BBC reports that Italy’s new Interior Minister Matteo Salvini has publicly pledged to carry out a census of Italy’s largest ethnic community, Rome. His statement has, however, sparked tension within the Roma community, which considers populist Salvini is indirectly making a move to deport a large number of Roma people who live illegally without any registration.
Maurizio Molinari, chief editor of La Stampa, reports to BBC that “What Salvini cares about is making Italians feel like he is protecting them.”
The Roma community that originated from India is mainly a gypsy community that has a population of approximately between 120,000 and 180,000. They mostly live in slum areas and do not enjoy a good reputation among the other Italians. 82% of Italians have an unfavorable view of Rome. One hate speech incident against Roma is recorded every two days, as reported in the BBC.
The BBC reports that some 400 Roma people live illegally in the dusty camp of the River, half an hour from the Porta Portese. They sleep in cramped trailers and eat outside because of congested space. 23 year old, Zanepa Mehmeti, says, “I feel 100% Italian, but I regret being born here. We are treated like dogs, and it’s not fair.”
BBC quotes, 26-year-old Roma, Nedzad, ‘Educating children from a young age is the key to eradicating mutual mistrust.’ He further mentions, “With many Italian families struggling to make it to the end of the month, it’s easy to start blaming Roma people, or migrants, and they think they are stealing your jobs and that you’d be better off without them.” Most of the Roma people strongly feel that Salvini is playing the popularity card and trying to invoke mutual distrust by unjustly framing the poverty stricken Roma people as criminals and threats to the Italian society.
Writing for the BBC, reporter Sofia Bettiza parallels Salvini’s statement against the Roma community with that of Italian fascist leader Benito Mussolini who also had racial laws against the Jews during the 1930s to cleanse them out of Italy by deporting them to Nazi concentration camps. However, Salvini’s intention to count the real Roma population is highly undemocratic and anti-constitutional. As per the Italian Constitution, ethno-racial statistics are barred to be carried out.
