Cecile Kyenge

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Cecile Kyenge

Kashetu "Cécile" Kyenge (born August 28, 1964 in Kambove , Katanga Province , Democratic Republic of the Congo ) is an Italian politician of the Partito Democratico and an ophthalmologist. She held the position of Minister for Integration in the Letta Cabinet from April 28, 2013 to February 22, 2014.

Life

Kyenge was born to a wealthy family. Her father was a civil servant and head of the village; lives polygamous and has four wives and 39 children.

After graduating from high school, she decided to study medicine, but due to a political order she was denied this course and she enrolled in pharmacy at the University of Kinshasa . Nevertheless, she regularly attended lectures in medicine and received one of three grants for Congolese students to study medicine at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Rome. Kyenge arrived in Italy in 1983, but due to unfortunate circumstances, she was not able to enroll at university until a year later. Since she did not receive any scholarship money at the time, she was staying illegally in Italy and only got legal residence status with the help of a Catholic association. She lived temporarily in a dormitory run by the lay missionaries in Modena , where she learned the Italian language and prepared for the university entrance exam. In order to make a living, she was working as a private geriatric nurse at the time.

She completed her studies in medicine and surgery at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Rome with a thesis in pediatrics . She then trained as a specialist in ophthalmology at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia in Modena. In 2002 she founded the intercultural association SAWA (Swahili for Magic , Medicine , Wellbeing ) with the aim of intercultural exchange and sensitization, integration and cooperation between Italy and Africa, especially the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Since September 2010 she has been the national representative of the Primo Marzo network , which works to promote the rights of migrants. Above all, Kyenge advocates civil rights . She coordinated and supported the AIFA project for the training of medical specialists in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in cooperation with the University of Lubumbashi . As part of the Diaspora Africana project , she campaigns for the right to naturalization for immigrants.

Kyenge married an Italian engineer from Calabria in 1994 and thereby acquired Italian citizenship . They have two daughters together and live in Castelfranco Emilia in the province of Modena.

Political career

In 2004 she was elected to the council of a city district for the left- wing democrats in Modena and subsequently became head of the forum for international cooperation and immigration at the provincial level.

On June 7th, 2009 she was elected in Modena as a member of the Provincial Council for the Democratic Party (PD) and part of the “Commission on the Welfare State and Social Policy”. She is also the regional director of Emilia-Romagna for the PD's migration policy.

On February 25, 2013 she was elected member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies for the PD in Emilia-Romagna. Immediately after her election, she and other signatories ( Pier Luigi Bersani , Khalid Chaouki and Roberto Speranza) put forward a bill providing for the granting of Italian citizenship to children born in Italy to foreign parents, based on the ius soli .

On April 28, 2013, she was appointed Minister for Integration, making her the first black minister in Italy. She consciously chooses the adjective "black" and not colored.

When the government changed to the Renzi cabinet in February 2014, however, she was no longer nominated as minister. Instead, she was in the European elections in May 2014. in the constituency Italy Northeast to the European Parliament voted.

Responses to their appointment

Her appointment was criticized by some members of the right-wing populist Lega Nord party because of her political views on immigration policy. Open, racist statements about their Congolese origin came mainly from members of the Lega Nord, e. B. by Erminio Boso and Mario Borghezio . In this context, Boso publicly declared that he was a racist, and Borghezio used genetics to explain his negative stance towards the minister, after which he had to resign his mandate in the European Parliament in May 2013 and in June 2013 by his group in the European Parliament, Europa der Freedom and democracy, was excluded.

Racist attacks against Kyenge

At regular intervals Kyenge is verbally attacked by Italian citizens, but also by politicians, after crimes have been committed by foreigners, especially non-EU citizens. The Internet called for the murder of Kyenge.

After a Ghanaian citizen killed a person with a pickaxe and seriously injured four people on the street in Milan in May 2013, Member of the European Parliament, Matteo Salvini , told Lega Nord that Kyenge's permissive policies incited foreigners to crime. Party comrades of Kyenge and Nichi Vendola , president of the Apulia region and member of the Sinistra Ecologia e Libertà, defended the minister. Vendola underlined the minister's difficult position by saying that Kyenge was the target for insults for three reasons: "Because she is a woman, black and a minister."

After an African allegedly tried to rape a woman in June 2013, the local politician Dolores Valandro of the Lega Nord from Padua wrote on her Facebook page: `` Nobody can be found to rap her, so that she can see how the victims of this terrible crime are feeling ? Valandro was immediately expelled from the party by the Lega Nord. Kyenge's reaction: I am not responding to this violent language as it offends everyone. I do not adopt such a language because it calls on all citizens to violence. Everyone and not just the minister is offended by this. In the past few years I have always campaigned for nonviolence through language.

On July 14, 2013, Senate Vice President Roberto Calderoli compared Kyenge to an orangutan . Despite calls for resignation, this racist attack had no consequences for Calderoli. Since then, racist attacks against the minister have been the order of the day. For example, on July 26, 2013, at a party event in Cervia, bananas were thrown towards Kyenges and placed on their chair on the podium.

Web links

Commons : Cécile Kyenge  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Constanze Reuscher: If I were afraid, everyone should be afraid . Online on Die Welt from June 21, 2013.
  2. ↑ a b Stefania Ragusa: La dottoressa congolese . Italian. Online at Corriere Immigrazione from April 28, 2013
  3. ^ Il ministro per l'integrazione Cécile Kyenge . Italian. Video. Rai 3 news from May 5, 2013. Online on youtube.com.
  4. ↑ Website of the DAWA association
  5. ^ Personal homepage of Cécile Kyenge ( Memento of April 8, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  6. ↑ Paul Kreiner: Cecile Kyenge: "Italy is not a racist country" . The Tagesspiegel from May 10, 2013. Online at tagesspiegel.de.
  7. ^ Website of the Province of Modena
  8. ↑ Marcella Heine: Integration Minister with strong nerves . Blog Out of Concern for Italy from May 5, 2013. Online at aussorgeumitalien.de.
  9. ^ Chi è Cécile Kyenge, Ministro dell'Integrazione . Italian. Regional news on TG3 / Rai 3 from April 27, 2013. Online at tg3.rai.it.
  10. ↑ a b Julius Müller-Meiningen: glimmer of hope in Italy . In: Frankfurter Rundschau from April 30, 2013. Online at fr-online.de.
  11. ↑ Cécile Kashetu Kyenge ai giornalisti: Sono nera, non di colore, e ne vado fiera . Italian. L'Huffington Post, May 3, 2013. Online at huffingtonpost.it.
  12. ^ A b Michael Braun: Racist agitation in Italy . TAZ from June 20, 2013. Online at taz.de.
  13. ↑ Europee: Kyenge (Pd), rappresentero 'l'Italia con passione e orgoglio. La Repubblica , May 26, 2014, accessed May 28, 2014 .
  14. ↑ Bersani: "Freschezza e solidità" La Lega contro la Kyenge . Italian. La Repubblica of April 27, 2013. Online at repubblica.it
  15. ↑ Lega contro Kyenge, opposizione total; great gli italiani . Italian. La Repubblica of April 27, 2013. Online at repubblica.it.
  16. ↑ a b Mario Borghezio (Lega Nord) and La Zanzara: "Kyenge? Con le sue idee ci vuole imporre tradizioni tribali" . Italian. La Zanzara Radio 24 of April 30, 2013. Online at radio24.ilsole24ore.com.
  17. ↑ Lega, Boso: “Sono razzista, Cecile Kyenge deve tornare in Congo” ( Memento from July 12, 2013 in the Internet Archive ). Italian. Il Fatto Quotidiano dated May 3, 2013. Online on tv.ilfattoquotidiano.it.
  18. ↑ Parlamento europeo, Borghezio espulso ufficialmente da Efd . Italian. Il Fatto Quotidian of June 3, 2013. Online at ilfattoquotidiano.it.
  19. ^ Nina Damsch: Threats of murder and violence against Italy's first black minister. “Kill them!” Rages the mob on the Internet. Focus Online, June 28, 2013, accessed September 30, 2013 .
  20. ^ A b Salvini attacca Kyenge, è polemica . Italian. La Stampa from May 11, 2013. Online at lastampa.it.
  21. ↑ Leghista su Fb: "Nessuno stupra la Kyenge?". Il ministro: "Chiunque deve sentirsi offeso" . Italian. La Repubblica of June 13, 2013. Online at repubblica.it.
  22. ↑ Italy: Prime Minister Letta damn racist attack on minister. Spiegel Online , July 23, 2013, accessed July 27, 2013 .
  23. ^ Rosario Di Raimondo: Cervia, lancio di banane contro Kyenge. La Repubblica, July 27, 2013, accessed July 27, 2013 .
personal data
SURNAME Kyenge, Cecile
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kyenge, Kashetu
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian politicians, MEPs and ophthalmologist
DATE OF BIRTH August 28, 1964
PLACE OF BIRTH Kambove , Democratic Republic of the Congo