Salvini orders census in Roma crackdown

MATTEO SALVINI, Italy’s hardline interior minister, has sent a letter to provincial representatives requesting “a report on the presence of Roma, Sinti and Camminanti settlements” in their territories within two weeks.

The ministry said yesterday that the aim was to have a clear outline of how many illegal camps there are in Italy, and where they are located, in order to “draw up an eviction plan”.

The head of the far-right League has taken a tough stance against illegal immigration.

It has been his top priority since he became leader of the coalition formed with the populist Five Star Movement a year ago.

Roma, Sinti and Caminanti are traditionally nomadic ethnic groups that have been living in European countries for decades.

According to the Council of Europe, there are between 120,000 and 180,000 Roma, Sinti and Caminanti in Italy, one of the lowest concentrations in Europe. Many of them have regular residents’ permits or have acquired Italian citizenship.

However, a report in 2017 from “Associazione 21 Luglio”, an anti-discrimination campaign group, noted that Italy has been labelled “the country of camps” because in the past two decades it has been the most active in planning and creating outdoor camps where the Roma communities have been “segregated on ethnic grounds”.

Mr Salvini sent his letter to prefects a day after hundreds of policemen in riot gear evicted people living in an abandoned school on the outskirts of Rome, which was occupied mainly by migrants, including women and children, who had lived there for years.

That was just the latest of a list of evictions that Mr Salvini has planned throughout Italy, pledging he will have “zero tolerance” for anyone who illegally occupies abandoned buildings.