Anti-Roma violence in Italy
In May, several Roma settlements near Naples were attacked and set on fire by residents from neighbouring communities following reports of a Roma teenager allegedly having attempted to kidnap a child. Hundreds of Roma are reported to have fled their settlements for fear of further attacks or have been relocated by the authorities for security reasons. Immigrants from Romania, in particular those of Roma origin, are widely blamed by politicians and in the media for an increase in crime in Italy.
Various political institutions and European NGOs are seriously concerned by the political and media discourse used in Italy to build a “Roma emergency” and over the violent attacks on informal Roma settlements in Italy. They refer to such statements as from Italian Interior Minister Mr. Roberto Maroni, openly inciting its population to racially motivated violence and stating that “all Roma camps will have to be dismantled, and the inhabitants will be either expelled or incarcerated”. The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) called on the Italian authorities to ensure the protection of the Roma population and urged politicians and the media to refrain from anti-Roma rhetoric. “We are troubled by the recent incidents of violence against Roma in Italy,” said Ambassador Christian Strohal, the ODIHR’s Director. According to the European Network Against Racism (ENAR) it seems also that the Italian government is about to adopt a new security decree to control or expel immigrants, especially the Roma.
