Category Archives: Italy

Roma Camps in Italy

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Roma Camps in Italy

For a long time, Italy parked Roma in segregated camps that were de-facto ghettoes. Now the trend reverses, and 50 camps have been closed in the last 10 years, with 63% fewer people living in slums.

“One Hundred Camps,” the annual report on the condition of Roma and Sinti in Italy, compiled by the Associazione 21 luglio, captures the collapse of an “architecture of discrimination” used for decades to manage migration flows fleeing the Balkan wars.

The Usual

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The Usual

The usual reporting about  Roma in Ialy. A police action arresting 8 people in Sarzana, next to la Spezia for burglaries and other offences.

Bad for all.

Who are Roma?

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Who are Roma?

An article lin the Italian press about Roma. Roma, a European people of Indian origin, have a vibrant and complex culture. Their historical mobility is not “innate” but arises from expulsions, conflicts, and marginalization. The term “Gypsy” carries stereotypes and stigma, obscuring their identity and history.

They highlight a book “The Roma Journeys” by Joakim Eskildsen.

Fenice, Venice

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Fenice, Venice

On Tuesday, April 7, 2026, at 10:30 a.m., Romani music will be presented in the Gran Teatro La Fenice in Venice, with a stunning concert in the Sale Apollinee. The event is held to mark International Roma and Sinti Day, celebrated on April 8, and the third Romani Culture Week (Romani Week).

The concert will feature Gennaro Spinelli, violin soloist, and Santino Spinelli, accordion soloist, who have performed on some of the world’s most important stages for years.

Razzia in Naples

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Razzia in Naples

A Roma camp in Naples was raided by Carabinieri. As usual, Roma are equated with “Nomads” and with crime, even though those camps are heavily regulated and often have police at the entrance …

Forgotten Genocide

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Forgotten Genocide

A forgotten genocide, a page of history that has remained on the margins of collective consciousness, resurfaces thanks to Pino Petruzzelli’s theater of civic conscience. At the Teatro Eleonora Duse in Genoa, from Thursday, March 26th to Sunday, March 29th, “Zingari: l’Olocasto dimenticata” (Gypsies: The Forgotten Holocaust), written, directed, and performed by Pino Petruzzelli, will be performed in a minimalist production that entrusts words with the task of restoring a voice to those who have never had one.

Pavia and Roma

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Pavia and Roma

The 21 Luglio Association has criticized the city’s plan to create a new residential area in Bivio Vela to house some Sinti families currently residing in the Piazza Europa shantytown, one of the city’s historic settlements. According to Carlo Stasolla, president of the association, creating housing spaces reserved for a single ethnic community is a resurgence of an outdated model. “Monoethnic settlements,” he states, “risk turning into new ghettos and do not foster real inclusion.”

Romani Language and Culture

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Romani Language and Culture

The second edition of the “Romani Language and Culture” course will begin on March 4th at Sapienza University of Rome. The course aims to offer a comprehensive overview of the language, traditions, and history of the Romani people, with a multidisciplinary approach that combines theory, practice, and critical reflection. Topics covered include Romani grammar, culture and traditions, the Samudaripen (the extermination of Roma and Sinti during Nazi-Fascism), the living conditions of Roma in Europe and Latin America, inclusion policies, the fight against discrimination and hate speech, the struggle for civil rights, and the promotion of a culture of respect and integration.

Pavia and Roma

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Pavia and Roma

The Sinti camp in Piazzale Europa on the banks of the Ticino River, in Pavia. The settlement has existed since 1984, and 265 people live there. It needs to be moved, the problem is that no one wants it …

Italy: Festival

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Italy: Festival

The eighth edition of the Roma and Sinti Culture Festival concluded Sunday, February 22, at the 10 Settembre 1943 Auditorium in Isenia. The event that combined fashion, music, and artistic competition in the spirit of inclusion and promoted by the Rom In Progress Association with the patronage of the municipal and provincial governments.

Italy: Integration

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Italy: Integration

The first co-planning session for regional interventions to improve the integration of Roma, Sinti, and Caminanti (RSC) communities in Puglia was held at the Puglia Regional President’s Office. The objective is to gain a deeper understanding of the nomadic and sedentary presence of RSC communities in Puglia, thus avoiding the risk of marginalization through measures that strengthen social integration policies. The meeting was attended by the regional councilor for Culture and Knowledge, Silvia Miglietta, and the Social Territorial Areas that responded to the expression of interest, which closed on February 13th. “This meeting,” the councilor said, “will be followed by others.

A Book on Genocide

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A Book on Genocide

Denied Memories. Roma and Sinti during the Second World War is the title of the meeting promoted by the Lav Romanò association, scheduled for Wednesday, February 11th at 6:00 PM at the Ubik bookshop in Cosenza.

A commemorative event dedicated to a chapter of history that has long remained marginalized in official history. The Nazi genocide of Roma and Sinti, deported to extermination camps, and the internment they suffered in Italy at the hands of the fascist state, remain rarely reported events.

Italy and Crime

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Italy and Crime

Articles on Roma criminality are a staple of the Italian press. Here a gang of Sinti who robbed appartment were unmasked and arrested by the police. In fact, there are more articles about Roma and migrants criminality than about the mafia …

One wonders.

Fascists and Nazis

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Fascists and Nazis

Twenty-four hours before the Holocaust Remembrance Day celebrations on January 27, 2026, dedicated to the memory of the victims of the Holocaust and all those persecuted and deported by the Nazi and Fascist regimes, Mayor Roberto Gualtieri lashed out: “I read, and I hope it’s not true, that there’s a fiction that’s supposed to air tomorrow about the roundup of the Jews of Rome, where the fascists aren’t even seen. They’re not there; only the Nazis are.” And then he added: “But as witnesses know, the fascists actively collaborated in Hitler’s criminal decision to completely exterminate all Jews.”

Santo Spinelli in NYC

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Santo Spinelli in NYC

On the occasion of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the Concert for the Day of Remembrance / Samudaripen, promoted and organized by the Union of Romani Communities in Italy (UCRI), will be held on February 2 at 8:00 p.m. at Carnegie Hall in New York. The event, organized with the patronage and support of the Italian Cultural Institute in New York, UNAR at Palazzo Chigi, and the major European Roma and Sinti organizations—ERGO Network, ERIAC, and IRU—is intended to contribute to the recognition of Samudaripen, the genocide of the Roma people during World War II, alongside the Holocaust, through the universal language of music. The concert features two internationally renowned artists, Gennaro Spinelli, violin soloist, and Santino Spinelli, accordion soloist, accompanied by members of the European Peace Orchestra. This ethno-symphonic project combines revisited classical repertoire and traditional Romani music, along with several original compositions, offering a musical journey of strong symbolic and cultural value.

Roma Resistance

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Roma Resistance

The Historical Institute of the Resistance and the Contemporary Age of Forlì-Cesena, in collaboration with the Municipality of Forlì, is organizing the presentation of the book “Vittoriosi al fin liberi siam. Roma e Sinti nella Resistenza italiana” by Chiara Nencioni, on Tuesday, January 13, in the Sala Randi, Forlì Municipality. Ines Briganti will be present at the event, alongside the author.

Burial

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Burial

More than two hundred members of the Padua Sinti community gathered on Saturday, January 10, in the center of Noventa Padovana to participate in the burial ceremony of one of their relatives. Giamaica Rajar, a 53-year-old woman from the Via Serenissima community, passed away on January 8. The ceremony had a particularly folkloric character: from the pink coffin, to the lighting of smoke bombs, to the presence of a large crucifix made entirely of balloons. A well-attended ceremony, which drew numerous community members and onlookers to the streets of the town.

Rome, Roma, and Threats

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Rome, Roma, and Threats

Last October, two villas illegally built by a family involved in various criminal activities were destroyed in Via Arzachena, in the Rocca Cencia area of greater Rome.

Now, Rome’s mayor, Roberto Gualtieri is being threatened on social media: A young man in a black overall holding a submachine gun: “This is for you, Mayor, and for your family. Just as you’ve already destroyed our house, I’ll destroy yours; time will tell. The State doesn’t scare me.”

The threats on social media against Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri, along with the Facebook post since deleted, were made by Silvio Hilicic, nicknamed “Silvio Silvietto,” a member of the Komarov-Hilicic family.

The Italian press qualifies them as Sinti, which seems dubious.

Roma Jubilee in Rome

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Roma Jubilee in Rome

Many articles about the Jubilee of Sinti, Roma, and Travellers in Rome.

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