Concern over increasing numbers of Soviet Jewish refugees concentrated in this seaside town has forced officials to limit the number of refugees assigned to the town and to expand refugee housing to other nearby locations.
Three or four months ago, there were 8,000 foreigners in Ladispoli, which naturally caused problems, Deputy Mayor Crescenzo Paliotta said in an interview.
Ladispoli has a resident Italian population of 16,000 to 17,000, and public services could not cope, he said.
Furthermore, despite the large refugee population, the state still counted Ladispoli as a town of 16,000 to 17,000 when it came to funding and personnel.
There were also problems with garbage collection, sanitation and emergency health services, as well as the greater overall problem of community relations: Given that foreigners at one point made up 30 to 40 percent of the population, he said, there was the risk of conflicts and tensions.
“We faced this problem by asking the Interior Ministry and Foreign Ministry to regulate the presence of foreigners here and to reduce it, by limiting new arrivals in town,” he said.
“Now there are about 5,000 foreigners in Ladispoli — at least 4,000 or 4,500 of them Soviet Jews — and though the number of foreigners is still very high, the situation is better,” he said.
Uri Ben-Zion, director of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee’s education and social services program in Ladispoli, agreed that things are better.
“As you know, the number (of refugees) increased more and more and more, and we have more and more people coming out from the Soviet Union,” he said in an interview.
NO SERIOUS PROBLEM
“Ladispoli can (handle) about 4,000 of them maximum. To have more than 4,000 makes a little bit of a problem with the people here,” he said.
He stressed, however, that no serious problems had actually occured.
“At the beginning, when the number increased to 6,000 and even more for a while, we knew that maybe it would be a bit of a problem,” he said. “The problem was that in the street you saw more and more Russian and you felt and saw less Italian.
“So we made a cutoff at 3,500 to 4,000 people, and we are sending the others to other places,” he said.
He said the nearby seaside town of Santa Marinella could host about 2,000 Soviet Jews; Nettuno could host about 400; and Rome itself 800. Smaller numbers were being sent to Ostia and Santa Severa.
Both Ben-Zion and Paliotta stressed that relations between local Italians and the Soviet Jews are generally good — although from time to time, there have been incidents involving young people. They are very rare, Paliotta said.
“For example, during Carnival time, some heavy taunting degenerated into blows between two or three kids. But there’s never been anything between adults, and never have organized groups been involved.”
He said what was involved was not racism per se, but frustration over public service problems due to the increased population.
“Of course there are racists here, but they are only a few,” Paliotta said. “The people here are proud to show that for 10 years there could be this opening to the world without serious problems.
“Of course, some people are happy because it brings them good business — shopkeepers, apartment rentals,” he said.
NO ROOM TO SIT
Others are unhappy, not because they are against the foreigners, but because the buses and trains are always packed and they can’t get a seat.
Ben-Zion said that the unexpected flood of Jews coming out of the Soviet Union was severely straining the finances of programs set up to help them. “This year we will have about 40,000 people,” he estimated.
The JDC had already made its budget before they knew that so many people would be coming out, he said. “There is going to be a budget problem. I hope that they find the way to cope with the situation,” he said.
There has also been a further tightening of visa requirements. At present, 20 percent or more of Soviet Jewish applicants are being refused refugee status.
The first wave of people was almost certain to make a very strong case for refugee status, an American source said. Newer arrivals are thought to be more motivated by economic considerations. It is harder to demonstrate they have a real fear of persecution, the source added.
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