Expand Italian Police use a water cannon as they clash with refugee squatters who had occupied a small square in central Rome, Italy. © 2017 Reuters/Yara Nardi (Milan) – Police used violence and water cannons to evict a group of squatters, predominantly refugees, in Rome on August 24, 2017, Human Rights Watch said today. Without advance notice or alternative arrangements, police began evicting hundreds of mainly Eritrean and Ethiopian refugees and asylum seekers from the building on August 19. An MSF staff member at the site told Human Rights Watch he had seen the injuries on a woman’s arm and torso caused by blows from a baton. The government should take up its responsibility to provide a real pathway for social integration.”The case is emblematic of the systemic problems with assistance to refugees and integration programs in Italy, Human Rights Watch said.

Source: Ethiopian News August 24, 2017 19:30 UTC