Muslim Workers Threaten Strike After Venice Mayor Blocks Mosque

Muslim migrant workers in a town near Venice are threatening to go on strike after the city’s mayor blocked their plans to build a large mosque.

Bangladeshi migrants make up about a quarter of the employees at the Fincantieri shipyards, which are among the largest in Europe. Bars, cafés and restaurants often employ Bangladeshi immigrants, meaning a strike would also affect tourism, they say.

They want to construct the white-walled mosque on the site of an old sawmill in the nearby town of Mestre, which is located on the mainland.

The migrants say their 10,000-strong community deserves to have a spacious, elegantly built place of worship.

Prince Howlader, a representative of the Bangladeshi community, said: “Enough – we are tired of being given the runaround by the city council.

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But Simone Venturini, the newly elected centre-Right mayor of Venice, is opposed to the project.

He said not only was the planned mosque too big at 8,000 sq m, he also wanted to see progress on the integration of Bangladeshi migrants into Italian society.

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He also wants to see members of the Bangladeshi community make more effort to learn Italian and ensure that their children are sent to school.

Mr Venturini’s opposition to the mosque has also received the backing of Matteo Salvini, the leader of The League, one of three parties that make up the conservative coalition led by Giorgia Meloni.

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