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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

`