Crossing Continents

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Crossing Continents: Saving Children from the Mafia

Saving Children from the Mafia

BBC Radio 4 - Crossing Continents, Saving Children from the Mafia

Why an Italian judge is taking kids away from Mafia families.

Why an Italian judge in Sicily is taking kids away from Mafia families.

Southern Italy is home to some of Europe's most powerful criminal organisations; the Sicilian Mafia, the Camorra in Naples and the Ndrangheta based in Calabria.  For many, crime is a family business. So a judge in Sicily has come up with a radical plan to prevent young people becoming the next generation of mobsters. He’s been taking children away from Mafia families. This controversial policy is now being considered by other countries around the world. Daniel Gordon travels to Sicily to meet those involved in the programme and find out whether it actually works. 

Photo: A 17 year-old girl, Letizia, supported by her uncle, addresses an anti-mafia meeting in the Sicilian town of Messina. Her mother is missing and is believed to have been killed by local gangsters. 
(Photo: Rocco Papandrea, Gazzetta de Sud.)

Reporter: Daniel Gordon
Producer: Alex Last
Series Editor: Penny Murphy
Sound engineer: Graham Puddifoot
Production coordinator: Iona Hammond

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