Italy: No Refuge For Albanians

With calculated harshness, the Italian government resorted to drastic measures in dealing with more than 18,000 impoverished Albanian refugees in the southern port of Bari. Seeking escape from the dismal conditions back home, the Albanians had fought their way ashore after crossing the Adriatic on grossly overcrowded boats, only to be penned into coal docks and the local soccer stadium without adequate food or water. The angry men and women then proceeded to wreck the stadium. Later, when supplies did arrive, complained a Caritas relief worker, "the police threw food at them like in a zoo."

After battling security forces for two days and suffering from exposure, most of the dispirited Albanians willingly got on board more than 50 military and Alitalia flights headed for Tirana. Altogether, said Interior Minister Vincenzo Scotti, 17,466 had been shipped home by last week. But a few hundred holdouts, including army deserters, have been allowed to stay while an Italian commission decides whether they qualify for political asylum.