Italy: Euro MPs to visit Gypsy camps in Rome
Brussels, 4 Sept. (AKI) - A delegation of MPs from the European Parliament are planning to visit several Gypsy camps in the Italian capital, Rome, later this month.
Belgian MP Gerard Deprez told Adnkronos International (AKI) he will lead the group of seven European members of Parliament who will visit Rome from 18-20 September.
The fact-finding mission is taking place as the Italian government is carrying out a controversial census of Roma Gypsy camps in major cities, which includes fingerprinting.
Deprez said "practical difficulties" had forced the European Parliament delegation to scale back its visit, which was originally due to include Gypsy camps in the southern city of Naples and the northern industrial capital, Milan.
The visit is taking place in consultation with Italy's Interior Minister, Roberto Maroni, and will include meetings with members of the Italian government, Rome's Mayor, Gianni Alemanno, and the government's top public order representative, the Prefect of Rome, Carlo Mosca.
Italy's conservative government said on Thursday that it had been "fully vindicated" after the European Commission said the fingerprinting of Roma Gypsies in Italian camps did not amount to ethnic discrimination and was in line with EU law.
European Justice Commissioner Jacques Barrot's spokesman Michele Cercone said earlier on Thursday the Italian census did not seek ''data based on ethnic origin or religion."
The Italian government's fingerprinting of Gypsies has the sole aim of ''identifying persons who cannot be identified in any other way,'' he said.
The fingerprinting of children was only being carried out ''in strictly necessary cases and as the ultimate possibility of identification,'' Cercone said.
However, the Commission would continue to monitor the way the survey was being carried out, Cercone said.
The fingerprinting campaign has been criticised by human rights organisations, the UN children's charity UNICEF, the European Parliament and the Romanian Government, on the grounds that it had inflamed anti-immigrant feeling in Italy and encouraged vigilante attacks.
In June Gypsy camps in Naples were set on fire in arson attacks after a Roma Gypsy girl was accused of trying to steal a baby.
The Roma census was compared by both Jewish and Catholic groups in Italy to Nazi racial discrimination and persecution.
The Italian government argues that the census is intended to stop Gypsy children begging and stealing, but also to help them gain access to the Italian health and education systems.
Maroni has defended the dismantling of illegal Roma camps and other measures targeting illegal immigrants, including expulsions.
He claims the government wants to identify those who have the right to stay in Italy and make sure they can live in "decent conditions".
There are an estimated 160,000 Roma Gypsies in Italy, nearly half of whom were born in Italy and have Italian citizenship.
Belgian MP Gerard Deprez told Adnkronos International (AKI) he will lead the group of seven European members of Parliament who will visit Rome from 18-20 September.
The fact-finding mission is taking place as the Italian government is carrying out a controversial census of Roma Gypsy camps in major cities, which includes fingerprinting.
Deprez said "practical difficulties" had forced the European Parliament delegation to scale back its visit, which was originally due to include Gypsy camps in the southern city of Naples and the northern industrial capital, Milan.
The visit is taking place in consultation with Italy's Interior Minister, Roberto Maroni, and will include meetings with members of the Italian government, Rome's Mayor, Gianni Alemanno, and the government's top public order representative, the Prefect of Rome, Carlo Mosca.
Italy's conservative government said on Thursday that it had been "fully vindicated" after the European Commission said the fingerprinting of Roma Gypsies in Italian camps did not amount to ethnic discrimination and was in line with EU law.
European Justice Commissioner Jacques Barrot's spokesman Michele Cercone said earlier on Thursday the Italian census did not seek ''data based on ethnic origin or religion."
The Italian government's fingerprinting of Gypsies has the sole aim of ''identifying persons who cannot be identified in any other way,'' he said.
The fingerprinting of children was only being carried out ''in strictly necessary cases and as the ultimate possibility of identification,'' Cercone said.
However, the Commission would continue to monitor the way the survey was being carried out, Cercone said.
The fingerprinting campaign has been criticised by human rights organisations, the UN children's charity UNICEF, the European Parliament and the Romanian Government, on the grounds that it had inflamed anti-immigrant feeling in Italy and encouraged vigilante attacks.
In June Gypsy camps in Naples were set on fire in arson attacks after a Roma Gypsy girl was accused of trying to steal a baby.
The Roma census was compared by both Jewish and Catholic groups in Italy to Nazi racial discrimination and persecution.
The Italian government argues that the census is intended to stop Gypsy children begging and stealing, but also to help them gain access to the Italian health and education systems.
Maroni has defended the dismantling of illegal Roma camps and other measures targeting illegal immigrants, including expulsions.
He claims the government wants to identify those who have the right to stay in Italy and make sure they can live in "decent conditions".
There are an estimated 160,000 Roma Gypsies in Italy, nearly half of whom were born in Italy and have Italian citizenship.
Labels: European Parliament, Gypsy, Gypsy Discrimination, Italy, Rome. Gypsy Camps
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