Italy’s government plans to make late-opening Asian grocery stores shut by 9 pm, stating they are centres of crime and antisocial activities.
Deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini proposed the action claiming they were “meeting places for drunks, drug dealers at night, people who make a racket,” reported The Times.
However, he noted that closing stores at 9 pm was “not an initiative against foreign shops, it is against the irregularities and abuses of some shops, almost all of which are managed by foreigners, which attract troublemakers”.
He added: “Just as I have one near my house, I am sure you have one near your house. There are people who drink beer and whisky until 3 am, make a noise, urinate and defecate.”
Monica Cirinna, a senator with the opposition Democratic Party, said the latest proposal was similar to singling out of Jewish stores in Nazi Germany. “If shops are labelled by their ethnicity, when will Salvini order yellow stars on windows?” she said. “There is a name for this: fascism.”
Head of retailer's association Mauro Busconi called the move discriminatory.
