Genoa, an anti-racist banner in front of the Daneo school removed by the police

A controversy broke out in front of the Daneo primary school in Genoa over an anti-racist banner with the words "No one is a foreigner here" made by children and hung by their parents at the entrance to the institute, which was removed by two Digos policemen. The gesture, made as the students entered the classroom and defined by those present as "very abrupt", sparked a protest from dozens of parents present who witnessed the scene.

The mayor Silvia Salis met the parents of the school. "We asked the police station for clarification and the decision to remove the banner did not come from them," he said after chatting with the students. "It's a gesture that scared the children - he continued - and I'm here for this. They themselves told me that they want to write to both the Prime Minister and the President of the Republic because they don't agree with what they hear on television. They want to say that school must remain for everyone".

For Salis, "they say with the words of children, what politics cannot say because it talks about a country that doesn't exist, that hasn't existed for years. The reality is these children, these girls with their differences, their different stories, their different origins and the fact that they are all part of the Italian Republic. I went to tell them that in this city we don't think" like the government.

The mayor then announced that "the banner has been returned and is back in its place", reiterating however the gravity of what happened "even more so when the message expresses a fundamental concept of integration, especially in a school like Daneo which makes inclusion a cornerstone of its educational path. Among other things - she added -, just this morning, the institute was preparing to welcome the torch of peace".

The Police Headquarters began investigations and clarified in a note that "around 8.30 am today, employees employed in the ordinary territorial control service in civilian clothes proceeded on their own initiative to remove a banner hanging on the gate of the Daneo school, located in the historic center. The banner bore the phrase "Here no* is a foreigner*". The intervention on the spot originated from a report coming from the operations room of the Local Police".

"After ascertaining that the banner had been placed by the parents of the students present on site, it was immediately returned. The Police Commissioner began immediate internal investigations into the reasons for the intervention."