Nir

Mondragone is a Neapolitan commune surrounded by tomato fields where foreign agricultural workers are hired for the harvest, often under the table and under the control of the camorra, the local mafia. Here it is mostly Bulgarians. A community of 700 people, 49 of whom were identified as positive for the coronavirus.

In the past few hours, strong tensions have erupted between Italians and Bulgarians who have left their containment zone to protest against their living conditions. The president of the region therefore called on the army to restore order.

About fifty soldiers, helped by the police, have locked the quarantine zone and will allow tests to continue on the whole population. But if more than 100 cases of contagion are detected, the whole city will be declared a red zone. which risks provoking a veritable guerrilla war between the Bulgarians and the Italians.

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• Italy
• Coronavirus