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Population census of Gypsies underway in Italy despite criticism

International agencies call the collecting of fingerprints “discriminatory” · The Italian government wants to count all inhabitants of the camps this fall · UN experts say Berlusconi's policy generates “hostility” against the Gypsy community

 

A general census of the Gypsy population living in camps around many Italian cities started this week in Rome. The Magliana Vecchia camp, on the outskirts of the capital, was the site where the Italian Red Cross workers began counting the people living in these camps in which, according to Italian media reports, the majority of children do not attend school and where the quality of life is miserable.

It is estimated that there are tens of thousands of Gypsies living in these camps in the major cities of Italy. Many, from countries such as Romania (the majority) or Bosnia, are without Italian residency papers. The Italian government argues that the aim of the census is to get a first hand account of the situation in the camps and to "protect" the children living in them. But the methodology of the census has come under criticism because the government led by Silvio Berlusconi has left open the possibility that they will take fingerprints of whomever they see fit, even children. The measure has come under withering criticism, both in Italy and abroad.

Measure is "discriminatory" on ethnic grounds

The European Roma Rights Center, for example, argues that the taking of fingerprints is a "discriminatory" act against this community and a violation of their rights. The group calls the Italian authorities' failure to prosecute those responsible for the violent attacks last May against the Gypsy camps a "disaster." European Forum For Roma and Travelers, for its part, has sent a letter to the heads of European governments stating that the taking of fingerprints on ethnic grounds is a violation of EU directives.

The plans of the Italian government have been criticized from higher levels. Three human rights experts from the United Nations have affirmed that the "proposal can be considered, unambiguously, as discriminatory" on ethnic lines. The United Nations trio added that the Italian government is "associating Gypsies with crime," which is generating a "climate of hostility, antagonism and stigmatization of the Gypsy community among the larger population."

Defense by Italian Interior Minister

The Italian government responded to the criticism by assuring that, in fact, the census of the camps' populations (which are expected to last into the fall) is aimed at "protecting" the children who live there and to give them an "identity." The Interior Minister announced that the government of Berlusconi will give Italian citizenship to Gypsy children born in Italian territory who have been abandoned by their parents, says the Corriere della Sera. The government also plans to include fingerprints on all Italian identification documents beginning in 2010, which, according to the government, shows that the taking of fingerprints from the Gypsies is in no way an act of racial discrimination, according to the Milanese newspaper.

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