Italy: Moroccan migrant helps police, but is still served with repatriation notice

Rome: The Italian press was recently full of the story of Zakaria Nagda, a Moroccan citizen who was found in Italy without a residence permit. Despite the fact that he helped police catch a thief, he was nevertheless served with a repatriation notice

Zakaria Nagda is a Moroccan citizen. He had been living in Italy for eight months without a residency permit. Nagda arrived in Italy after crossing Spain and then France and coming over the border at the coastal town of Ventimiglia.

On arrival in Italy, Nagda didn’t register his presence or try to obtain residency but immediately looked for work. When he saw someone stealing, he could have looked the other way and minded his own business, but due to his civic sense, the 29-year-old migrant paid a high price.

After coming into contact with the police while helping them, he ended up being identified as being in Italy without the correct papers and was served with an expulsion notice, signed by the police headquarters in the north-western city of Turin.

On May 7, Nagda didn’t think twice before he told police about a burglary and helped identify the thief to them. The incident took place at about 3am, as Nagda was working a probationary job, setting up display trays at the Piazza dellaVittoria market in the Madonna di Campagna neighborhood.

Just a few meters away, Nagda noticed that a theif had broken the glass window of a supermarket. The perpetrator was also a migrant. When police arrived on the scene, they initially thought Nagda was responsible.

The 29 year old however, not only said he had nothing to do with it, he did more: he identified the real thief for the police. “He is hiding there, under that car,” he said.

The Police were able to apprehend the man and retrieve the stolen merchandise.

‘I just want to work and have my wife come here, help me’

It is not known if at that moment they thanked Nagda. But, just a few hours later, they returned looking for him.

The supermarket cameras had filmed two persons: the thief and the 29 year-old while he was setting up the display trays.

An Italian colleague confirmed that Nagda was working, but the police agents asked to check his documents and this is how it emerged that Nagda did not in fact have the correct papers to be living and working in Italy.

At that point, Italian police took Nagda to the migration office at the police headquarters in Turin, where they issued him with an expulsion decree. He was asked to leave Italy within seven days.

Without a regular work contract, he cannot request a residency permit. “The law is clear”, said a spokesperson for the police headquarters. But, Nagda, who has been staying with a friend has not given up. “I made a nice gesture, I did not think I would be punished and sent away,” he says. “I don’t want to leave Italy and Turin, I just want to work and have my wife come here, she is still in Morocco. Help me,” is his appeal.