Italy is rebuked for step against Gypsies

Italy’s controversial decision to fingerprint Gypsies as part of what it said was a crackdown on crime received a sharp rebuke Thursday from the European Parliament, which declared the campaign distinctly racist.

The Italian government knew it was courting criticism when it began rounding up and fingerprinting the oft-targeted minority known formally as the Roma. But the proclamation from Europe’s chief elected body was an especially embarrassing blow to the 2-month-old right-wing administration of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

Italy immediately said it would ignore the resolution.

“Our aim is to put an end to the disgrace of nomad camps,” said Interior Minister Roberto Maroni, member of a small xenophobic party that is part of the ruling coalition. He was referring to the ramshackle settlements around major Italian cities where thousands of Gypsy families live.

Maroni and other senior Italian officials said they were attempting to fight the petty crime that is often associated with the Roma population and also improve conditions for Roma children living in squalor. A proposed package of tough security measures could remove children from the camps while expelling their parents from the country.

The measures immediately alarmed many in Europe because they seem to be targeting an ethnic group and the European Parliament on Thursday agreed to consider the policy.

The resolution, adopted by a 336-220 vote, urges Italian authorities “to refrain from collecting fingerprints from Roma, including minors, as this would clearly constitute an act of discrimination based on race and ethnic origin.”

Italy’s opposition and human rights groups across Europe welcomed the resolution, which, though not binding, highlights what they describe as the frighteningly discriminatory nature of the campaign.

“It’s an important decision,” said opposition Sen. Emma Bonino, a former European Union official. “We hope that this vote will help convince some mayors and the interior minister to change their minds.”

An estimated 150,000 Roma live in Italy, most having come from Eastern Europe and nearly half of them considered homeless. A smaller number come from the former Yugoslavia. Some have lived in Italy for a generation.

After several high-profile crimes blamed on Gypsies, the new government launched a crackdown on the itinerant population, sending police to round up individuals and raze their huts and homes. Scores of Gypsies and other foreigners were expelled. Vigilantes burned some camps.

The actions came amid a wider backlash against immigrants who have flowed into Italy in the last decade, altering the demographic landscape in a country more used to sending people abroad.

Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini, who until recently served as the EU justice commissioner, criticized the European motion as unfounded and politically motivated. Fingerprinting “does not target ethnic groups and is not inspired by racism but by the elementary need to identify anyone who does not have a valid document,” he said.

In a letter this week to EU officials, a Rom advocacy group protested the crackdown, alleging that Italy had become a police state that is depriving residents of constitutional guarantees.

Rom families, says the human rights group EveryOne, “are subject to every kind of pressure and intimidation until they give up protesting or turning to the legal system.”

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wilkinson@latimes.com