All the while the “year of mercy” is being prepared in Rome, Rroma are being evicted and shipped out at an alarming rate by the authorities.
Mercy?
The burial of a Mafia boss in Rome did make it to the press. It was outlandish, and according to the reports, this was a Sinti syndicate… Far from sure, which is why we never published anything on this at all. This article summarises the entire story and asks the right questions. This is scary!
A background article in German on the fact that refugees and migrants are being used by rightists mayors such as in Padova for populist purposes. Their vocabulary is really dangerous.
This has to stop!
Chilling report on Italy and on some of the proposed measures of mayors to prevent refugees, and of course Rroma, from settling in their towns. Bulldozing camps, burning down empty houses, or even building a wall around the town.
Back to the middle ages!
Massimo Bitonci, the mayor of Padova, is literally fuming against refugees and tries by all means to get rid of them. He has also little good to say to Roma in general. This is DANGEROUS.
At long last, the Rroma camps – veritable ghettos that surround the Italian capital will be dismantled. Italian court have found the Rome municipality to be guilty of racial discrimination in the setup of these camps, camps that were established by the municipality, with the police and NGOs.
A new book about the Bulgarian Rroma migration to Italy called “the Silent Migration” was recently published in Italy. The article and book reviews the situation of these migrants in various parts of Italy.
A worthy read!
According to the Council of Europe, and this in spite of what populist politicians claim, there has been no “invasion” of Rroma from Bulgaria and Romania since citizen from these countries have been granted free circulation within the EU. The Council of Europe criticises the “unfounded” numbers cited by the press in the migration debate in several European countries, such as the UK, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy.
We wholeheartedly agree!
Following requests for some camps for travellers in the region of Biel/Bienne in Switzerland, the unfortunately usual discussion about who is what started anew in the press. Who are Jenische (Swiss travellers, also present in France, Germany, Austria); Sinti, who in Switzerland are often intermarried with Jenische but otherwise come from France, Germany and Italy; Rroma, whom the Swiss understand as “Foreign Travellers”, who are mostly French and German Rroma etc…
The camps and barracks in which many Rroma live in Italy will be closed if the current initiative from the government takes hold. Rroma will be re-lodged in social apartments but will have to sign a covenant legalising their situation in Italy.
This is quite a surprising initiative, as those camps are run by the state together with NGOs and are watched over by the police which checks who comes in and out. Let’s see how this is going to be implemented.
According to a new survey, 9 out of 10 Italians have a negative view on Rroma. This is motly due to the negative image of the Rroma camps, camps, one should note, that are organised by the Italian state with the help of NGO and under police surveillance.
A shame.
Rroma are petitioning the Pope to prevent evictions from their camps due to the so-called “Year of Mercy” Jubilee in Rome. Authorities in Italy tend to “park” Rroma in makeshift camps that are under NGO and police surveillance. These camps are still provisional, although many of them exist since decades.
An article in Daily Sabah, a Turkish based paper, sharply criticised the handling of Rroma in Italy, France, and in Serbia. Especially on the Italian side, their critique is to the point and seldom mentioned in the Press in Europe: Namely that in many cases in that country, Rroma are artificially segregated into camps and prevented from integrating. Police and NGO are working hand in hands on this. And these Rroma in camps are only a minority … Like iN France.
The European Roma Right Centre criticised several European countries on their handling of Rroma in general and on very particular cases too, such as in the case of France.
France, Macedonia, Italy, Czech Republic, and Bulgaria were cited.
A court in Rome has found a publishing house that published a text book suggesting that „Gypsies“ were criminals, has been condemned for discrimination. This is a landmark case in Italy where these statements are all too often tolerated if not encouraged.
An Italian social Policy councillor Francesca Danese, has suggested that Rroma in Italy should be hired to sort garbage, adding that they have the “skills to rummage through waste”. We are not sure on which facts she bases her statement but are positive that it shows a total misunderstanding of the minority, and constitutes a racist act. This is not acceptable from a government official.
Sigona (2014) reports on increasing xenophobia and Rroma-hostility in Italy. The author is concerned about how Rroma have frequently become the target of xenophobic attacks in the last few months and years. To counteract this increasingly xenophobic climate, the president of the Tuscany region, Enrico Rossi, set an example with a photo – showing him together with a group of Rroma: “In the photo, Rossi stands flanked by a family of men, women and children. It’s a Sunday afternoon in Florence. “Let me introduce my neighbours” reads the description posted on Facebook. His neighbours are Romanian Roma. […] The picture was taken just a few weeks after Matteo Salvini, the new leader of the anti-immigration, anti-EU Northern League, paid a controversial visit to a Roma camp in Bologna to see how “tax money was spent”. Salvini has made regular verbal attacks on Roma and migrants, a core part of his party’s attempt to rebrand itself as Italy’s answer to the French Front National. The steady rise in his approval rating would suggest that it’s working.” As in France is, the public focus in Italy lies on a marginalised minority of Rroma, who live in informal settlements and are presented in a most biased way. Right-wing nationalist parties present the minority as scapegoats for problems that have their origin in society as a whole. The majority of the estimated 90,000 to 110,000 Rroma that have been living integrated in Italy since generations are largely hidden.
Kerner (2014) reports on growing social tensions in Tor Sapienza, an agglomeration of Rome. In the suburbs, foreigners, religious and ethnic minorities like Rroma are increasingly reviled as scapegoats for social ills. Right-wing extremists but also right-wing nationalist politicians agitate against the minorities: “Until now, most suburbs were godforsaken places. This has changed since residents of Tor Sapienza demonstrated for one week in front of a shelter for minor refugees and asylum seekers, with the support of right-wing extremists. They threw stones and firecrackers, put dumpsters on fire and shouted “the Blacks have to go.” Now, they are in the focus of media attention. In Italy, one debates about the war of the poor against the poor, caused by decades of political neglect and the economic crisis. […] A member of parliament of the protest movement Five Stars, including an entourage and several camera crews, have gathered this evening in the courtyard. […] But the people who take their dogs for a walk at this time, either avoid her or get angry. […] “Here, with us, one just dumps everything – Blacks, Roma, criminals.” […] Another woman laments: “Just a few hundred meters away, the Gypsies burn cable, refrigerators, and waste. The smoke goes right into our homes.”” The scapegoat policy of the right-wing nationalists and their sympathisers ignores the real reasons for the growing social misery in the suburbs of Rome: A failed economic and social policy that did not succeed in including an increasingly impoverished underclass into the economy: “It is a mix of poverty, anger and xenophobia, which ignites more frequently, not only in Rome. But it is not directed against those who bear the blame for the decline of the periphery, but against those even weaker.” The affected minorities are increasingly dominated by fear. They do not dare to go onto the street by themselves. – Rroma belong to all social strata and professional groups, also in Italy. They are not a homogeneous mass, as repeatedly claimed by various sides.
As in the beginning of November, the Local (2014) reported about the discrimination against Rroma in Italy. Subject of contention are the numerous camps in which the Italian authorities deliberately hold the minority at the margins of society. The conditions in these state camps are heavily criticised: the air is insufficient to breath, an inmate says, as well as the hygiene: tuberculosis, scabies and lice are much more frequently than usual. The permanent monitoring in the camps, which is part of the facilities, leads particularly among children to anxiety and sleep disorders as well as phobias, the Rroma Rights Centre criticises in a report: “It [the Rroma Rights Centre] also warned of daily discrimination and violence against Roma in “an ever-growing climate of racism”, including repeated cases of local residents attacking camps with Molotov cocktails while police turn a blind eye. Although over half the 170,000 or so Roma and Sinti people in Italy are Italian citizens with regular jobs and houses, hate crimes against the poorest strata are rife, fuelled by inflammatory comments by politicians on both the left and right quick to paint Roma as crooks. […] Camp dwellers are prevented by council regulations from applying for public housing even if they were born in Italy, trapping them permanently in fenced-off centres far from schools, shops, health care centres or workplaces.” Because of this strong discrimination against Rroma, the European Commission has threatened legal actions against the Italian government for violation of the anti-discrimination legislation. Rroma belong to all social strata, but are indeed particularly affected by poverty and discrimination. Since the euro and economic crisis, various parties especially instrumentalise them as scapegoats for social ills. As in France, the public image of the minority is marked by extreme prejudice and misinformation: in the minds of many Italians, Rroma are synonymous with the residents of camps in the suburbs. The aspect of social exclusion is largely ignored.
The Local (2014) reports on an admonition of the European Commission to the Italian government. The commission threatens judicial proceedings for the infringement of the anti-discrimination law, because Rroma in Italy are still strongly disadvantaged: in Italy, special, supervised camps for Rroma were built that allow their precise control: “The EU’s executive arm has reportedly requested information on Roma accommodation in Italy, the only country in Europe to build camps specifically for the Roma community. Drawing on La Barbuta camp in Rome, the Commission said it was concerned about Italy housing people “on a very remote and inaccessible site, fenced in with a surveillance system”. Such a scheme “seriously limits fundamental rights of those concerned, completely isolating them from the surrounding world and depriving them of the possibility of adequate work or education,” the Commission letter said, according to 21 luglio [a Rroma rights organization].” In Italy, according to assessments of the Rroma Foundation, there are an estimated 90,000 to 110,000 Rroma. Many of them have good educations, go to work and have their own homes. Rroma belong to all social classes, but are indeed particularly affected by poverty and discrimination. Since the euro and economic crisis, various parties exploit them as scapegoats for social ills. As in France, the public image of the minority is characterised by extreme prejudices and misinformation: in the minds of many Italians, Rroma are synonymous with the residents of camps in the suburbs. The aspect of social exclusion is largely hidden.
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