Youth Engagement on Immigration and Tolerance at Riva Conference
In addition, racial tolerance, xenophobia. Current issues, as demonstrated by recent news reports from the past few weeks, problems that increasingly characterize our society and lend themselves to being explored through debates and conferences. Regarding this topic, yesterday morning, a crowded assembly of students met in Hall 1000 at the Palacongressi in Riva.
The students from the Riva-based Giacomo Floriani Institute, aiming to address the multiple issues related to immigration, wanted to engage with «experts in the field». A moment of awareness-raising, but also of open dialogue, which we decided to attend in order to gauge the situation, to understand especially how the younger generations think.
Description of Participation and Activities
We entered Hall «1000» just before the debate began, when about 500 students had just finished watching Est è est, a compelling and, in some ways, amusing film that depicts the everyday challenges faced by a Pakistani family amidst the monotony of stiffly formal England.
At the experts’ table are seated the two professors Sergio Ragnolini and Romano Turrini. In the middle is the director of Atas Massimo Giordani, and immediately behind them stand the police authorities: senior inspector Walter Chemolli and inspector Daniela Bartoli, from the Riva police station.
It is Professor Turrini’s task to break the ice, with a history of Trentino migration from the post-war period to the present. However, the audience heats up when he issues a warning: «We must combat prejudice, that is, stop judging without knowing».
Discussion and Conclusions
Next to speak is Massimo Giordani, the director of the association responsible for initial reception of non-EU immigrants, who explains how immigration is now an unavoidable reality, because «the population of Trentino can be compared to a tree whose trunk is the younger generations, very narrow, with the older ones forming a dense crown».
At the end of the presentations, the floor is given to the students, invited to express their opinions and curiosities through questions and comments written on sheets of paper and read aloud by the experts. The overall picture that emerges, listening to the students’ questions, reflects a general awareness of the issue and its multifaceted nature: from crime and religious issues («Is it right that Italy funds the construction of their mosques?»), to employment and illegal immigration.
Nevertheless, the impression remains that much work is still needed, even among the youth, so that words like integration and tolerance are no longer considered emergencies.
Ultimately, one student calls for greater awareness-raising to fight «racism, a bad trend among young people». And how could we disagree, especially after hearing the last question: «Instead of giving money to foreigners, should the funds be given to the earthquake victims in Umbria?»