Plague in Italy

Arsonists are now to be punished more severely

A firefighter during firefighting work in Sicily

(Bild: AFP)

Italy's government now wants to step up the hunt for arsonists. Hundreds of fires are said to have been set in the past few days. Economic interests could be behind this, according to reports.

The civil defense spoke of a "business with fire." In southern Italy, arsonists are forcing the state to reforest in order to obtain work. Unemployed people from the region are used for the forestry work. In many areas of southern Italy, unemployment is over 20 percent and one in two young people have no job.

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Fotos

Fires set with explosive devices
Overall, most fires in Italy are said to be set for speculative reasons. "The arsonists are real assassins. They use explosives to set fires," said firefighters who are on permanent duty in Sicily. Until now, setting fires in forests has been punishable by up to ten years in prison. According to the government in Rome, the penalty is now to be increased.

Here you can see a video from the Italian fire department on Tuesday about the fires.

Threats against arson
A plan by the right-wing governing party Lega envisages the increased use of drones to locate and identify arsonists. Severe punishment is to be meted out in particular to those who seek economic gain from the crime. Only five percent of fires in summer are set out of a desire to destroy.

"The damage caused by fires cannot be quantified. It takes 15 years for forests destroyed by flames to grow again," said representatives of the Coldiretti agricultural association. There are 25,000 different species of flowers in the Mediterranean forests that are endangered. The consequences for the animals are catastrophic.