Feature: Chinese community take to the streets of Rome, calling for more public security

The Chinese community took to the streets of Rome on Saturday to protest at a lack of security, calling for stronger measures against property crime.

Several thousand people joined the demonstration, which started from the central district of Piazza Vittorio where many Chinese immigrants live and work.

From elderly people to small children, almost everyone waved either a Chinese or an Italian flag, or both, in the air.

Demonstrations among Chinese immigrants are rare in Italy. Yet, they all marched very orderly on Saturday, and raised their voices as one, asking for more "security and peace" in their daily life.

"We would like Italian authorities to boost public security, since robberies, burglaries, car thefts, and other property crimes in the city have increased," a protester told Xinhua.

The man, who declined to give his name, has been living and working in Rome for 26 years.

He said security conditions for Chinese immigrants have always been a problem, with criminality targeting their shops and businesses more and more in latest years.

"I live in Ciampino at the outskirts of Rome, and the situation there is calm, but property crimes in the two districts of Piazza Vittorio and Via dell'Omo have sensibly grown," he said.

Indeed, a storehouse belonging to a Chinese woman was destroyed by fire in the commercial area near Via dell'Omo, in the southern Torre Spaccata suburb, on Jan. 15.

A Chinese immigrant died and two others were injured in the incident.

Several similar episodes have been reported since 2012 in the same area, where many Chinese wholesale stores are based.

"The victim of that fire was about 22 years old, and we were very touched by his death," Giovanni Ye, executive president of the Young Chinese Association, told Xinhua.

The association called for the rally, which drew people also from the Chinese communities in Prato, Tuscany, and Naples.

Shop owners, small entrepreneurs, and business people make the core of the thriving Chinese community here and in the rest of the country, and the issue of their work's security seemed to concern everybody.

"We would like Italian police to give us more support. Many of the crimes we have reported were investigated, but never solved," Ye explained.

"It is not only us who are being hit by burglaries, robberies, and other petty crimes," Ye explained.

"Yet, we do feel like we are being targeted more than others here in Rome, and we are calling for the Italian authorities to provide us with more security in the areas where we work," said Ye.

Lucio Hu, who has been living in Rome for 17 years and saw his own business burgled in 2014, agreed with such requests.

"Police should increase their presence in the areas where property crimes are increasing, and they should also get tougher with the organizations or groups who are behind this phenomenon," he told Xinhua.

The entrepreneur owns a fashion brand, and has set up 12 shops in the Italian capital.

"I have never had problems in the shops, but when burglars entered my storehouse in the Tiburtina district, they stole goods as well as the van," he said.

"It happened despite the storehouse was protected by a private security firm; and Italian police investigated the crime, but never found the thieves," he continued.

Hu said he had to scale down business a little, lately, but his firm would give work to some 20 people, both Chinese and Italians, when sales are good.

"I have never felt worried about my personal security so far, but I do feel we ought to receive proper protection for our work," Hu said. Endit