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Viewing cable 08ROME865, ITALY BEGINS CENSUS OF ROMA CAMPS

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
08ROME865 2008-07-10 16:02 2011-06-27 11:00 CONFIDENTIAL//NOFORN Embassy Rome
VZCZCXRO3912
OO RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHMRE RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHRO #0865/01 1921602
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 101602Z JUL 08
FM AMEMBASSY ROME
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0581
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNOSC/ORG FOR SECURITY CO OP IN EUR PRIORITY
RUEHROV/AMEMBASSY VATICAN PRIORITY 0794
RUEHMIL/AMCONSUL MILAN PRIORITY 9457
RUEHFL/AMCONSUL FLORENCE PRIORITY 3112
RUEHNP/AMCONSUL NAPLES PRIORITY 3259
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ROME 000865 
 
NOFORN 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/10/2018 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM IT

SUBJECT: ITALY BEGINS CENSUS OF ROMA CAMPS 
 


REF: A. ROME 681 
     B. 05/23/08 EMBASSY ROME DAILY REPORT 
     C. 11/02/07 EMBASSY ROME DAILY REPORT 
 
ROME 00000865  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
Classified By: A/Pol M/C Gabriel Escobar, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 


------- 
Summary 
------- 
 


1. (C) With a large majority in both houses of parliament and 
a public united in feelings of insecurity in large cities, PM 
Berlusconi's government has begun to crack down on illegal 
immigration and crime.  A plan to conduct a census of 
residents of encampments, aimed at Italy's Roma population, 
responds to widespread public sentiments that lawlessness and 
crime in the camps has gone unchecked.  Police have begun to 
conduct surveys of camps in Naples and Milan, and will start 
soon in Rome.  Initial plans to fingerprint all residents 
have been scaled back, and implementation has been uneven and 
disorganized.  Some Italian NGOs and EU bodies have voiced 
concern over what they consider ethnic discrimination. 
 



---------------------------------- 
Security: A Winning Campaign Issue 
---------------------------------- 
 

2. (C/NF) PM Berlusconi's government has made fighting the 
perception of insecurity a priority in its first months in 
office (ref A).  The center-right majority considers security 
a bread-and-butter issue to which its base responds. 
Security issues were a deciding factor in last April's 
elections, which saw the ascendancy of the Northern League, 
Berlusconi's populist and sometimes anti-immigrant partner in 
government.  Italians from across the political spectrum have 
voiced support for the government's recent initiatives on 
security issues and illegal immigration by wide margins, from 
increasing penalties for drunk drivers to faster expulsions 
of foreigners convicted of crimes (ref B). 
 



3. (C/NF) Italy's relatively small Roma population (estimated 
at 150,000) is made up of roughly three segments: Roma with 
long-rooted historical ties to Italy, most of whom are 
Italian citizens; Roma who have arrived in the last 40 years, 
mainly from the former Yugoslavia; and Romanian Roma who have 
immigrated relatively recently, and in significant numbers 
since Romania's accession to the EU on January 1, 2007.  The 
recent influx of Romanians, and particularly Roma from 
Romania, has fueled feelings by many Italians that the state 
lacks control of its borders and tolerates illegality.  The 
brutal murder late last year of an Italian woman by a Roma 
man of Romanian origin sparked national outrage and marked 
the beginning of more intense scrutiny of this group (ref C). 
 


--------------------------------------- 
Government Issues Orders on Encampments 
--------------------------------------- 
 


4. (C/NF) As a response to the perceptions of illegality 
emanating from Roma encampments, the government issued three 
orders May 30 that declared a state of emergency to deal with 
what the press has called Italy's ""nomad crisis.""  The orders 
delegate special powers to the prefects of Milan, Rome and 
Naples and authorize them to conduct a census of both 
authorized and illegal encampments.  While the orders speak 
only of ""encampments"" in a general sense, the measure is 
aimed at Italy's Roma population.  Poloff spoke with MoI 
Diplomatic Adviser Marco Villani, who said a census of 
residents of encampments will allow the government to 
reestablish legality and protections for residents living on 
the margins of society, and will permit the state to ensure 
that living conditions meet minimum standards.  The orders 
authorize the collection of biometric data as part of the 
census, and also call for the Italian Red Cross to accompany 
the National Police during visits to camps.  The orders 
ultimately foresee the expulsion of individuals identified in 
the census who lack the legal right to reside in Italy. 
 


5. (U) In testimony before the Constitutional Affairs 
Committee of the Chamber of Deputies on June 25, Interior 
Minister Robert Maroni (Northern League) elaborated on the 
census plan, and explained that police would collect 
fingerprints of all camp residents, including children, to 
satisfy the requirement for biometric data.  The news that 
Roma children would be fingerprinted generated considerable 
criticism, particularly from the center left and the Catholic 
Church, which continues to exercise significant influence on 
political debate in Italy.  Famiglia Cristiana, Italy's 
largest circulation weekly, denounced the plan as ""a 
violation of human dignity,"" and questioned why the 
government did not devote its energy to fighting ""true 
criminality in vast areas of the country."" 
 
------------------------------------ 
Prefects Begin Census Implementation 
------------------------------------ 


6. (C) Implementation of the census plan has varied, as each 
prefect retains substantial discretion about how to proceed. 
Census data collection began in Naples on July 4, where four 
camps of largely Serb-national Roma are located.  According 
to the Community of Sant'Egidio, a lay Catholic NGO, the 
initial forms used to collect personal data included fields 
for religion and ethnicity, which is prohibited under Italian 
and EU law.  The MoI says it has revised the data collection 
sheets to remove the inadmissible fields.  Naples police have 
opted not to fingerprint children under age 14. 
 

7. (U) In Rome, census data collection has not yet begun, and 
will commence on July 15 at the earliest.  Rome prefect Carlo 
Mosca has said police will ask camp residents for 
identification documents, and that the law already authorizes 
identification of undocumented individuals by other means, 
including through fingerprinting.  Rome Mayor Gianni Alemanno 
announced July 8 that no children would be fingerprinted.  In 
Rome, the census data will be used to provide camp residents 
with an ID card that can be used to obtain health care and 
access to schools. 
 

8. (C) Initial surveys conducted in Milan, according to 
Sant'Egidio, were of camps inhabited by Italian citizen Roma, 
whose identification documents were photographed.  No 
fingerprints were collected in these camps. 
 
---------------------------------- 
MoI Says Census is Only First Step 
---------------------------------- 


9. (C/NF) Villani has said the census is the first step of a 
larger plan that includes rehabilitating authorized camps and 
moving residents of illegal encampments to authorized 
locations; promoting education for children living in camps, 
only 40% of whom currently attend school; ensuring adequate 
access to health care; and enhancing security both for camp 
residents and those in the surrounding areas.  The MoI has 
not announced details of any of these plans; Villani said a 
census of residents was the necessary first step before other 
plans could be worked out. 
 
------------------------ 
NGOs, EU Express Concern 
------------------------ 


10. (C) Human rights NGOs, including Sant'Egidio and Opera 
Nomadi, the largest Italian NGO focused exclusively on Roma 
and Sinti, expressed mixed opinions to us about the plan and 
its implementation.  They expressed general concerns about 
the discriminatory nature of the census, and said that 
despite referring only in vague terms to ""encampments,"" the 
only targets of this survey, and in fact the only residents 
of such camps, are Roma.  Sant'Egidio said that lack of 
forethought by the Interior Minister led to worrisome 
situations such as the data forms used briefly in Naples. 
However, they suggested that public and official reaction in 
Italy and from Brussels succeeded in limiting the scope of 
the census, and in particular the collection of fingerprints. 
 Opera Nomadi Director Massimo Converso suggested to poloff 
that Roma in Italy face many significant challenges, 
including societal discrimination in housing, employment and 
education, and that the census was decidedly not at the top 
of that list. 


11. (U) EU Justice Commissioner Jacques Barrot has questioned 
whether the collection of fingerprints and other census data 
constitutes discrimination under EU law, and said Italy's 
focus should be on ""providing assistance to Roma, not 
stigmatizing them.""  The European Parliament passed a 
resolution July 10 denouncing the census as an act of 
discrimination on the basis of race and ethnic origin. 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
12. (C/NF) Thus far, the government has only begun collecting 
information about camp inhabitants, which the MoI says will 
be used to begin programs to promote integration, education, 
health and employment.  Critics, including domestic NGOs, 
opposition parties and EU institutions, however, have raised 
concerns that this may be the opening salvo in a campaign 
intended to tighten the screws on Roma in Italy.  Domestic 
and EU pressure has already altered the program, and these 
groups have given notice that they will continue to oppose 
other aspects of the initiative.  We will be carefully 
watching the government's next steps to see in which 
direction this effort is headed. 
SPOGLI