Photos and videos reveal brewing unrest in southern Italy as lockdowns make people desperate for cash and food
The coronavirus outbreak has hit Italy particularly hard, causing the government to enforce a strict nationwide lockdown on March 9.
While the majority of COVID-19 cases have been in the northern region of Italy, many in the south are dealing with the lockdown's economic blow, and now face the prospect of poverty and unrest.
Source: The Guardian
People across the poorest southern regions of Italy — namely Sicily, Campania, Calabria, and Puglia — are beginning to struggle for food and money.
Source: The Guardian
Long lines at grocery stores have caused anxiety in the region, and reports have shown that some people are pressuring small businesses owners to give away food for free.
Source: The Guardian
A private Facebook group has urged people to organize large raids on grocery stores and markets, and is currently under investigation. This has prompted police officers to stand guard outside of supermarkets in Palermo, the capitol city of Sicily.
Source: Bloomberg
Police with batons and guns have moved in to protect supermarkets on the Italian island of Sicily after reports of looting by locals who could no longer afford food, @AFP reports from Palermohttps://t.co/PhSLZg00GG pic.twitter.com/nY2DWAjlcn
— Dmitry Zaks (@dmitryzaksAFP) March 29, 2020Plus very significant economic problems are beginning to bite for people suddenly without incomes or savings: in Palermo police guard supermarkets. https://t.co/AfSqAuCnnx
— Agnes Crawford (@understandrome) March 28, 2020A video from Sky News shows people shouting at police, desperately claiming they have no money. Other footage shows a man saying he and his daughter will soon run out of bread, heading the call for a revolution.
Source: Sky News
Many have turned to charities and food banks for aid. But the lines to receive food have grown increasingly longer.
Source: The Guardian
One Priest told the Guardian: "Now people are more afraid — not so much of the virus, but of poverty. Many are out of work and hungry. There are now long queues at food banks."
Source: The Guardian
To help one another, people across Italy have been filling baskets with food and leaving them in the streets for neighbors to pick up what they need.
Source: The Guardian
The south has been hit particularly hard because of Italy's underground economy. An estimated 3.3 million people work off the record for cash, with at least one million of those jobs concentrated in poor southern regions.
Source: The Guardian
Because of this, many people are having difficulty accessing unemployment benefits and don't know when their next paycheck will come.
Sources: The Guardian, Bloomberg
Small business owners and workers fear their shops will not be able to reopen, after the lockdown is lifted. One waiter in Sicily who lost his job told the Guardian, "This situation is bringing us to our knees."
Source: The Guardian
The mayor of Palermo fears that organized crime will soon swoop in and take advantage of an increasingly desperate situation. He told the government that "criminal groups could promote violence acts," according to The Guardian.
Source: The Guardian
Others worry that the mafia could use this as an opportunity to recruit desperate people for work.
Source: The Guardian
Realizing that social unrest could become worse as lockdowns persists, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte is preparing an emergency relief package that could be worth 600 euros per month for workers hit hardest in the south.
Source: Bloomberg
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