Civil society monitoring report

on implementation of the national Roma

integration strategies
in Italy

Focusing on structural and horizontal

preconditions
for successful implementation of the strategy

Prepared by:
Casa della Carità
Consorzio Nova
Fondazione Romanì
Associazione 21 Luglio
Arci Solidarietà Onlus
Associazione Rom Sinti Prato
April 2018

Justice
and Consumers
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers
Directorate D — Equality and Union Citizenship
Unit D1 Non Discrimination and Roma Coordination
European Commission
B-1049 Brussels
 EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Civil society monitoring report

on implementation of the
national Roma integration strategy
in Italy
Focusing on structural and horizontal preconditions
for successful implementation of the strategy

Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers

2018
 EUROPE DIRECT is a service to help you find answers
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Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2018

Print ISBN 978-92-79-97572-1 doi:10.2838/17068 Catalogue number DS-07-18-024-EN-C

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© European Union, 2018

Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.
The report has been prepared by the NGOs Casa della Carità, Consorzio Nova, Fondazione
Romani (chapters Governance and Overall Policy Framework and Antigipsysm),
Associazione Rom Sinti Prato, Associazione 21 luglio (chapters Anti-Discrimination and
Antigypsyism) and Arci Solidarietà (chapter Anti-Discrimination).

Chapters were written by:

• Governance and Overall Policy Framework: Antonio Ciniero and Ilaria Papa,
• Anti-Discrimination: Luca Bravi,
• Antigypsysm: Stefano Pasta.

The report was edited by Donatella De Vito.

The report has been prepared as part of the Roma Civil Monitor pilot project, ‘Capacity-
building for Roma civil society and strengthening its involvement in the monitoring of
National Roma Integration Strategies’. The pilot project is carried out for the European
Commission, DG Justice and Consumers. It is coordinated by the Center for Policy Studies
of Central European University (CEU CPS), in partnership with the European Roma
Grassroots Organisations Network (ERGO Network), the European Roma Rights Centre
(ERRC), the Fundación Secretariado Gitano (FSG) and the Roma Education Fund (REF) and
implemented with around 90 NGOs and experts from up to 27 member states.

Although the Roma Civil Monitor pilot project, as part of which the report was prepared, is
coordinated by CEU, the report represents the findings of the author and it does not
necessarily reflects the views of CEU. CEU cannot be held responsible for any use which
may be made of the information contained therein.

3
CONTENTS

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................... 5

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................ 6
INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................... 9
GOVERNANCE AND OVERALL POLICY FRAMEWORK .................................................. 11
Representing the interests of Roma in the parliament ............................................... 11
Mainstreaming Roma inclusion across ministries and other national level public
authorities ................................................................................................. 12
Mainstreaming Roma inclusion across local authorities .............................................. 14
Promoting empowerment and participation of Roma ................................................. 15
Guarantees for the effectiveness of programmes with the largest budgets................... 17
Civil society’s access to funding for Roma inclusion activities ..................................... 19
Availability of reliable data on the situation of Roma ................................................. 20
Policies and measures addressing specific needs of Roma women, children and youth .. 21
ANTI-DISCRIMINATION ........................................................................................... 22
Implementing the Racial Equality Directive.............................................................. 22
Educational and residential segregation .................................................................. 23
Forced evictions................................................................................................... 26
Discriminatory behaviour by police, misconduct by prosecutors or courts .................... 27
ADDRESSING ANTIGYPSYISM .................................................................................. 29
Institutional settings for fighting discrimination and addressing antigypsyism .............. 29
The strengths and gaps in countering hate crime and hate speech against Roma, and
the antigypsyist rhetoric of politicians, public figures and media ....................... 33
The programmes and initiatives that have been implemented for analysing and forming
narratives and attitudes towards Roma.......................................................... 37
RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................................................ 40
BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................ 42

4
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

ANCI National Association of Italian Municipalities

ASGI Association for Legal Studies on Immigration
CoE Council of Europe
ECRI European Commission against Racism and Intolerance
ECSR European Committee on Social Rights
ERDF European Regional Development Fund
ERIAC European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture
ERRC European Roma Right Centre
ESF European Social Fund
ESIF European Structural and Investment Funds
FRA EU Agency for Fundamental Rights
ISTAT National Institute of Statistics
MEP Member of European Parliament
MIUR Ministry of University and Research
NGO Non-Governmental Organisation
NRIS National Roma, Sinti and Caminati Integration Strategy
OSCAD Observatory for security against acts of discrimination
PON National Operational Program
RSC Roma, Sinti and Caminanti
UNAR National Office against racial discrimination
UNHCR UN Refugee Agency
UPI Union of Italian Provinces

5
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In Italy there are no accurate figures on the current number of Roma, Sinti and Caminanti
(RSC), even if the estimation provided by the EC indicates the number of 110,000 to
180,000 individuals, which represents around 0.23 to 0.25 per cent of the total population.
The lack of knowledge about RSC Communities, accompanied by a high level of prejudice
and discrimination, has exacerbated the idea that this population would be nomadic,
hostile to sedentary life and, therefore in need of specific and temporary housing solutions.
Still today, even if Opera Nomadi (the historical Italian association helping Roma and Sinti)
estimates that around 60-80 per cent of the RSC in Italy live in houses, these camps
continue to be designed and built by local authorities. Around 30,000 to 40,000 of RSC
live in “nomad camps”, in a condition of severe housing precariousness and social
marginalization. It is within this framework that the Italian Government approved the
National Strategy for the Inclusion of Roma, Sinti and Caminanti (NRIS), which was drafted
by the National Office against Racial Discrimination (UNAR) in collaboration with several
stakeholders, civil society organization and Roma representatives. The Strategy has been
evaluated positively by different key actors at national and European level because it has
marked an important break with the past, abandoning the concept of nomadism and
adopting a broader approach to promote RSC inclusion. However, six years after its
approval, several delays in its implementation have been registered, as the national
government has not implemented any concrete programme to eradicate RSC housing
exclusion and most of the local authorities are very far from reaching the expected results.

Governance and overall policy framework

Despite isolated progress in some regions, such as Emilia Romagna, many problems still
persist the NRIS implementation, and it appears difficult to remove them without a radical
change of direction in respect to what has been done so far. The limited powers that UNAR
has to ensure the implementation of the NRIS at local level, together with the poor capacity
to coordinate actions among the different institutional levels, has negatively impacted on
the development of Local Action Plans for RSC inclusion. In fact, according to the current
legislation, at local level everything is left to the discretion of the local institutions, that
have powers to decide whether and how to adopt it. As a result of that, only 11 Regions
out of 20 have set up the consultative meetings aimed at agreeing how to implement the
NRIS at local level, but only Emilia Romagna Region has promoted and approved a regional
law aimed at closing the Roma municipal camps, and actions aimed at supporting RSC
inclusion. Moreover, there are several regional and local authorities that not only do not
implement the NRIS, but even deny it, keeping on maintaining – or even opening – new
mono-ethnic residential areas and camps. Moreover, the delay in the implementation of
the NRIS in the two regions in which RSC presence and exclusion is higher, such as Lazio
and Lombardy, is particularly significant. In Lazio, the regional consultations started only
in 2015, while in Lombardy it has not even been organized yet.

Anti-discrimination
Anti-discrimination against RSC still suffers for the permanence of many stereotypes that
have not been defeated, and which keep on influencing local and national policies.
Nowadays, the situation of Roma in Italy is similar to six years ago, and the fight against
the discrimination of the Roma population has unfortunately not yet produced significant
changes in the lives of RSC Communities. The lack of funds to develop actions aimed at
implementing the NRIS, together with the lack of measures ruling the coordination
between the national and local level, determined a very timid response from local
authorities. The last funds allocated during the “nomad emergency” decree were used for
the construction of new nomad camps, and led to the rise of RSC’s marginalization.
Therefore, the problem related to RSC access to services and education remained the

6
 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

same of previous decade, as the NRIS has not yet shown itself capable of changing the
situation positively.

Addressing antigypsyism
In Italy it is not possible to talk about a specific framework to tackle antigypsyism at
institutional level, with ad hoc regulation, public actors and programs specially created to
defeat it. Nowadays, antigypsyism is fought through the general legal framework which
protects citizens from racism and discriminations, as it is not acknowledged as a particular
juridical case. A study published in 2015 by the Pew Research Center reported that 86 per
cent of the respondents in Italy held a negative opinion about Roma.1 In the last few years
the proliferation of antigypsyism has increased, the producers of racist content have
spread and diversified: traditional media still have their importance in the matter, but local
political actors, local news websites, self-produced “unofficial information” blogs, Facebook
groups and even private pages on social networks have started to contribute to the spread
on anti-Roma speeches. This situation has three main dangerous consequences and acts
as a powerful hindering factor in preventing Roma inclusion possibilities, as: a) it has a
direct and blatant impact in terms of daily discrimination on the lives of those targeted;
b) it acts as a powerful deterrent means for the administrators in charge to design and
implement inclusion policies addressing Roma and Sinti; c) it gradually allows explicit racist
rhetoric against Roma and Sinti to be increasingly accepted by the public opinion, paving
the way to occasional violent drifts.

1
Pew Research Center. Chapter 4. Views of Roma, Muslims, Jews - Global Attitude Survey (Washington:
2015).

7
8
INTRODUCTION

In October 2000, The European Roma Right Centre (ERRC) published a detailed file on the
living conditions of Roma and Sinti in Italy. Italy country was defined as “Campland”,2 and
accused of an institutionalized segregation against Roma and Sinti communities through
the construction of nomad municipal camps. In Italy, in fact, the construction of authorized
camps is the only action that the Italian government has implemented to address the
Roma’s housing exclusion. The very few policies developed in the last 30 years for
promoting the housing inclusion of Roma and of Roma migrants in Italy were inspired by
the “nomadic theory” , which is based on the idea that this population is nomad, hostile
to sedentary life and therefore in need of specific housing solutions. This idea, shared by
the vast majority of the Italians,3 has been incorporated in the first and the only framework
of regional laws produced in 1985 to define the situation of the Roma minority in Italy. As
the Roma and the Roma migrants were perceived as nomads, the main intervention
promoted by these laws was the construction of exclusive areas for the temporary
settlement of Roma people. Initially the realization of authorized camps was intended to
be a way to protect the peculiarities of these minorities. However, the results have been
extremely critical in terms of special segregation and social marginalization. This situation
was further worsened by the criminalizing approach adopted by the “Nomad Emergency”,
proclaimed by the Italian Government in 2008 and ended in 2011, 4 when the Council of
the State declared its illegitimacy. It is in this critical framework that in 2012 the Italian
Authorities committed to overcome Roma’s discriminatory segregation and sub-standard
housing conditions with the approval of the National Roma, Sinti and Caminanti (RSC)
Integration Strategy (NRIS). The Strategy constitutes an excellent reference for
intervening on issues such as anti-discrimination, social and housing inclusion, education,
and health. However, the 2020 deadline set for its impact evaluation is likely to be
achieved without having reached significant results on the matter. In fact, even though it
has been drafted and ratified by the National Office against Racial Discrimination (UNAR)
established under the Presidency of the Council of Ministers in collaboration with several
institutional stakeholders and representatives of RSC communities, it is evident that after
six years from its adoption a series of background problems persist in its implementation.
As underlined by the Jo Cox Report presented at the Chamber of Deputies in 2017, the
Strategy “ends up to be an ineffective tool, because of the inactivity of local authorities,
but also for the lack of an adequate central coordination system”.5 Too many RSC still live
in a condition of social and housing marginalization and, as pointed out in a resolution of
the Extraordinary Commission of the Senate of the Republic in 2015, it is urgent to
promote effective interventions aimed at the overcoming of segregation of RSC

2
European Roma Right Centre, Campland, Racial Segregation of Roma in Italy (Budapest: 2000).
3
As many as 84 per cent of Italians, according to Paola Arrigoni, and Tommaso Vitale, “Quale legalità?
Rom e gagi a confronto”, Aggiornamenti Sociali, 3, 2008, 184.
4
On 21 May 2008, the Italian Government issued the Decree on the Nomad Emergency to be applied in
the regions of Lazio, Campania and Lombardy (later extended to Piedmont and Veneto in May 2009). This
emergency legislation included extraordinary measures, such as collecting fingerprints (even of minors) and a
census of all the people living in nomad camps. The decree was renewed in 2010 and 2011. This juridical
measure is marked by an emergency approach. The preamble to the decree states: “The situation cannot be
tackled with the instruments of ordinary legislation.” On the basis of three Presidential Orders, issued on 30
May 2008, the Prefects of Naples, Rome and Milan were appointed Special Commissioners for the Nomad
Emergency, obtaining greater powers of intervention both in the legal camps and the illegal settlements. The
main feature however was the continuous social criminalization of the populations who were the target of the
interventions. The end of the State of Emergency took place because of a petition of a Roma family settled in
Rome together with the European Roma Rights Centre: with decision 6050 of 16 November 2011, the Italian
Council of State declared the State of Emergency illegitimate. For further details see:
http://sfi.usc.edu/education/roma-sinti/en/questioni-aperte/identita-e-cittadinanza/una-minoranza-
italiana.php.
5
Commissione Jo Cox, Relazione finale, p. 93.

9
CIVIL SOCIETY MONITORING REPORT ON IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NATIONAL ROMA INTEGRATION STRATEGY
in Italy

communities in the municipal housing camps. Moreover, it is important to promote annual

monitoring activities and reports that, using the same analysis parameters, could study
and show the development of the actions that should be undertaken by the national and
local authorities. In fact, even though in Italy there is a conspicuous production of reports,
realized by European institutions or civil society organizations, a constant, comparable,
annual monitoring is still lacking.

This report intends to present integrative and alternative information to those submitted
by the Italian state on the implementation of the NRIS, channelling the local knowledge
and of civil society organizations on the real social impact of government measures. To
this aim, a preliminary mapping and description of the actors and the actions in charge of
planning has been made since no centralized information is still available. Based on this
mapping, monitoring activities were carried out by a group of organizations.

The methodology of the report relies on a qualitative approach which included analysis of
international, national and local documents, such as policy documents, research reports,
articles and essays. An in-depth analysis of the NRIS local implementation has been done
in 13 regions, to examine the achievements and the obstacles concerning the development
of policies at local level. Interviews with Roma representatives, Roma and civil society
NGOs, Roma and Sinti people living in camps to provide a wider and inclusive perspective
to the research findings.

10
GOVERNANCE AND OVERALL POLICY FRAMEWORK

Representing the interests of Roma in the parliament

In Italy, Roma, Sinti and Caminanti (RSC)6 are not officially recognized as a minority by
law which recognised “historical language minorities” in 1999. 7 Even if the populations
speaking Romanì language represent the third largest minority in Italy,8 and are present
on the national territory since 1400, they have been deliberately excluded during the
parliamentary debate that led to the approval of the law.9

Roma and Sinti interests are not specifically represented in the Italian Parliament, and
RSC living conditions have been ignored for a long time by Italian institutions. Only in
October 2009 the Extraordinary Commission for the protection and promotion of human
rights of the Senate, launched a survey on the life condition of RSC, that was concluded
in 2011,10 and has underlined the precarious situation in which a great part of this minority
lives. This delay was inked to the lack of mainstream political interest in Roma and Sinti
inclusion policies and to the fact that in the Italian Parliament, the RSC are not specifically
represented by any political party. Therefore, the only instances that RSC have been
discussed were in fact related to the recognition of RSC population as a linguistic and/or
historical-cultural-linguistic minority.

Among the political parties represented in Parliament, Lega Nord is the one that has
produced the most radical antigypsyist programmes.11 On several occasions, members of
Lega Nord were convicted of crimes related to incitement to racial hatred; amongst others
the conviction of Giancarlo Gentilini, the party’s candidate for mayor of Treviso, who
declared during a meeting in 2013 that he “wanted to eliminate all Gypsy children”. This
case was particularly significant at a national level. 12

6
The terms “Rom, Sinti and Caminanti (RSC)” and “Roma Sinti and Caminanti populations (RSC
populations)” are used to refer to the Romani communities as a whole: Rom, Sinti, Kale, Manouche,
Romanichelsalle, not for a definitive purpose but only because this denomination is that used by the National
Strategy for the Inclusion of Roma, Sinti and Caminanti approved in Italy.
7
The article 2 of the law n. 482/1999 says that “the Republic protects the language and culture of the
Albanian, Catalan, Germanic, Greek, Slovenian and Croatian populations and of those speaking French, Franco-
Provençal, Friulan, Ladino, Occitan and Sardinian”.
8
RSC are estimated to be between 110.000 and 180.000 individuals. The majority of the RSC population
present in Italy are Italian citizen. The first presences of Roma in Italy have been recorded since 1400. The
RSC of non-Italian citizenship arrive in Italy in two precise periods. A first group has arrived between 1980 and
1990, and come from former Yugoslavia Countries and Kosovo. If the reason of this migration was mainly
economical in the 80s, in the 90s they become related to the wars that have covered with blood the Balkans
for the whole decade. These group of Roma have to be therefore considered refugees, even though the label of
being nomad has never permitted to acknowledge them so. This has forced them to a forced nomadism or of a
life within the municipal nomad camps. For more information see Nando Sigona, “I confini del ‘problema
zingari’. Le politiche dei campi nomadi in Italia”, in Migrazioni globali, integrazioni locali, ed. Tiziana Caponio
and Asher Colombo (Bologna: Il Mulino, 2005, 267-293). A second group of Roma started to arrive in Italy
from Romania and Bulgaria in the early years of 2000, thanks to the entrance of these countries in Eu.
9
First draft of the law proposal also mentioned Roma and Sinti, these groups were subsequently
eliminated under pressure from different parties as Lega Nord and Alleanza Nazionale.
10
See:
http://www.senato.it/documenti/repository/commissioni/dirittiumani16/Rapporto%20conclusivo%20indagine%
20rom,%20sinti%20e%20caminanti.pdf
11
See the position of 21 Luglio Associazione after the publication of the “Government agreement”
between the parties Lega Nord and Movimento 5 Stelle: http://www.21luglio.org/21luglio/contratto-governo-
preoccupa-rom-rischio-discriminazione/
12
http://permessodisoggiorno.org/giancarlo-gentilini-lega-nord-e-condannato-per-istigazione-allodio-
razziale/

11
CIVIL SOCIETY MONITORING REPORT ON IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NATIONAL ROMA INTEGRATION STRATEGY
in Italy

There have been no cases in recent years of RCS representative holding significant political
positions, although there have been candidates who claimed their ethnicity, without being
elected. Some of them are well-known activists: Djiana Pavlovic was several times
candidate to municipal council in Milan, and to the Italian and European Parliaments, or
Nazzareno Guarnieri was candidate for the municipal council of Pescara in 2008.
Candidates in the last local elections, among others included: Angela Bosco, Miguel Fiorello
Lebbiati, Concetta Sarachella, Marina Braidic, with left wing parties. In 2014 Amelia
Guarnieri stood as a candidate at Pescara with the Forza Italia political party. She was not
elected but obtained a good result, also thanks to the Politeia campaign promoted by
Fondazione Romanì Italia.

There is a paradox in Italy concerning the participation of RSC in public life: on the one
hand, RSC are not officially recognised as a minority, as there are no shared classification
criteria to establish who can or cannot be considered RSC. On the other hand, participation
in political life and active involvement in consultations on policies for Roma inclusion are
conceived to involve individuals and associations belonging to a minority which is not
recognised as such. Of course, the question which arises is how RSC legitimate
representation should be shaped: Who should represent who? Based on which criteria?
Who speaks on behalf of whom? In a context of administrative disregard which has not
supported the active participation of the RSC populations for a long time, urgent and
“filling” measures had to be be taken by Italian authorities, and in the past this has led in
many cases to forms of welfarism and pressure on the RSC minority.13 In time, this
approach has been overcome by the growing awareness of the importance of an effective
RSC participation.14 To avoid the mistakes of the past, rather than strengthening
leadership actions, it would be useful to work on motivating an active, conscious and non-
exclusive participation of RSC, aiming at sharing democratic and transparent pathways of
meeting and recognition.15 As far as the National Strategy is concerned , the result reached
was a mostly formal RSC involvement, which showed (all) the problematic nature of the
relationship between participation and empowerment among Roma and Sinti minorities.16

Mainstreaming Roma inclusion across ministries and other national level

public authorities
UNAR, set up within the Department for Equal Opportunities under the Presidency of the
Council of Ministers in 2003, 17 is the National Roma Contact Point, and has the mandate
to coordinate the institutional and associative actors in supporting the development of
inclusion policies for RSC communities. In 2011 UNAR was given the task to develop a
National Strategy for the inclusion of RSC, that was approved in 2012 by the Italian
Government. The Strategy was implemented through an Inter-ministerial Coordination

13
Fondazione Ismu, Ventunesimo rapporto sulle migrazioni 2015 (Twenty-first report on migrations
2015), (Milano, FrancoAngeli, 2016).
14
Idem.
15
The literature on the subject underlines the importance of the participation of all those directly
involved, not only the beneficiaries of the interventions, but also those citizens who are linked to them. See T.
Vitale, Sociologia dei conflitti locali contro i rom e i sinti in Italia. Pluralità di contesti e varietà di policy
instruments in “Jura Gentium. Rivista di filosofia del diritto internazionale e della politica globale” (Sociology of
local conflicts against Roma and Sinti in Italy. Plurality of contexts and variety of policy instruments in “Jura
Gentium. Journal of Philosophy of International Law and Global Politics”). Available at:
http://www.juragentium.org/forum/rom/it/vitale.htm.
16
Fondazione Ismu, Ventunesimo rapporto sulle migrazioni 2015 (Twenty-first report on migrations
2015), (Milano, FrancoAngeli, 2016).
17
The decision to place UNAR within the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, instead of establishing an
Office as an independent Authority, contributes to weakening its credibility and action, particularly in cases
involving the Public Administration. Furthermore, UNAR acts only through informal conciliation activities, but
has no legitimacy to act in court.

12
 GOVERNANCE AND OVERALL POLICY FRAMEWORK

Room, a governing body which included representatives of the Ministry of the Interior, the
Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, the Ministry of Education, the
Ministry of Health, the Conference of Presidents of Regions, the National Association of
Italian Municipalities (ANCI), and the Union of Italian Provinces (UPI). 18 Together with the
Inter-ministerial Room, four national thematic working-groups were set up for the
elaboration and implementation of the National Strategy on Labour, Education, Housing
and Health issues, which have contributed in the elaboration of the Strategy and have
produced some documents over time.19 To involve RSC groups in the consultations
regarding Roma and Sinti inclusion policies, UNAR established a National Platform, that
connects all the ngos concerned on the issue, and created a Forum of RSC associations,
that meets periodically. It is also worth mentioning that there are two working groups
which are currently still active: one, working to overcome the information gap and missing
statistics on the presence and living conditions of RSC communities in Italy, 20 the other
working on the complex legal situation of the “stateless de facto” Roma. To manage the
relations with local bodies, a governance system has been set up, as shown in the table
below:

National Strategy Governance scheme

The governance scheme also foresees the involvement of the RSC communities, of the
NGOs operating in the field of Roma’s human rights and social inclusion, and the RSC
Community Forum.
The NRIS implementation has been slow and has been subjected to frequent interruptions,
for two reasons: the lack of coercive powers of UNAR, not yet compliant with the principle
of independence of equality bodies, and the difficult communication between the different
institutional levels. Several factors had a negative impact on the possibilities of its concrete
implementation at regional and local level: the absence of a specific budget for the

18
http://www.unar.it/unar/portal/?p=1923
19
The Table for Health, coordinated by the Directorate General for Health Prevention of the Ministry of
Health defined the “Piano d’Azione Salute per e con le comunità RSC” [Health Action Plan for and with the RSC
communities] (2015). Available at: http://www.salute.gov.it/imgs/C_17_pubblicazioni_2451_allegato.pdf
20
It involves the central government offices interested in the RSC topic, the National Statistical Institute
(ISTAT), ANCI and two representatives of RSC associations.

13
CIVIL SOCIETY MONITORING REPORT ON IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NATIONAL ROMA INTEGRATION STRATEGY
in Italy

implementation of the NRIS, the fragmentation in the management of the structural funds,
the lack of clear indications on the monitoring activities to be implemented at a local level,
and a total absence of process and result indicators. The extreme paucity of resources was
exacerbated by the institutional and financial crisis, and by the absence of UNAR director,
position that was left uncovered for long time in the past years (15 days break in July
2012, from October 2015 to January 2016, from February 2017 to March 2018). 21

Mainstreaming Roma inclusion across local authorities

Acknowledging the central role of the territorial authorities in the inclusion of the RSC, the
NRIS established the creation of Regional Working Groups, that had to be organised and
coordinated by competent regional institutions,22 and include regional and local authorities
entitled to deal with Roma inclusion issues, and the NGOs involved in the advocacy of
Roma’s interests at different levels. The working groups were aimed at raising the
awareness of municipal and provincial authorities about the NRIS goals and commitments,
creating fora for different stakeholders for drafting local action plans for Roma inclusion,
and monitoring the NRIS implementation at the local level.

Six years after the launch of the Strategy, the commitment of local and regional authorities
is still inadequate, and this makes more difficult to convert the strategy recommendations
into concrete actions. Suffice it to say that only 11 out of 20 regions have set up the
regional working groups,23 as there are no constraints and no formal obligations for the
regions to implement the NRIS actions. Moreover, where they have been set up, the
working groups merely represented formal participants, who are not active in the
promotion of concrete actions aimed at Roma inclusion. Even in the territories in which
the local implementation of the NRIS was launched, the activities carried out by the
working groups mostly consisted in convening and organising meetings with local
stakeholders, for promoting the discussion on Roma and Sinti situation at a territorial level
and identifying possible projects and actions to be implemented. However, no concrete
commitment in terms of funds and timing was agreed upon. For this reason, many
differences persist on the implementation of the policies for RSC inclusion at regional and
local level. Currently, only half of the Italian regions and the autonomous province of
Trento have specific laws for the protection of RSC populations and their cultural identity.
The main obstacle to the implementation of these laws is the fact that RSC people have
been indiscriminately identified as “nomadic” subjects. There is only one region, Emilia
Romagna, which took initiatives coherent with the NRIS objectives on the access to
housing, and that has adopted a special regional law to support and finance housing
transitions of Roma citizens living in camps to homes integrated in urban areas24 and/or
to micro-residential areas.25 A part from Emilia Romagna, the only other Italian region

21
Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri (2018) Manconi Coordinatore dell’UNAR:
http://www.governo.it/articolo/manconi-coordinatore-dell-unar/8901.
22
The features of the competent persons are not clearly defined nor specified. Such individuals are
generally selected among the members of the Council or its executives.
23
Marche, Molise, Umbria, Liguria, Tuscany, Campania, Piedmont, Calabria, Emilia Romagna, Puglia
Region Table was convened but was not established by any resolution.
24
An example of this is the experimentation of the Municipality of Bologna. More details in the Regional
Report: http://sociale.regione.emilia-romagna.it/esclusione-sociale-e-poverta/rapporto-sulla-popolazione-
sinta-e-rom-in-emilia-romagna-anno-2012.
25
A “micro area” is a small plot of land, located in a non-marginalized area, reasonably close to urban
areas and with access to public services. This structure provides resting areas for mobile units and is connected
to water, gas, electricity and sewage services. It is an area inhabited by a single extended family where each
single family has a private space and suitable services. Micro areas are entrusted to the responsibility of those
occupying them on the basis of a regular lease agreement or contract for use or contract for the related
services. See: http://www.regione.emilia-romagna.it/notizie/2017/febbraio/chiudono-i-grandi-campi-via-
libera-alle-micro-aree-per-le-comunita-rom-e-sinti-7-i-progetti-finanziati-dalla-regione.

14
 GOVERNANCE AND OVERALL POLICY FRAMEWORK

promoting Roma housing inclusion is Tuscany, where several plans to overcome “nomad”
camps have been implemented, starting from the insertion in social housing in Lucca to
self-construction in San Giuliano Terme.

Finally, it should be noted that up to the 2016, only three municipalities (Naples, Pavia
and Bari) have approved the implementation of Local Action Plans promoting the
integration of RSC groups within the ROMACT.26

Promoting empowerment and participation of Roma

For the significant part of RSC communities that continue to live in conditions of social
exclusion (the estimates indicate that about 30,000 to 40,000, or a fifth of the total of
RSC living in camps),27 conscious participation as a way of expressing active citizenship in
public life, reaching the highest levels of education and having access to work is still an
unsolved issue. Although the NRIS requests the adoption of measures to support the
empowerment of vulnerable subjects, it must be noted that, up top now, no effective
action has been taken in this respect.
Among the projects that in recent years have directly and/or indirectly supported forms of
RSC empowerment the following should be highlighted:

• Housing first e sviluppo di comunità: progetto di community welfare [Housing first

and community development: community welfare project] for Roma families living
in the city of Faenza, launched in 2015 by the social services of the Municipality, in
collaboration with the Fondazione Romanì.28

• The COM.IN.ROM project, realised within the National Operational Program (PON)
Security for Development 2007-2013, aimed at creating an operational and cultural
network among public authorities and operators belonging to the institutions of the
third sector (the network is still partially operating).29

• The experimental project (2009/2010) Valore Lavoro: Participatory planning

towards labour integration of Roma and Sinti. The project aimed at
addressing social exclusion and unemployment and at promoting labour market
integration of Roma and Sinti individuals through their active involvement
in different projects. The Valore Lavoro project was financed by the Italian Ministry
of Labour and Social Policy and promoted by the Lombardy Region, together with
the National Observatory for Integration and Multiethnicity (ORIM) and the Ismu
Foundation.30

• Romed 1 (2011) was a programme launched by the Council of Europe (CoE) in

several European countries, including Italy. The primary aim of Romed 1 was to
promote training of cultural mediators to reduce the communication gap between
Roma communities and public institutions, with a view to facilitate Roma people’s
access not only to school and healthcare services, but also to local and regional
authorities. Besides focusing on specific mediation activities, and the training of
Roma mediators. Romed 1 fostered an active participation of Roma people, thus
contributing to their empowerment. In Italy, 36 representatives from several

26
ROMACT is a programme launched by the Council of Europe which aims to improve interaction and
responsibility of local authorities, particularly policymakers and municipal staff, towards marginalized Roma
communities. For more details see paragraph 4.
27
Monia Giovannetti, Nicolò Marchesini, and Emiliana Baldoni, Gli Insediamenti Rom, Sinti e Caminanti in
Italia (2016).
28
http://www.fondazioneromani.eu/attivita/progetti/192-il-corpo-estraneo-prove-di-comunita
http://www.integrazionemigranti.gov.it/EsperienzeSulTerritorio/altre-esperienze/Pagine/Com-In-
29

%20Rom--Italia.aspx
30
More details available at: http://www.ismu.org/2017/01/valore-lavoro/

15
CIVIL SOCIETY MONITORING REPORT ON IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NATIONAL ROMA INTEGRATION STRATEGY
in Italy

municipalities took part in the programme training sessions, and 32 of them

became official mediators (Bari, Bolzano, Bologna, Cosenza, Eboli, Gorizia, Lamezia
Terme, Montesilvano, Napoli, Pescara, Roma, Salerno, Teramo, Torino, Vicenza).

• Project Empow-Air: Empowering Women against intimate partnership violence in

Roma communities (2012), co-funded by the EC in the framework of the Daphne
II programme aimed at combating violence against children, young people and
women (2007-2013), developed a toolkit “Measures to combat violence against
Roma women – Recommendations for prevention, detection and intervention”. This
manual is intended for use by workers in the sector who deal with violence against
women and/or work with Roma communities, especially social service providers,
local authorities, police and civil society organisations, active locally and
nationally.31

• Romact (2013-2017) was a follow-up of the previous CoE initiative implemented in

57 European municipalities, eight of which in Italy: Agropoli, Bari, Garbagnate
Milanese, Pavia, Prato, Trento, Milano and Napoli. Three of these municipalities
have adopted an Action Plan for Roma inclusion.

• Marry When You Are Ready (2017) was a European project addressing the
phenomenon of early marriage in Roma communities. This project was realized in
Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Austria and Italy. The purpose of the project was
twofold: firstly, to work within the communities to provide information, listen to
problems, raise awareness and identify the most suitable measures to improve
future prospects for young women; and secondly, to develop recommendations to
European and national institutions.32

• Luoghi Comuni (2017) was a project coordinated by Associazione Bambini in

Romania Onlus (Children in Romania Onlus) and carried out in Bari, Milan and
Roma, together with Il Nuovo Fantarca, UPRE Roma and Associazione Spirit
Romanesc over a period of 18 month starting in March 2016. The initiative aimed
at promoting the inclusion of Roma, Sinti and Caminanti students in educational
pathways, to promote their right to access to quality education.33

• Newly established European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture (ERIAC) was
presented on 14 February 2018 to the Presidency of the Council of Ministers. The
ERIAC, supported by the CoE, the Open Society Foundations and the Alliance for
the European Roma Institute, is an independent organisation with the mission of
increasing the self-esteem of Roma, and decreasing negative prejudice and
discrimination against Roma through arts, culture, history and media. Furthermore,
the organisation is striving to promote Roma’s contribution to European talent,
culture, success and achievement, and to document the historical experience of
Roma and Sinti people in Europe.

In regard to the activities carried out to promote Roma activism, two projects launched in
2013 could be reported: Course for Roma and Sinti activists,34 promoted by Associazione
21 Luglio, and Fuochi Attivi, an educational path for promoting active Romanì citizenship.

In May 2017 a new association Alleanza Romanì was created by the following
organisations: Keren o Romano Tekanipe: Federazione FederArteRom, Upre Roma, New

31
More details available at: http://www.surt.org/empow-air/docs/Guia_ITAL.pdf
32
More details available at:
http://www.ternibori.org/daphneoffice/office_doc/_0doc/43Scheda_MWYAR_Italia.pdf
33
More details available at: http://www.luoghicomuni.eu/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Linee-guida-per-
la-scolarizzazione-e-empowerment-studenti-rom-min.pdf
34
More details available at: http://www.21luglio.org/21luglio/corso-formazione-attivisti-rom-sinti/

16
 GOVERNANCE AND OVERALL POLICY FRAMEWORK

Romalen, Isernia in Rete, Romano Drom, Museo del Viaggio Fabrizio De Andrè, Accademia
Europea D’Arte Romani, Romano Glaso, Associazione Nazionale Them Romano Onlus,
FutuRom, Django Reinhardt, Cittadinanza e Minoranze. This new association aims at
supporting the development of awareness and the political and cultural growth of the
Romanì community, to strengthen its distinctive identity and self-determination, to
improve relations and interaction with local and national institutions, and to encourage
political participation to positively influence decisions affecting their communities. Alleanza
Romanì is striving to obtain recognition of the status of historical-linguistic minority for
Roma and Sinti and the creation of a Consulta Romanì (Romanì Council) with the purpose
to cooperate in the implementation of NRIS.

With regards to the initiatives to combat antigypsyism, apart from initiatives undertaken
locally by local NGOs (rarely supported by public institutions), it should be mentioned that
a National Observatory on Antiziganism was set up in 2017. The Observatory’s aim is to
constantly monitor and study the various forms of antigypsyist prejudice and incidents in
Italy. The Observatory is located at the University of Verona. 35
The main form of involvement of Roma associations at national level is represented by the
National Roma, Sinti and Caminanti Platform, that has been promoted by UNAR within the
NRIS.36 It is a derivation of the European Roma Platform, and aims at being an operational
tool for UNAR, local authorities, RSC and NGOs.37 However, the procedures to make the
Platform concretely operational have only been launched in June 2017, through a notice
of interest open to Roma and non-Roma NGOs, with documented experience in the
sector.38 It has involved over 50 associations and activists from all over the country, and
led to the selection of national representatives for the participation in the working groups
foreseen by the NRIS. After the first call of July 2017, a meeting was organized in
September 2017, with the aim of electing the representatives of the NGOs who had to
participate in the thematic working groups . It is worth underlining that a certain criticism
was raised by several Roma associations, reporting the prevalence of prominent public
figures and vested interests in the identification and election of many candidates who,
according to these organizations, had no basic requisites or skills to participate. It must
also be taken into consideration that a large part of the RSC community in Italy still seems
very far from playing an active role in the decision-making processes concerning the NRIS,
and that only rarely those Roma citizens with high educational qualifications and/or specific
professional skills are involved in the empowerment procedures of their communities. This
is due to a weak representation of the RSC populations at all levels, that is exacerbated
by the high level of social marginalization, job and housing insecurity, and the high level
of discrimination that many communities are victim of, especially in large cities.

Guarantees for the effectiveness of programmes with the largest budgets

Several national Operational Programmes39 – although not specific and exclusively
intended for the RSC – can be used to finance activities aimed at the inclusion of the RSC.
The National Operational Programme (PON) “Legality”, focusing on the less developed
regions – Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Puglia and Sicily – also represents an opportunity

35
http://profs.formazione.univr.it/creaa/osservatorio-nazionale-sullantiziganismo
36
The Roma associations were also involved institutionally for the preparation of the NRIS since 2011 only
through three national federations, already participating at UNAR activities: Federazione Romanì, Federazione
Rom e Sinti Insieme and the UNIRSI Association.
37
It is an advisory tool within UNAR set up for the purpose of involving RSC associations and RSC
supporting associations to develop proposals and offer active participation.
38
http://www.unar.it/unar/portal/?p=8437
39
“Education”, “Employment”, “Inclusion”, “Metropolitan Cities”, “Governance, networks, special projects
and technical support” and “Youth Employment Initiative”.

17
CIVIL SOCIETY MONITORING REPORT ON IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NATIONAL ROMA INTEGRATION STRATEGY
in Italy

for the NRIS implementation, as social inclusion is its second goal (provision of services to
immigrants, support for social enterprises and fight against discrimination and poverty).

The inclusion of RSC populations is also considered among the priorities of the PON
Inclusion, which supports interventions to combat poverty and to promote, through actions
and pilot projects, innovative models of social intervention. 40 Through these operational
programmes, the Italian government seeks to propose actions, methodologies and tools
capable of triggering stable changes in the social protection and in the labour and
educational system of the RSC populations, in particular about minors. The programme
was tested by the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies, in collaboration with the Ministry
of Education and the Institute of Innocents in Florence, through the Project for the
inclusion and integration of RSC children.41 This project aims at schooling insertion,
socialization in the living contexts and to the protection of health, has been active from
2013 to 2016. The general purposes of the project were the reduction of extreme
marginalization of RSC Communities, and the support of social inclusion and the promotion
of educational, inclusion of their children and youths. 42
The PON Metropolitan Cities 2014-2020, which contains a specific reference to the “socio-
economic integration of marginalized communities such as the Roma”, supported a project
Reti per l’inclusione socio-lavorativa di RSC [Networks for socio-employment inclusion of
RSC] planned for a period from 2016 to 2020). The project, tailor-made on the needs of
a city like Reggio Calabria, which has one of the highest percentages of Roma in Italy,
aimed at the development of private/public networks and social interventions to promote
projects for the active citizenship, social inclusion and job placement of Roma. 43

In the southern city of Palermo, a project Percorsi di accompagnamento alla casa e di

integrazione delle comunità emarginate (RSC) (2017-2020) [Accompaniment Pathways to
the housing and integration of marginalized communities], supported by the same PON
Metropolitan Cities, aims at the social reintegration of individuals and families belonging
to the most marginalized communities through an integrated approach, aimed at the
development of different actions for promoting their exit from an emergency housing
situation and, in particular, from the life in the camps.44

The A.L.I. (Abitare Lavoro Inclusione) RSC Service project (2017-2020) involves the
municipality of Naples and promotes the creation of a services for social integration, work
inclusion, access to healthcare and housing for the Roma population. The project is carried
out at Centro di Accoglienza ex plesso Deledda (where Romanian Roma reside), where a
pathway towards reception and integration is planned. Other projects are being developed

40
http://www.lavoro.gov.it/temi-e-priorita/europa-e-fondi-europei/focus-on/pon-
Inclusione/Documents/PON-Inclusione-2014-2020.pdf.
41
See: https://www.minori.it/it/progetti-sperimentali-285/il-progetto-rsc
42
Within PON framework, the three-year project includes work in the main Italian metropolitan cities,
mainly focused on three areas: the local services network, the school and the housing contexts. The
governance of the project is articulated through a multilevel structure aimed at facilitating the sharing and
management/supervision of the general design lines at national and local level. For more details:
https://www.minori.it/it/progetti-sperimentali-285/il-progetto-rsc
43
http://www.ponmetro.it/home/ecosistema/viaggio-nei-cantieri-pon-metro/pon-metro-reggio-
calabria/progetti-reggio-calabria/reti-inclusione-socio-lavorativa-rom-sinti-camminanti/
44
https://ponmetro.comune.palermo.it/pon-asseprogetto.php?id=4&asse=4&progetto=34

18
 GOVERNANCE AND OVERALL POLICY FRAMEWORK

in Mestre,45 Messina46 and Rome47 aiming at the inclusion of Roma individuals and families
within the urban environment. As regards NRIS’s “Health” priority axis, it could be
mentioned that the TROVARSI48 project was concluded in 2014. This project had the aim
of increasing Roma children’s level of protection against vaccine-preventable diseases
through an improved awareness in RSC communities (in particular among mothers) and a
positive experience of interaction with public health offices

In general, all these projects do not provide independent monitoring and evaluation to
monitor and evaluate their effectiveness and to analyse the impact of the project actions
on the intervention context. The monitoring and evaluation methods are in fact generally
based on indicators and criteria developed within the project itself.

Despite the activation of these projects, to date, the system of actions UNAR planned by
UNAR to achieve the objectives set by NRIS are largely disregarded.49

Civil society’s access to funding for Roma inclusion activities

In Italy, the funds used by civil society actors for supporting the processes of inclusion of
the RSC populations include mainly European funds. There are no specific national funds
allocated for promoting Roma inclusion. The Funds that Roma NGOs and other civil society
actors may have access to are prevalently the following:

• The European Social Fund (ESF), whose effectiveness has been improved by
speeding up the monitoring and evaluation of Roma projects and spreading
measures that have proved particularly effective throughout Europe.

• The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), whose new regulation, adopted
in 2009, makes it possible to extend funding to housing projects for communities
living in extreme levels of poverty and marginalization, including many Roma
communities.

• The PROGRESS Program, which includes the information campaign Yes to diversity.
No to discrimination and sponsors awareness-raising activities.

• Equality and Citizenship Rights Program. Call for “grants to support national and
global projects on non-discrimination and integration of Roma communities”.

Overall, Italy had access to 32 billion EUR in ESIF (ESF and ERDF), which are available for
the 2014-2020 period. This significant source of funding is the already mentioned PON
Metropolitan Cities 2014-2020”,50 which includes specific budget for investments aimed at
the social inclusion of RSC. It is implemented in twelve metropolitan areas, including those
cities in which the most numerous Roma communities live. Considering the ways in which
the Italian metropolitan cities have managed in recent years the costs related to policies
and interventions targeting RSC Communities, there is a risk that PON Metro funds

45
http://www.ponmetro.it/home/ecosistema/viaggio-nei-cantieri-pon-metro/pon-metro-venezia/progetti-
venezia/accompagnamento-sociale-rom-sinti-camminanti/
http://www.ponmetro.it/home/ecosistema/viaggio-nei-cantieri-pon-metro/pon-metro-messina/progetti-
46

messina/rom-mempowererment/
47
http://www.ponmetro.it/home/ecosistema/viaggio-nei-cantieri-pon-metro/pon-metro-roma/progetti-
roma/strade-rom/
48
As shown in the Health Action Plan for the RSC communities, a series of projects, funded by the
Ministry and INMP, have been executed over the years, but have not been implemented anymore:
http://www.salute.gov.it/imgs/C_17_pubblicazioni_2451_allegato.pdf
49
UNAR had indicated four axes of intervention: housing, employment, education and health.
50
National Operational Program for Metropolitan Cities.

19
CIVIL SOCIETY MONITORING REPORT ON IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NATIONAL ROMA INTEGRATION STRATEGY
in Italy

intended for Roma inclusion will not be used correctly, but will, instead, go to reinforce the
policies of segregation or forced evictions.51

Availability of reliable data on the situation of Roma

Italy does not have official ethnically disaggregated data for RSC citizens. The absence of
data and information relating to the presence and living conditions of RSC, is perceived by
the NRIS as a fundamental problem. For this purpose, on 21 June 2017, the RSC National
Statistical Table, coordinated by the Italian Institute of Statistics (ISTAT), was set up,
involving the participation of concerned ministries, ANCI, and Roma representatives with
the aim of overcoming the information gap on the condition of the RSC communities. The
RSC National Statistical Table has the following objectives:

1. Getting to a common definition of the RSC population and generate a conceptual

framework for identifying indicators aimed at detecting and monitoring the
inclusion of RSC populations compared to the four axes of the strategy;

2. providing the institutions and bodies involved in Roma inclusion guidelines for the
collection and processing of data concerning RSC populations;

3. achieving the systematization of data sources and the harmonization of existing

data;
4. building an integrated platform for the exchange of data and information, shared
by the members of the Table which, in the long term, will lead to the establishment
of an integrated information system on the RSC;

5. creating a website to access the statistical information on RSC that has quality
requirements certified by the working group.

With reference to the publications available on data sources, it should be noted that ISTAT
published a volume “Sources of data on the Roma, Sinti and Caminanti population. A pilot
survey in four Italian municipalities”.52 The project involved a detailed survey data in four
municipalities of convergence objective regions such as Naples, Bari, Catania and Lamezia
Terme to provide local, regional, national authorities and policy makers with an essential
tool to support the planning of policies for the overcoming of RCS settlements. 53 Another
source of national information is a publication “The Roma, Sinti and Caminanti settlements
in Italy” from 2016. 54

Among the few surveys available that collect and analyse data on a national scale:

● EU INCLUSIVE. National Report on labour and social inclusion of Roma people in

Italy.55 This report based on findings of a survey financed from the ESF (2007-
2013) provides information on RSC’s housing conditions, residential segregation,
literacy and work conditions (including informal employment) and sectors of work,
as well as identified the main barriers to the integration, such as lack of personal
documents.

51
See report Segregare costa, by Berenice-Lunaria-Compare-OsservAzione. Available at:
http://www.lunaria.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/segregare.costa_.pdf
52
https://www.istat.it/it/archivio/196456.
53
The survey aims is to provide local, regional, national authorities and policy makers with an essential
tool to support the planning of policies for the overcoming of RCS settlements. Data have been collected as
follows.
54
The report, by M. Giovannetti, N. Marchesini, E. Baldoni, is available at:
http://www.cittalia.it/images/Gli_insediamenti_Rom_Sinti_e_Caminanti_in_iItalia_.pdf.
55
www.casadellacarita.org/eu-inclusive/rapporto.html

20
 GOVERNANCE AND OVERALL POLICY FRAMEWORK

● Beyond social-housing separatism,56 study compiling diverse sources

(administrative, interviews with public authorities, civil society organisations,
previous reports and information from media) to provide information on the history
of RSC’s presence in covered regions, aimed at promoting the governance of
policies and instruments for social inclusion and the fight against discrimination
against Roma, Sinti and Caminanti communities.

● Associazione 21 Luglio Annual Report 2016.57 The report provides information on

situation in emergency housing sites, camp, informal shanty towns, micro-
residential areas and other types of concentrations of RSC with more than 100
inhabitants.

● Promoting Social Inclusion of Roma. A Study of National Policies (Italy), by Filippo

Strati (Studio Ricerche Sociali SRS).58 This study on social inclusion policies includes
a statistical annex with estimates of Roma population – both segregated in
substandard and standard housing – in various Italian regions, using secondary
data.

Policies and measures addressing specific needs of Roma women, children

and youth
As shown by several European studies, in general, Roma women record significant lower
social inclusion rates than those recorded by men, especially if compared to the non-Roma
population.59 In regard to the Italian situation, these data are confirmed by the survey EU
INCLUSIVE. National report on the employment and social inclusion of Roma in Italy. Roma
women are more unemployed than men in every age group and for every national profile;
the rate of literacy of women is lower than that of men. Divorces and separations are not
very common among the RSC groups, and the level of social autonomy of Roma women
is even more undermined if they live in municipal camps, and especially in those camps
that are distant or poorly connected to urban centres.

Beside Roma women, also Roma children and youths often live in vulnerable conditions.
Minors continue to suffer the most obvious consequences of forced evictions, in terms of
impact on schooling and integration into the social networks and services. As underlined
by FRA survey,60 despite the several ad hoc schooling projects carried out by Italian local
authorities over the years, 20 per cent of Roma children never started school, while 23
per cent did not complete the primary education cycle. Although the NRIS proposes a
specific gender approach that pays particular attention to the condition of women,
envisages a tutorship and other actions for minors and calls for their empowerment
processes, there are no structural public interventions capable to guarantee fulfilment of
these objectives and address the vulnerability experienced specifically by Roma women
and minors. Moreover, there is no specific forms of involvement for women and Roma
children in the organizations that promote their participation and consultation to elaborate
and/or monitor specific interventions to support women, youth and RSC children.

56
http://www.irefricerche.it/File/File/REPORT/Oltre%20il%20separatismo%20socio-
abitativo%20SINTESI%20new%20logos.pdf
57
http://www.21luglio.org/21luglio/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/RAPPORTO-ANNUALE_2016_WEB.pdf
58
http://www.cestim.it/argomenti/03rom-
sinti/11_07_it_strati_promoting_the_social_inclusion_of_roma.pdf
59
See Roma Inclusion Index 2015, published by Decade of Roma Inclusion Secretariat Foundation,
available at:
http://www.rcc.int/romaintegration2020/files/user/docs/Roma%20Inclusion%20Index%202015.pdf
60
EU-FRA, Roma Pilot Survey, 2011: http://fra.europa.eu/DVS/DVT/roma.php.

21
ANTI-DISCRIMINATION

Implementing the Racial Equality Directive

In Italy, over 20 per cent of the Roma population live in nomad municipal camps.61 Even
if the majority of RSC communities do not lead a nomadic lifestyle, these camps continue
to be designed and built by local authorities, especially in the big towns where the reference
to the “nomadic Gypsy” is still widespread. Sometimes, these authorised municipal areas
are called “Equipped Villages”, even though they remain characterised by a high level of
housing precariousness, segregation and marginalization. These Roma camps have acted
for decades as a catalyst of prejudice, often determining the rise of the level of
marginalization experienced by the Roma and the spread of hate speech. In consequence,
the widespread of negative prejudices against Roma have led many Roma who live in
houses to hide their identity, in order not to become targets of discrimination. This situation
has furthermore increased discrimination against Roma, in two ways. On the one hand, it
created a “differentiate” perception on the Roma housing needs and rights among the
majority of the population and, on the other hand, it promoted the idea in many RSC
communities that the housing discrimination they are victims of should not be denounced,
but rather tolerated as a standard condition. The socially spread effect of the stereotype
of the “nomadic Gypsy” is still closely linked to the idea of the “nomad camp” as a housing
solution for them, and produces pervasive discrimination that affects both those subjects
who live in those camps and those who live outside, resulting in implicit or obvious
antigypsyism. This situation of segregation leads to a generalised discrimination that
crosses many areas of the life of Roma and Sinti communities: Roma communities have
difficult access to justice and often manage to get equality of treatment only if supported
by the legal action of NGOs. For this reason Italy has received multiple recommendations
to implement policies to overcome Roma discrimination in their access to housing, work
and education, but the situation of segregation and lack of rights has not been resolved
yet.62

The NRIS has not produced any change in the political attitude towards Roma communities.
It must be underlined that, while adopting the NRIS, the Italian government was also
arguing before courts about the validity of the Roma Emergency Decree of the Presidency
of the Council of Ministers (21 May 2008), 63 that had declared the emergency in relation
to the settlements of “nomad communities”. This decree allowed to invest millions of EUR
in new camps. The issue was only definitively settled on 26 April 2013, when the Court of
Cassation declared the nomad camps a form of ethnic segregation. The funds that Italy
had allocated for Roma since 2008, however, have been spent largely for evictions and for
the construction of new camps, rather than for actions aimed at the inclusion of RSC
communities.

UNAR is the national contact point entitled to promote actions to fight discrimination, and
has for this reason established regional territorial units, even if their impact is still limited.64
Very often, in fact, advocacy actions are and can be taken only if RSC people have the
opportunity to receive the assistance of NGOs able to support their legal action. This
political context directly affected the abilities of UNAR to act, since UNAR is a direct
emanation of the government.

61
http://www.osservazione.org/it/4_15/film-documentario--fuori-campo-storie-di-rom-nellitalia-di-
oggi.htm
62
https://www.coe.int/t/dghl/monitoring/ecri/country-by-country/italy/ita-cbc-v-2016-019-eng.pdf
63
http://www.asgi.it/wp-
content/uploads/public/decreto.del.presidente.del.consiglio.dei.ministri.21.maggio.2008.pdf
64
Stefano Pasta, “L’inclusione delle politiche per i rom: una novità ancora da assimilare,” Aggiornamenti
Sociali 2017(11), 739–753.

22
 ANTI-DISCRIMINATION

Educational and residential segregation

Educational segregation
It is very difficult to consider reliable data on the presence of Roma and Sinti at school,
because until 2016 the Ministry of Education used to measure the presence of these
communities in school by referring to a survey on “nomadic pupils” which makes the data
an example of stereotyping rather than correct sampling. This type of reporting evaluation
produces incorrect, or at least partial data, because it ends up just providing data on those
students who are living in the “nomad camps”, putting an emphasis, on an emergency
approach to this theme.
The research, concluded in 2003 within the European project The education of the Gypsy
childhood in Europe, 65 confirmed that in the country there is a remarkable correlation
between being recognized as a Roma beneficiary of an ad hoc training project, and the
failure of the educational path of that student; on the contrary, the more the child is not
“stigmatized” under the “Roma/Gypsy/Nomad” concept, the greater are his chances of
succeeding at school. This type of assessment must be related to the history of schooling:
between the 1960s and the 1980s, Italy included Roma and Sinti within differential classes
reserved for “Gypsies”. It was a strategy of inclusion closely linked to the idea that the
populations of the “nomad camps” should be re-educated to be able to enter society.
Those experiences have been characterized using a low-level pedagogy, that was based
on the idea that Roma and Sinti populations had a lower intelligence than average. The
results were completely unsatisfactory; if anything, they succeeded in increasing the level
of marginalization and discrimination.66

This national context produces actions of marginalization in the school at local level and
ethnic segregation. According the FRA Roma pilot survey (2011), the data on the schools
or classes attended by non‑Roma children living nearby show an ethnically homogeneous
school environment: in Italy, 85 per cent of non‑Roma children attended classes without
or with only some Roma children.67 Meanwhile, according the same survey, Italy was one
the country in which the worst results about “perceived experiences of discrimination” are
recorded.68 This study shows that around the 16 per cent of Roma aged 16 and above who
had contact with educational institutions experienced discrimination in education in the last
year in Italy,69 while the Roma respondents reporting the most recent incident of perceived
discrimination in education in the past 12 months was 45 per cent in total.70

Regarding the scholastic context, discrimination leads to cases of children misdiagnosed

with learning disorders, but also to the use of exclusion practices that come back to the

65
Ana Giménez Adelantado, Leonardo Piasere, and Jean Pierre Liegeois, The Education of Gypsy Childhood
in Europe, Opre Roma Project. Available at: https://cordis.europa.eu/docs/publications/8260/82608111-
6_en.pdf.
66
Ibid.
67
Other European countries: Poland 96%, Greece 91%, Czech Republic 78%, Slovakia 76%, Portugal
77%; in Spain, Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania, 32 % to 49 % of non‑Roma children living nearby Roma said
that they studied in ethnically mixed classes. Source: FRA, Roma survey – Data in focus. Education: the
situation of Roma in 11 EU Member States, 2014, pp. 46-47, available at:
http://fra.europa.eu/sites/default/files/fra_uploads/fra-2014-roma-survey-dif-education-1_en.pdf.
68
The survey asked whether respondents had felt discriminated against by school staff because of their
ethnic origin at least once in the 12 months preceding the survey. Both students aged 16 and above and their
parents could express their experiences of perceived unequal treatment in the survey.
Czech Republic 20%; 18% France; 11% Hungary; 9% Greece, Romania; 7% Portugal, Spain, Poland;
69

5% Slovakia; 4% Bulgaria. Source: FRA, Roma survey – Data in focus. Education: the situation of Roma in 11
EU Member States, 2014, p. 49, available at: http://fra.europa.eu/sites/default/files/fra_uploads/fra-2014-
roma-survey-dif-education-1_en.pdf.
70
Czech Republic 28%; Hungary 18%, Spain 6%. Source: FRA, Roma survey – Data in focus. Education:
the situation of Roma in 11 EU Member States, 2014, p. 49, available at:
http://fra.europa.eu/sites/default/files/fra_uploads/fra-2014-roma-survey-dif-education-1_en.pdf.

23
CIVIL SOCIETY MONITORING REPORT ON IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NATIONAL ROMA INTEGRATION STRATEGY
in Italy

old model of segregated classes: at the beginning of the school year 2016/2017, the first
class of a school in Pescara was “reserved” for Roma pupils only; so, last August 2017, 13
Roma pupils all attended the same class. The school head, called upon to motivate the
creation of a class on ethnicity basis, presented that choice as “the development of an
innovative teaching process”.71 This condition shows how, despite the attempts to
overcome discrimination through general anti-discrimination legislation, the negative
stereotype on Roma is so widespread at social level that it provokes hypervisibility and
results in concrete discrimination on an ethnic basis.

Residential segregation
Since 1984 some Italian regions, also as a consequence of a lack of a national legislation
on Roma inclusion, started to adopt their own regional laws aimed at the “protection of
nomadic cultures”.72 These laws were underpinned by the erroneous conviction that Roma
and Sinti are “nomads”, with the double effect to strengthen the perception of Roma and
Sinti as “nomads”, and to lead to the official construction and management of segregated
living spaces. All these laws have a common thread: they foresee the design and
construction of “authorised” settlements (so-called “Roma camps”) specially tailored for
Roma and Sinti communities, thus promoting and justifying residentially segregating
policies. Even if initially the realization of “authorised” settlements was not intended to be
a mean of segregation but a way to protect the perceived peculiarities of these minorities,
the results have been extremely critical in terms of spatial segregation and social
marginalization. Italy has been repeatedly urged by a number of human rights monitoring
bodies to put an end to the discriminatory practices and policies affecting Roma living
within its territory.73 The Italian authorities have repeatedly failed to meet these
international obligations and recommendations, as they continue to build and manage
“authorised” settlements, and to provide housing units inside them to the Roma and Sinti
families. These municipal camps or settlements are designed and managed to constitute a
parallel and permanent housing system specifically designed for Roma and Sinti, as an
alternative to ordinary housing solutions as, for example, the social housing system. In
many Italian municipalities an ad-hoc “Roma Office” is in charge of the management of the
settlements and of the assignation of the housing units. On 30 May 2015 the Civil Court of
Rome ruled the discriminatory nature of institutional segregation inside a Roma-only
“authorised” settlement, with regard to the La Barbuta settlement in Rome. In April 2012
the NGOs ASGI (Association for Legal Studies on Immigration) and Associazione 21 Luglio
took legal action against the City of Rome to stop the construction of La Barbuta Roma-
only settlement. As argued in the complaint, the Court stated that the construction of the
“village” La Barbuta was discriminatory in its nature, and therefore unlawful by the mere
fact that a specific ethnic group was being segregated from the local population through
the provision of housing from the municipality.74 Placing Roma in Roma-only municipal
settlements, shelters or any other mono-ethnic housing solution fosters social exclusion,
and is contrary to a range of international obligations and to the Race Equality Directive
2000/43, that prohibits discrimination in housing. The Italian authorities committed to
overcome discriminatory segregation and sub-standard housing conditions in “authorised”
settlements with the approval of the NRIS (p.7-11), which includes the following goals in
its Axis 4 related to housing:

“Increasing the access to a wide range of housing solutions for the RSC people, with a
participatory approach, in order to definitively overcome emergency approaches and large-

71
Article by Riccardo Noury, communication manager of Amnesty International Italy:
http://lepersoneeladignita.corriere.it/2017/12/07/a-pescara-una-classe-monoetnica-per-soli-rom/
72
Luca Bravi, Nando Sigona, Educazione e rieducazione nei campi per nomadi. Una storia.
http://www.romsintimemory.it/assets/files/storia_memoria/memoria-negata/ALLEGATO%2014%20Sigona-
Bravi,%20ABSTRACT%20EN.pdf
73
ECRI - European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (2016), “ECRI Report on Italy (fifth
monitoring cycle)”, Council of Europe, 18 March 2016.
74
http://www.asgi.it/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Ordinanza-La-Barbuta.pdf

24
 ANTI-DISCRIMINATION

sized mono-ethnic settlements, while paying due regard to local opportunities, family
reunification and a strategy to be based upon the principle of equal distribution:

1. Promoting integrated policies for inter-institutional cooperation in the field of

housing supply for the RSC people;

2. Promoting housing solutions which meet the requirements and specific needs of the
RSC families;

3. Raising awareness about the economic resources, the administrative arrangements

available under the housing policies, and the real estate opportunities for the RSC
families”.

Despite this commitment, the national Government has not implemented any concrete
measure to eradicate housing segregation. The persistence of segregated housing policies
addressed towards Roma and Sinti throughout Italy continues to attract criticisms from a
number of human rights monitoring bodies. Among these, in particular, Amnesty
International, which has been reporting the segregation of the Roma in its campaigns since
2008.75 According to a mapping performed by Associazione 21 Luglio, Italy currently
manages 149 “authorised” Roma-only settlements throughout Italy.76 These data put in
evidence that the housing segregation of Roma communities is a widespread and
systematic issue, as it is not just limited to the main Italian cities, but also in many
medium-sized municipalities that manage Roma-only settlements, where a large amount
of public fund is used to reiterate Roma housing exclusion.

The following short list provides information about the typology, the annual cost for the
ordinary functioning of settlements, and the place of the last Roma municipal settlements
financed by local authorities in the last five years:

• 2012: Roma-only settlement La Barbuta (approximately 10 million EUR),

approximately 600 persons, Rome.

• 2012: Roma-only reception facility (temporary place created following an eviction

and destined to be dismantled within a few months) Best House Rom (yearly
management: 2.6 million EUR; costs for the refurbishment of the building: N/A),
approximately 320 persons, Rome.

• 2012: Roma-only reception facility Centro Grazia Deledda (1.7 million EUR),
approximately 100 persons, Napoli.

• 2013: Roma-only settlement Masseria del Pozzo (0.38 million EUR), approximately
370 persons, Giugliano (NA).

• 2014: 2 Roma-only settlements Ex scuola Cortile and Magazzino ex colombofila

(94,400 EUR, the housing units are of property of the Roma families and have been
moved from the previous settlement), 71 persons, Carpi (MO).

• 2014: Roma-only settlement Villaggio Martirano (2.3 million EUR), 90 persons,

Milan.

• 2014: Roma-only settlement Nuovo Panareo (596,331 EUR), approximately 120

persons, Lecce.

• 2015: Roma-only temporary tent settlement Tendopoli Rom Cosenza (415,000

EUR), approximately 450 persons, Cosenza.

• 2016: Roma-only settlement Via del Riposo (549,688 EUR), 168 persons, Naples.

75
https://www.amnesty.it/insediamenti-rom-infrazione-italia/
76
Associazione 21 Luglio, Rapporto annuale 2016. Available at: http://www.21luglio.org/21luglio/wp-
content/uploads/2017/04/RAPPORTO-ANNUALE_2016_WEB.pdf

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CIVIL SOCIETY MONITORING REPORT ON IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NATIONAL ROMA INTEGRATION STRATEGY
in Italy

Little has been done at the national level aside from allocating funds to manage existing
facilities.

Compared to the period of the “Nomad emergency” we are witnessing a gradual change of
approach in the policies aimed at Roma inclusion, and the adoption of the NRIS and the
first efforts towards its implementation are a clear indicator of this path. An increasing
consensus on the urgency to implement effective inclusion policies for Roma, and
particularly on the necessity to overcome segregating housing solutions, can be traced
among some decision makers at the national and regional level. Nevertheless, the
translation of commitments into concrete measures is intermittent and in considerable
delay, resulting in no substantial improvement of the living conditions of Roma and Sinti
families on the ground so far. A considerable discrepancy between the orientation of
national authorities and the one of local authorities can be noted, a factor which hinders
the transposition of the NRIS into concrete measures at the local level. The high degree of
discrepancy, the territorial non-homogeneous implementation and the considerable delays
recorded are all critical factors currently jeopardizing the potential positive impact of the
NRIS. The lack of impact of the NRIS has been acknowledged also by the European
Committee on Social Rights (ECSR) of the CoE, who assessed Italy’s situation in its “Follow-
up to Decisions on the Merits of Collective Complaints – Findings 2015”.77 Italy was found
in breach of the European Social Charter with regard to housing segregation and forced
evictions of Roma communities twice, in 2005 and in 2010. 78 Concerning both cases, the
request for information by ECSR in order to assess whether Italy took action in order to
bring the situation into conformity with the Charter was met by Italian authorities with one
essential argument: the implementation of the NRIS. The ECSR concluded that, despite
small progress in some areas, the measures undertaken were insufficient to bring the
situation into conformity with the Charter.

It is also important to consider the impact that this situation had on Roma and Sinti self-
perception about discriminatory living conditions that they have been experiencing during
the years, and the possibility that they have to undertake actions aimed at overcoming
them. In 2017, the NGO Arci Solidarietà has carried out several interviews that revealed
the condition of the inhabitants of the camps with respect to the perception of relations
with the outside world: the interviewed people describe the condition of the camps,
particularly in Rome, as a problem for poor hygiene conditions and frequent flooding after
the rains; this housing condition causes a sense of abandonment and exclusion and makes
relations with the outside world and with the institutions even more difficult.

Forced evictions
The decree of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers (21 May 2008), which called for a
state of emergency in relation to the settlements of “nomad communities” in some Italian
regions, produced numerous evictions without suitable alternative solutions, mainly in
Milan and the use of social inclusion funding to build new camps, especially in Rome. The
decree has triggered an unjustified alarm condition with respect to the presence of Roma
and Sinti in Italy; the decree has described a fake relationship between the presence of
Roma in Italy and crime. Local administrations have chosen to resort to evictions instead
of activating educational, occupational and housing inclusion policies. In this way the Roma
and Sinti have been segregated again within the nomad camps on the outskirts of the cities
and the condition of exclusion of these communities has worsened.79

77
https://rm.coe.int/16805939f5
78
FRA, Housing conditions of Roma and Travellers in Europe. Available at:
http://fra.europa.eu/en/publication/2011/housing-conditions-roma-and-travellers-european-union-
comparative-report
79
Carlo Stasolla, Sulla pelle dei Rom: il piano nomadi della giunta Alemanno (Roma: Alegre, 2012).

26
 ANTI-DISCRIMINATION

When collectively evicting Roma and Sinti families, the Italian authorities hardly ever apply
all the procedural protections expected by international laws.80 In most of the documented
cases, evictions are carried out in absence of formal eviction orders and without a formal
notice, ruling out the possibility to have access to a legal remedy. Moreover, they are
carried out without an adequate advance notification, in absence of any kind of consultation
and without taking into consideration the individual circumstances of each family. Very
often no alternative housing possibilities are provided to the families evicted, making them
homeless. In the very rare cases in which alternative housing is offered, either it causes
the division of households, as only mothers with children are welcomed in temporary
housing-emergency, or it consists in a sub-standard and inadequate housing unit in a
segregated Roma-only municipal camp or reception facility. This shows how forced
evictions, in the absence of shared and alternative housing solutions, cause an aggravation
of marginalization and never represent a solution that produces inclusion. The evicted
communities plunge into an increasingly serious situation of unease, increasing the
vulnerability and exacerbating the living conditions of those affected.

Recent examples highlight the systematic use of forced evictions carried out by Italian
authorities throughout Italy, mainly in the cities of Rome, Milan and Florence. The data
collected by the observatory made by Associazione 21 Luglio are alarming.81 In 2015-2016
there have been 250 forced evictions: 100 in Northern Italy, 90 in Central Italy, and 60 in
Southern Italy.

Only in the city of Rome, from 1 January 2013 to 31 December 2016 a total of 196
documented forced evictions were carried out, affecting roughly 4,890 Roma overall:82
Year Number of Number of Costs for eviction
forced evictions evicted Roma

2013 54 1.230 1,545,058 EUR

2014 34 1.135 1,315,000 EUR

2015 80 1.500 1,842,340 EUR

2016 28 960 1,260,020 EUR

TOTAL 196 4.890 5,962,418 EUR

It must be stressed that reliable estimations attest the total Roma population residing in
spontaneous settlements in Rome at about 2,200-2,500 individuals, 0.09 per cent of the
overall population. This shows that in recent years a large amount of public money has
been used for evicting the same people several times, forcing them to move from one
precarious situation to another, and reproducing housing exclusion.

Discriminatory behaviour by police, misconduct by prosecutors or courts

The years following the launch of the national strategy did not register an improvement in
the fight against discriminatory behavior against RSC. In fact, there are numerous reports
by ERRC and UNHCR on violations:

On 14 July 2015, the Turin Criminal Court convicted at first instance six people finding
them guilty of a violent assault on a Roma camp in Turin known as La Continassa. The
informal camp was destroyed in December 2011 by a violent mob which set fire to shacks,
caravans, and cars, following a march in reaction to a false and unfounded allegation of
rape against two Romani men. The arson attack on the camp completely destroyed the
homes and property of 46 Roma. The court recognised that the attack was racially

80
NAGA, Nomadi per forza (Milano: 2015).
81
Associazione 21 Luglio, Rapporto annuale 2016.
82
Articolo 3 Osservatorio sulle discriminazioni, Rapporti annuali (Mantova, 2014). Available at:
http://www.articolo3.org/categoria/rapporti

27
CIVIL SOCIETY MONITORING REPORT ON IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NATIONAL ROMA INTEGRATION STRATEGY
in Italy

motivated and referred to several factors such as insults, verbal racist abuse, and threats
of violence against Roma that clearly proved hate bias. The court found that the authorities
failed to protect the victims from the attack, underestimated the risks and dangers to which
Roma living in La Continassa were exposed, and found that the small number of officers
present actually emboldened the mob to engage in extreme anti-Roma violence. No
procedures have been initiated against law enforcement officials responsible for the failure
in protecting this vulnerable community.

In Turin, on 29 September 2015 three local police officers went to Lungo Stura Lazio
informal camp to evict a Roma family who had just returned from Romania and occupied
a shack. One family member who tried to resist the eviction was pepper-sprayed,
handcuffed, and forced to the ground by police officers. Another police officer drew his gun
and pointed it at onlookers. According to available evidence, the police reaction was
disproportionate. There has been no investigation into police conduct but the Romani man
was charged and found guilty on 17 February 2016 with assault and causing injury to the
three police officers.

On 15 December 2013, in Turin, a police officer shot a Roma who was running away
following a theft. The Roma was hit in the back and disabled. Three years later the court
sentenced the police officer to nine months imprisonment and fined him 60,000 EUR.

On 15 December 2013, in Turin, a police officer shot a Roma who was running away
following a theft. The Roma was hit in the back and disabled. Three years later the court
sentenced the police officer to nine months imprisonment and fined him 60,000 EUR.

28
ADDRESSING ANTIGYPSYISM

Institutional settings for fighting discrimination and addressing

antigypsyism
The NRIS recognises the existence of antigypsyism and, above all, explicitly links the
inclusion of RSC population “to a more comprehensive process of cultural growth, which
involves the society as a whole” and which has the task “to eliminate the racial
discrimination germs from the European and national mentality, which historically have
taken the form of the so-called anti-gitanism”. Antigypsyism is in fact defined as a “complex
cultural and historical phenomenon, fraught with serious negative effects on the living
conditions of the Roma and Sinti communities, which caused in the twentieth century the
tragedy of Porrajmos”.83 Emphasizing this cultural meaning, UNAR, responsible for the
direction of the Strategy, agreed to carry out preventative and repressive actions against
antigypsyism on the International Holocaust Remembrance Day on the 27 January,84 and
the Week of Action against Racism, starting on 21 March.85

Through the Ministry of Education the Italian authorities also clearly identifies antigypsyism
in another general document, “The Italian way for the intercultural school and the
integration of foreign students”.86 This document states the principles and actions which
define the “national model” for the reception and integration of children having different
cultural backgrounds, including RSC groups; this model shows the opportunity to promote
actions against prejudice and discrimination and states that “antigypsyism can be
considered as a form of racism that intercultural education must combat, through the
knowledge of the history of the Roma and Sinti population”.87

In the Annual Report on the implementation of the principle of equal treatment and the
effectiveness of the protection methods that UNAR presents each year to the Italian
Parliament,88 RSC groups are included as subject to racism and discrimination. Also The Jo
Cox Committee on hate, intolerance, xenophobia and racism established on 10 May 2016
by the Chamber of Deputies, dedicated a chapter on antigypsyism in the final Report of
July 2017.89 This subject has been mentioned also in the Final Report of the Commission
of Inquiry on the outskirts of the Chamber (December 2017). 90 The Extraordinary Human

83
Italian version: UNAR, Strategia Nazionale d’Inclusione dei Rom, dei Sinti, e dei Caminanti 2012/2020.
Attuazione Comunicazione Commissione Europea n. 173/2011 (Roma: UNAR, 2012), 25. English version:
UNAR, National Strategy for the Inclusion of Roma, Sinti and Caminanti Communities. European Commission
Communication No. 173/2011 (Roma: UNAR, 2012).
84
According to the Italian Law 211/2000, the International Holocaust Remembrance Day (27 January) is
celebrated every year but the Genocide of Roma and Sinti is not explicitly mentioned.
85
According to UN, it is the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, but the
antigypsyism is not explicitly mentioned.
86
Ministero della Pubblica Istruzione, La via italiana per la scuola interculturale e l’integrazione degli alunni
stranieri (Roma: Ministero della Pubblica Istruzione, 2007).
87
Ministero della Pubblica Istruzione, La via italiana per la scuola interculturale e l’integrazione degli alunni
stranieri (Roma: Ministero della Pubblica Istruzione, 2007), p. 16.
88
One of the institutional tasks of UNAR is to inform the Parliament and the the Government through two
Annual Reports on the effective application of the principle of equal treatment and on the effectiveness of the
protection mechanisms, as well as on the progress and obstacles of the anti-discrimination actions in Italy.
However, since 2015, the two reports have not been published any longer, due to the difficulties UNAR
experienced in carrying out its activity, as explained at other places of this report.
89
Commissione Jo Cox sull’intolleranza, la xenofobia, il razzismo e i fenomeni d’odio, Relazione finale
(Roma: Camera dei deputati, 2017).
90
Commissione parlamentare di inchiesta sulle condizioni di sicurezza e sullo stato di degrado delle città e
delle loro periferie, Relazione sull’attività svolta (25 novembre 2016 – 14 dicembre 2017) (Roma: Camera dei
deputati, 2017).

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CIVIL SOCIETY MONITORING REPORT ON IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NATIONAL ROMA INTEGRATION STRATEGY
in Italy

Rights Commission of the Senate, the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance No Hate of the Council
of Europe, UNAR itself and other public institutions also took positions recognizing
antigypsyism, too. However, these authorities only have advisory and monitoring powers,
and are not very effective in terms of action. It cannot be said that there is no awareness,
at least in some institutions, of the existence of racist feelings against RSC population.
However, at institutional level, we cannot say that there is an adequate awareness of its
level of pervasiveness in the Italian society. Moreover, it cannot be said that fighting
antigypsyism is a priority of the State, but rather a sporadic and fragmentary activity. It
should also be considered that antigypsyism is interpreted – from the NRIS itself – as a
cultural and historical phenomenon, to be fought through campaigns and dedicated events,
but it is not treated as a specific legal issue. From this point of view, therefore, it is fought
through the same tools usually applied to other forms of racism, and not through a system
of ad hoc restrictions.

This choice is also related to two gaps present in the Italian legislative framework. Firstly,
the RSC population has not as yet been acknowledged as a minority as, according to Art.
6 of the Italian Constitution, this definition only applies to a group of people, living in an
identifiable area, and having its own linguistic specification. Even if Law n. 482 of 1999
protects twelve minorities,91 in many cases numerically less significant than Roma and
Sinti, the Roma minority was not acknowledged as such, as in the evaluation of their case
the principle of territoriality prevailed on the linguistic one.92

In the following Legislatures, several law proposals for recognizing the RSC population as
a minority have been suggested in Parliament, but none have been successful. In 2012,
the Roma and Sinti Insieme Federation, together with 43 Sinti and Roma associations,
academics, political and trade union training and national associations, proposed a popular
legislative initiative (PLI) “For the protection and equal opportunities of the historical-
linguistic minority of Rom and Sinti”,93 while Fondazione Romanì Italia presented its
proposal in collaboration with the University of Teramo,94 but neither of these attempts
was successful.

Secondly, there is no reference to the genocide of Roma and Sinti in the institutional law
of International Holocaust Remembrance Day (n. 11 of 2000), which instead refers only to
“the extermination and persecution of the Jewish people and of the Italian military and
political deportees in the Nazi camps”.95 Moreover, the proposal of law to include the
reference to the extermination of Roma and Sinti that was presented in the last Legislature

91
www.camera.it/parlam/leggi/99482l.htm.
92
Ed. Paolo Bonetti, Alessandro Simoni, and Tommaso Vitale, La condizione giuridica di Rom e Sinti in
Italia: atti del convegno internazionale; Università degli studi di Milano-Bicocca, 16-18 giugno 2010 (Milano:
Giuffrè, 2011.
93
Paolo Bonetti, Alessandro Simoni and Tommaso Vitale, "Norme per la tutela e le pari opportunità della
minoranza dei Rom e dei Sinti", in La condizione giuridica di Rom e Sinti in Italia, ed. Bonetti, Simoni, and
Vitale, 1281-1362.
See also the Civil Society position papers: “’Anche tenendo conto di eventuali specifiche esigenze’.
OsservAzione e il dibattito sul riconoscimento del romanes e della minoranza rom e sinta”, OsservAzione, 12
ottobre 2015 Available at: http://www.osservazione.org/it/2_91/anche-tenendo-conto-di-eventuali-specifiche-
esigenze.htm. “Riconoscimento, la risposta di Sucar Drom ad OsservAzione”, U Velto. Available at:
http://sucardrom.blogspot.it/2015/12/riconoscimento-la-risposta-di-sucar.html.
94
Fondazione Romanì, “Proposta di legge statale per il riconoscimento della lingua romanì come
minoranza linguistica storica”. Available at: http://sucardrom.blogspot.it/2015/12/riconoscimento-la-risposta-
di-sucar.html.
95
"Istituzione del ‘Giorno della Memoria’ in ricordo dello sterminio e delle persecuzioni del popolo ebraico e
dei deportati militari e politici italiani nei campi nazisti", Legge 20 luglio 2000, n. 211. Abvailable at:
http://www.camera.it/parlam/leggi/00211l.htm.

30
 ADDRESSING ANTIGYPSYISM

was not approved.96 Although several conferences on Porrajmos tragedy have taken place
during institutional venues organized in the Senate of the Republic and in the Presidency
of the Council of Ministers, the cultural awareness of the genocide of Roma and Sinti is
almost non-existent in the national collective consciousness. The term Porrajmos remains
unknown, as the names of the main Italian concentration camps for Roma and Sinti. We
are far from the inclusion in the school calendar of Porrajmos, as required by the NRIS.

The recent report issued by Jo Cox Committee in 2017 confirms that antigypsyism is an
“historical topic in the Italian society and it has strengthened over the past decade”.97 In
the last few years, the polycentric proliferation of antigypsyism has increased, i.e. the
producers of racist content have spread and diversified: traditional media still have their
importance in the matter, but local political actors, local news websites, self-produced
“unofficial information” blogs, Facebook groups and even private pages on social networks
have started to contribute to the spread on anti-Roma speeches. This situation has three
main dangerous consequences and acts as a powerful hindering factor in preventing Roma
inclusion possibilities, as:

1. it has a direct and blatant impact in terms of daily discrimination on the lives of
those targeted;

2. it acts as a powerful deterrent means for the administrators in charge to design and
implement inclusion policies addressing Roma and Sinti;

3. it gradually allows explicit racist rhetoric against Roma and Sinti to be increasingly
accepted by the public opinion, paving the way to occasional violent drifts.

The antigypsyism matter has “standardised”, meaning that it has been minced and
widespread, becoming ever more pervasive and omnipresent. This current situation is well
represented by an episode which happened in February 2017, and which had a wide media
echo: two supermarket employees in the province of Grosseto trapped two Roma women
in a trash bin, having surprised them during a rummage, then filmed a video of their racist
insults, which became viral on YouTube and Facebook.98 When these aggressors were fired,
the Mayor of the city expressed regret and the secretary of the Lega Nord, Matteo Salvini,
offered legal support to the two employees and launched a boycott campaign against the
supermarket company. This case highlights how it is not only considered normal to lock up
two Roma women in a cage, frighten and offend them, but also to show off this behaviour
among friends, and it is exactly the kind of situation that exemplifies very well the cultural
background in which antigypsyism arises.99

The analysis of antigypsyism and the development of long-term strategies to combat it are
entrusted to the UNAR. In recent years The Office created Focal Points, a territorial network
at regional, provincial and municipal level, for interception and combating cases of
discrimination. Every year, UNAR sends a report about its activities to the Government and
Parliament: unfortunately, it does not provide data concerning the monitored cases, nor
the cases of antigypsyism reported to the Contact Centre and the data are included in the
ethnic-national discrimination cluster.

96
“Modifiche alla legge 20 luglio 2000, n. 211, in materia di estensione del Giorno della Memoria al popolo
dei rom e dei sinti”, Disegno di legge del 22 gennaio 2015. Available at:
http://www.senato.it/japp/bgt/showdoc/17/DDLPRES/901868/index.html?stampa=si&spart=si&toc=no
97
Commissione Jo Cox, Relazione finale, 90.
98
The Public Prosecutor’s office of Grosseto has opened criminal proceedings in respect of this act.
99
The video is available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iToARdN23go; “Follonica, licenziati i
dipendenti che imprigionarono le rom. Salvini: ‘Boicottate la Lidl’”, in la Repubblica, 29 aprile 2017.
See also: Anna Dotti, “Follonica: la gabbia del disprezzo”, in Cronache di ordinario razzismo. Quarto Libro
bianco sul razzismo in Italia, ed. Lunaria (Roma: Lunaria, 2017), 190-93.

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CIVIL SOCIETY MONITORING REPORT ON IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NATIONAL ROMA INTEGRATION STRATEGY
in Italy

In recent years, UNAR activities stopped, due to internal reorganization (currently there is
still no Director), the reduction of funding, and the attacks suffered by some parties and
cultural movements. European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI)
highlights that the activities carried out by UNAR have a weak impact for its limited power
of action: it is in fact a body that is under governmental control and it is not authorized to
open legal actions.100 The Jo Cox Committee underlined also that, the fight against the
discrimination and racism faced by Roma is not part of structural policies or programs at
national, regional and local level. It must be reported some attempts have been done at
local level, by some authorities like Emilia Romagna Region and The Municipality of Milan.

In Emilia Romagna, in addition to monitoring activities, “generic preventative measures

are planned to sensitize and inform the society, and encourage a direct confrontation and
the development of a positive relationship between minority and majority communities
(and vice versa), with the purpose of promoting a confident approach and change of both
parties”.101 The Guidelines of the Municipality of Milan also aim “to oppose and overcome
forms of discrimination against the RSC populations and of denial of the human dignity”.102
However, the lack of application of the NRIS at regional level leads to the general lack of
local initiatives and the absence of monitoring of the cases which is proclaimed in the policy
documents.

There are no government programmes aimed at promoting positive discrimination for the
RSC populations, such as to increase their presence in the public administration, in the
Police, or in prosecutors’ offices and courts. These policies are rarely applied in Italy, and
particularly negated in case of RSC population. In response to the 2017/2038 motion “On
fundamental rights aspects in Roma people integration in the EU: fighting antigypsyism”,
in which the States are asked to “set up within the Police forces, units which, educated on
antigypsyism, know how to effectively fight hate crimes” and “to encourage the recruitment
of Roma people within the same Police forces”, 103 we want to point out the reaction of
Consap – one of the main Italian police unions – which defined the recommendation “a
delirious priority”. The statement, dated 27 of October 2017 says: “The concept of Roma
integration is a contradiction, as their culture has always been to live on the margins of
society to boost their parasitism. Using a Disney metaphor, as someone already said, the
risk would be of asking the Beagle Boys to watch Scrooge McDuck's money bin”.104

Also, regarding the funds, there are no structural plans, so NGOs can only have access to
the European Funds allocated for the fight against antigypsyism, such as the EC's Rights
Equality and Citizenship Program 2014-2020. In November 2016, UNAR published the
Notice for the promotion of positive actions with one of the areas dedicated to the RSC
population (budget of 200,000 EUR). Four proposals have been approved for RSC
populations, but up to date the funds have not been transferred to the NGOs yet. On the
other hand, it has never been questioned whether political parties and media that become
protagonists of incitement speeches to antigypsyism can benefit from public funds, even
in the event of convictions.

100
ECRI, “Conclusions on Implementation of the Recommendations in respect of Italy. Subject to interim
follow-up”, adopted on 9 December 2014, published on 24 February 2015.
101
Regione Emilia Romagna, “Strategia regionale per l’inclusione di rom e sinti” (Bologna, 2014), 61.
102
Comune di Milano, “Linee guida Rom, Sinti e Caminanti del Comune di Milano” (Milano, 2012), 3.
103
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+REPORT+A8-2017-
0294+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN
104
Press release Consap available at: https://st.ilfattoquotidiano.it/wp-
content/uploads/2017/10/Comunicato-stampa-Rom-in-Polizia-1-1.doc.

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 ADDRESSING ANTIGYPSYISM

The strengths and gaps in countering hate crime and hate speech against
Roma, and the antigypsyist rhetoric of politicians, public figures and media
In Italy there is no specific legislative framework to counter hate speech and hate crime
against Roma and Sinti, so their defence fit into the wider anti-discrimination scenery. In
fact, there is no specific penal law contrasting hate speech and hate crime in general. The
legal gap is filled by the application of the laws relating to offences of incitement to racial
hatred, propaganda of ideas based on superiority and racial hatred, insults, libel and
threats. Cases adopting explicit and racist rhetoric fall therefore within the provisions set
by the Law No. 205/1993 (Mancino Law).105 In those cases adopting a more indirect and
subtle expression of bias, the current Italian anti-discrimination framework does not
provide effective means – other than criminal law – to address and discourage them,
leaving antigypsyism and its promoters enough space to fuel anti-Roma sentiments with
blatant, and dangerous effects. The legal gap is even worse on the Internet, and on social
networks especially, where it becomes even more difficult to define the borders of hate
speech and the relevant legislations. In this case, there are no proper laws for the online
environment, but the Mancino Law and the Directive 31/2000/EC on e-commerce are
applied. However, the law is not being respected.

On 30 November 2017 the Minister of Justice Andrea Orlando announced the birth of an
independent body to fight the propaganda of hatred on the Internet. The Court of Cassation
Case law has extended protection procedures against hate speech by recognizing that the
crime of propaganda is to be applied to all forms of traditional and “differential racism”
even though not explicitly or “externally” expressed, such as based on racial prejudice. In
case of political offense, sanctions are provided only when the offense led to discriminatory
or violent reactions, namely when it is considered as a concrete and illicit danger for
peaceful coexistence. This in order to avoid the sanctioning of a mere ideological
principle.106

The principal authorities that intercede in the event of hate speech are two: UNAR and the
Observatory for security against acts of discrimination (OSCAD). 107 OSCAD was established
in September 2011 with the aim of protecting the victims of hate crimes. OSCAD is
operated by the State Police and the Carabinieri and is within the Department of Public
Security – Central Directorate of Criminal Police. Since September 2010 to 15 October
2014, OSCAD have received 1,127 reports, 585 of which considered to have criminal
relevance, 87 per cent of which of a race and ethnic basis.108 In 2009, UNAR created a
Contact Centre for collecting complaints,109 providing immediate and psychological
support, and help victims in the legal procedures; in November 2015 the Media & Internet
Observatory was also established.110 While some episodes are detected and directly
monitored by UNAR experts, individual citizens and associations can report alleged
discriminations on the site, by email, or through a free toll-free telephone service. The
cases processed were 1,283 in 2012, 1,142 in 2013, 1,337 in 2014, 1,814 in 2015;
respectively 51.5 per cent, 66.8 per cent, 74 per cent and 70.6 per cent are classified as

105
Previously, Act no. 654 of 13 October 1975 (The Reale Act) which ratified the International Convention
on the elimination of all form of racial discrimination (1965), had foreseen that all those who spread “ ideas
rooted in racial superiority or hatred” or instigate to commit acts of discrimination or violence towards citizens
belonging to racial, ethnic or national groups (art. 3) shall be liable of imprisonment.
106
Corte di Cassazione, Sez. III penale, sentenza n. 36906/2015; Corte di Cassazione, Sez. V penale,
sentenza n. 43488/2015; Corte di Cassazione, Sez. I penale, sentenza n. 42727/2015; Corte di Cassazione,
Sez. I penale, sentenza n. 47894/2012.
107
https://www.poliziadistato.it/articolo/22017/.
108
Stefano Pasta, Prejudice 2.0. Forms of intolerance in contemporary youth cultural. Theoretical models
and educational practices, doctoral thesis in Education, Catholic University of Milan, 2016, 31. See also: Stefano
Pasta, Razzismo 2.0. Un’analisi socio-educativa dell’odio online (Brescia: Morcelliana, 2018).
109
This service was selected through European public tender.
110
http://www.unar.it/unar/portal/?page_id=7794.

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CIVIL SOCIETY MONITORING REPORT ON IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NATIONAL ROMA INTEGRATION STRATEGY
in Italy

“ethnic-racial ground” (UNAR does not provide the data concerning the RSC population).111
The experts of the Office decide whether to close the case, contact the author or the
manager sites or, in the most serious cases, report to Postal Police.
In the meantime, the racist content spreads online as it usually takes several months
before it is removed. Moreover, UNAR action is considerably limited due to the lack of
repressive and deterrent means to discourage episodes of this kind, as the only direct
action UNAR can undertake is in practice limited to sending a “moral suasion”.

Antigypsyism has also been monitored by civil society organizations, including the
monitoring of newspapers carried out by Article 3-Observatory on discrimination from 2009
to 2014, 112 (then terminated due to lack of funds), the White Books of Lunaria,113 the
annual reports of the Associazione Carta di Roma, 114 the monitoring conducted by the Naga
on newspapers from June 2012 to March 2013.115

The data collected by Associazione 21 Luglio, through their National Observatory on Hate
Speech against Roma, confirm that hate speech targeting Roma is a deep-rooted and
endemic phenomenon in Italy, mainly fuelled by the political discourse at local level.116 In
nearly four years of activity (2013-2016) the Observatory recorded total of 1,296 hate
speech episodes against Roma and Sinti, 794 of whom deemed of particular gravity.117
This results in a daily average of 3.5 episodes, or 2.2 limiting the analysis to the grave
episodes. It is too early to assess the decrease in episodes occurred in 2015 and in 2016
as an indicator of a substantial change, sustainable in time, within the Italian society, as
during the same period the political and public debate moved much of its attention towards
the so-called “refugees issue”, resulting in the scapegoating of other vulnerable groups.118
There is no shortage of acts of hate crimes: the Associazione 21 Luglio has registered 25
cases concerning RSC population in 2015-2016. 119 We report the most significant ones: on
25 April 2016, two members of the Lega Nord of Milan, on the occasion of the Liberation
Day, devastated the homes of the Italian Roma camp in Via Idro – closed a month before
by the Municipality – using hammers to break down the walls, throwing stones and
spreading everything through social networks;120 on 3 April 2016, after the end of a football
match, a group of hooligans attempted to attack a nearby spontaneous Roma settlement

111
Stefano Pasta, Prejudice 2.0, 33.
112
See: www.articolo3.org.
113
Ed. Lunaria, Cronache di ordinario razzismo. Terzo Libro bianco sul razzismo in Italia (Roma: Lunaria,
2014); ed. Lunaria, Cronache di ordinario razzismo. Quarto Libro bianco sul razzismo in Italia (Roma: Lunaria,
2017).
114
Associazione Carta di Roma, Notizie di confine. Terzo rapporto Carta di Roma 2015; Associazione Carta
di Roma, Notizie oltre i muri. Quarto rapporto Carta di Roma 2016; Associazione Carta di Roma, Notizie da
paura. Quinto rapporto Carta di Roma 2017.
115
Naga, Se dico rom… Indagine sulla rappresentazione dei cittadini rom e sinti nella stampa italiana
(Milano: Naga, 2013).
116
The Observatory daily monitors around 120 sources and focuses on hate speech episodes promoted by
politicians, elected officials, State officials, private citizens with a certain degree of formal organization (e.g.
Committees, Unions, Corporations, etc.).
See: www.21luglio.org/21luglio/osservatorio/
117
Data disaggregated per year: 2013 456 episodes, of which 255 categorized as grave; 2014 400, of
which 191 categorized as grave; 2015 265 episodes, of which 146 categorized as grave; 2016 175 episodes, of
which 57 categorized as grave. See: www.21luglio.org/21luglio/osservatorio/.
118
Tuttavia, in alcuni casi, i discorsi xenofobi colpiscono anche i rom e sinti. Può anche capitare che l’invito
razzista a “tornare a casa vostra” sia rivolto verso rom e sinti di nazionalità italiana.
119
21 Luglio Associazione, Rapporto annuale 2016 (Roma, 2017); 21 Luglio Associazione, Submission on
hate crime cases to Osce-Odihr, 2017. Hate crimes have not always been punished or condemned.
120
See: www.milanotoday.it/politica/lega-campo-rom-via-idro.html,
http://milano.repubblica.it/cronaca/2016/04/25/foto/milano_via_idro-138421765/1/#1.

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 ADDRESSING ANTIGYPSYISM

(Police protected the inhabitants);121 on 28 April 2016 in Rome, during the night, three
paper bombs targeted a spontaneous Roma settlement in north Rome, the attackers fled
the scene in a car.122

Generally – though rarely – there are investigations in which it is highlighted the racist
motivation as aggravating factor, but it is difficult to get convictions and often the
investigations are filed. For instance, the above-mentioned case of via Idro was followed
by: a) a report to UNAR made by a citizen; b) the lawsuit against the perpetrators by some
inhabitants of the Via Idro camp, presented to the local Police; c) the complaint, presented
to the Public Prosecutor, by three representatives of pro-Roma associations. After 20
months, nothing has happened yet.123 The Jo Cox Committee of the Chamber reports that
“judicial remedies such as [...] the conviction of the Criminal Court of Turin for aggression
aggravated by racial hatred against six individuals who in 2011 attacked and set fire to a
"Roma camp" in Turin, are evidently ineffective from the point of view of deterrence”.124

Media and politics are areas in which the presence of hate speech is particularly strong.
Attacks on RSC population happen on a regular basis. According to the National
Observatory on the incitement to discrimination and racial hatred of the Associazione 21
Luglio, in 2013-2014, 79 per cent of hate speeches are attributed to declarations of political
exponents; of which, 70 per cent belong to right-wing parties, with a 28 per cent referred
exclusively to the Lega Nord. On the other hand, only serious incidents are reported, in 72
per cent of cases hate speeches are pronounced by politicians, while in 18 per cent the
authors are journalists. Electoral campaigns are occasions in which antigypsyism ideas
spreads too.125 On 2 March 2015, during the television broadcast Piazza Pulita (which was
attended by the Roma activist Dijana Pavlovic), the MEP Gianluca Buonanno of Lega Nord
accused Roma people of being “the scum of humankind”, making the word “scum” a trend
topic of hate speech in social networks. The incident was followed by two legal procedures:
an appeal for discriminatory harassment based on Article 3, c. 2 of the Legislative Decree
215/2003 was presented to the Civil Court of Milan by ASGI and Naga on 3 July 2015; a
complaint to the Public Prosecutor of Rome was filed by Arci, ASGI, Associazione 21 Luglio,
Lunaria, and Roma and Sinti Insieme on 24 May 2015 for violation of Art. 3 of Law
654/1975 which punishes “the propaganda of ideas based on superiority or ethnic or racial
hatred”.126 On 19 April 2016 the Court of Milan, civil division, acknowledged the

121
See: http://roma.corriere.it/notizie/cronaca/16_aprile_03/corteo-rione-poi-tentato-assalto-campo-rom-
abusivo-9d1631e8-f9ce-11e5-91c9-425ed3b43648.shtml
122
See: www.romatoday.it/cronaca/bombe-carta-viadotto-gronchi-insediamento-abusivo.html and
www.romatoday.it/cronaca/petardi-viadotto-gronchi-denunciato.html
123
Source: Roma family who lived in via Idro camp; Amici di Via Idro Association, Casa della Carità
Foundation.
124
Commissione Jo Cox, Relazione finale, 91-92.
“The Cascina Continassa pogrom” (Turin, 11 December 2011): a non-Roma boy surprised his 16-year-old
sister still half-dressed after having had sex with her boyfriend. Out of shame, the girl falsely declared she had
been gang-raped by Roma people. While the Carabinieri were investigating, the girl's brother also falsely
claimed: “I chased them, and they ran away”. Turin's leading daily newspaper, La Stampa, reported the
incident with the headline, “Boy chases two Roma individuals after they raped his sister”, The brother said: Two
Gypsies did it”. The following night, local inhabitants organized a candle-lit march, which degenerated into a
fully-fledged attack on a Roma camp on the outskirts of Turin. The settlement, at Cascina Continassa, was
raided by people armed with clubs, who chased the Roma dwellers away and set fire to their shanties.
Meanwhile, the girl confessed that she had lied to avoid having to admit having had sex with her boyfriend: the
gang rape never happened. But it was too late to stop the violent attack — this time a real one — on the Roma
people and their camp. See: http://sfi.usc.edu/education/roma-sinti/en/questioni-aperte/intercultura/la-guerra-
ai-rom-conflitto-sociale/alcuni-casi-italiani.php.
125
Associazione 21 Luglio, Antiziganismo 2.0. Rapporto Osservatorio 21 luglio (2013 – 2014) (Roma,
2014).
126
Legge 13 ottobre 1975, n. 654, “Ratifica ed esecuzione della convenzione internazionale
sull'eliminazione di tutte le forme di discriminazione razziale, aperta alla firma a New York il 7 marzo 1966”.
Available at:
http://www.gazzettaufficiale.it/atto/serie_generale/caricaDettaglioAtto/originario;jsessionid=p8nY2OgFVsgKp54

35
CIVIL SOCIETY MONITORING REPORT ON IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NATIONAL ROMA INTEGRATION STRATEGY
in Italy

“discriminatory value”, of the act, not recognizing the immunity for parliamentary
functions.127 The Court of Rome,128 on the other hand, dismissed the proceeding as a crime
of defamation, (and not of racist propaganda), considering impossible to “identify a specific
recipient of the offense”. 129 It should also be remembered that in November 2016 Paolo
Cagna Ninchi, president of Upre Roma and husband of the activist Dijana Pavlovic,
denounced having been beaten by a stranger because his wife “is the gypsy who goes on
television”.130

As for the press, there are some “pilot” procedures for antigypsyism opened by professional
NGOs (Lunaria 2017). Following a complaint by Naga and the Associazione 21 Luglio, in
2016 the Journalists’ Associations in Lombardy sanctioned the editor of the newspaper
Libero, Maurizio Belpietro, and the columnist Mario Giordana, director of the news bulletin
Tg4, for an article in which Roma people were criminalized.131 The Association Carta di
Roma, created to monitor the application of the journalist code, has often denounced
similar situations, as in November 2014 during the debate following some episodes of the
well-known radio programme La Zanzara.132 Indeed La Zanzara, a mainstream
broadcasting of Radio 24, the radio owned by the General Confederation of Italian Industry
(Confindustria), hosted genocidal theses on Roma, praising Hitler, expressed both by
listeners and by politicians. When the magazine Famiglia Cristiana criticized the choice, the
hosts of La Zanzara launched a campaign against the magazine and the journalist Stefano
Pasta.133 What emerges is a picture of serious ineffectiveness and almost total impunity,
due to different reasons: lack of adequate legislation, slowness of the intervention, little
information on the possibility of reporting (few people know about UNAR and OSCAD
existence), discouragement in the possibility to report because of the spread of impunity,
the length of justice time, the costs of legal action.

Moreover, there is no adequate awareness of the characteristics of antigypsyism among

law enforcement agencies, where discriminatory positions are also usual, such as the
Consap press release mentioned in the previous paragraph. In April 2015, OSCAD carried
out a week of hate crime training for the 500 pupils of the schools of the State Police of
Alessandria and Brescia, together with experts from UNAR, Amnesty International and the
Lenford Network.134 Among the projects not specifically targeting the RSC, the European
project “Together!” tried to increase the competences of law enforcement agencies and
civil society organizations to make hate crimes visible.135

-ymrJDg_.ntc-as4-guri2a?atto.dataPubblicazioneGazzetta=1975-12-
23&atto.codiceRedazionale=075U0654&elenco30giorni=false
127
See: Court of Milan, Civil Section, Order of 19 April 2016.The sentence is available at: www.asgi.it/wp-
content/uploads/2016/04/Tribunale-di-Milano-Buonanno.pdf
128
https://www.asgi.it/notizie/associazioni-presentano-esposto-contro-leuroparlamentare-buonanno-e-le-
dichiarazioni-contro-la-comunita-rom/.
129
Grazia Naletto, “Piazza Pulita: la ricerca di audience apre la strada al razzismo”, in Cronache di
ordinario razzismo. Quarto Libro bianco sul razzismo in Italia, ed. Lunaria (Roma: Lunaria, 2017), 86-91.
130
Milano, aggressione razzista in strada: "Urlava tua moglie è una zingara che va in tv",
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKJwrgraqx0
131
“L’ordine dei giornalisti condanna Belpietro e Giordana”, in Famiglia Cristiana, 20 maggio 2016,
http://www.famigliacristiana.it/articolo/l-ordine-dei-giornalisti-condanna-belpietro-e-giordano-intento-
xenofobo-e-razzista.aspx
132
Associazione Carta di Roma, Notizie alla deriva. Secondo rapporto Carta di Roma 2014, 6-7.
133
“Zanzara shock: ‘Fare dei rom cibo per maiali’”, in Famiglia Cristiana, 21 novembre 2014. Available at:
http://www.famigliacristiana.it/articolo/alla-zanzara-fare-dei-rom-cibo-per-maiali.aspx
134
www.interno.gov.it/it/notizie/formazione-contro-atti-discriminatori-500-agenti-polizia-stato.
135
www.projecttogether.org.

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 ADDRESSING ANTIGYPSYISM

The programmes and initiatives that have been implemented for analysing
and forming narratives and attitudes towards Roma
The 2008 Eurobarometer survey showed that almost one EU citizen out of four declared
that having a Roma neighbour would have caused discomfort; in Italy this percentage rose
to 47 per cent of the sample; only 7 per cent of Italians declared to be open to have Roma
friends.136 Those outcomes are also presented in the Eurobarometer survey “Discrimination
in the EU in 2012”, that underlines that, even if 74 per cent Italians believed Roma people
were at risk of discrimination, only 33 per cent of Italians believed that the society could
benefit from Roma integration.137 According to the 2015 Eurobarometer survey, 43 per
cent of Italians, compared to a European percentage of 20 per cent, would feel
uncomfortable if one of his work colleagues was Roma.138 According to the ISPO-Ministry
of the Interior survey (2007) 81 per cent Italians do not like Roma people, but only 39 per
cent out of 81 per cent express an equally strong opinion towards immigrants.139 The Map
of Intolerance of Vox-Italian Observatory on Rights (2015), created together with the
Universities of Milan, Bari and Rome, showed that on Twitter the most used insult after
“redneck” a common insult related to people coming from southern Italy was “Gypsy”.140,
141

In the last decade, several studies on the majority population have shown that
antigypsyism is a deep-seated phenomenon in Italy. However, it is urgently needed to
improve the quality of the studies as well as the methods of analysis. There is a lack of
periodic and repeated research, developed with same indicators and parameters, that can
provide specific information on the evolution of the phenomenon. In this sense it should
be underlined that the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) investigated possible data
sources for RSC populations, and that the National Association of Italian Municipalities
(ANCI), with the support of ISTAT, carried out a study on the housing conditions of RSC,142
but never on antigypsyism.143 Research carried out in the RSC communities on the effects
of antigypsyism are even less frequent. Among these, an empirical survey on the
experiences of stigmatization of Roma and Sinti , and one on the responses to the these
processes in the Roma Networks was carried out by the Center d'Etudes Europénnes of
Sciences Po.144 In addition, there has been a decline in interest in the period following the
hyper-visibility of the so called Roma Emergency (2008-2011). In the last decade some
awareness-raising programs, campaigns and Citizenship education programs have been
implemented, promoted by third sector bodies and RSC associations, even if a more critical
analysis of the quality and effectiveness of these programs is urgently needed. Some
relevant examples are:

136
Eurobarometer, European Value Survey, 2008, 43-45.
137
The Roma are a group of people at risk of discrimination. Italy results: 74% (totally agree), 19% (tend
to agree), 7% (tend to disagree). Special Eurobarometer 393, Discrimination in the EU in 2012 (Bruxelles:
European Commission, 2012).
138
Special Eurobarometer 437, Discrimination in the EU in 2015 (Bruxelles: European Commission, 2015).
139
ISPO, Italiani, Rom e Sinti a confronto. Una ricerca quali-quantitativa; Paola Arrigoni, and Tommaso
Vitale, “Quale legalità? Rom e gagi a confronto”, Aggiornamenti Sociali, 3, 2008, 182-194.
140
Vox – Osservatorio italiano sui diritti, “Mappa dell’intolleranza”, available ta:
http://www.voxdiritti.it/vox-lancia-la-prima-mappa-dellintolleranza/; Commissione Jo Cox, Relazione finale, 91.
141
See also: Nawart, and Political Capital, National Study – Italy (Roma: Nawart Press, 2017).
142
Monia Giovannetti, Nicolò Marchesini, and Emiliana Baldoni, Gli Insediamenti Rom, Sinti e Caminanti in
Italia (Cittalia Fondazione Anci Ricerche, UNAR, and Anci, 2016).
143
A little exception: ISTAT, Discriminazioni in base al genere, all’orientamento sessuale e
all’appartenenza etnica (Rome: ISTAT, 2011).
144
Stefano Pasta, and Tommaso Vitale, “'Mi guardano male, ma io non guardo’. Come i rom e i sinti in
Italia reagiscono allo stigma”, in Società, razzismi e discriminazioni. Studi e ricerche sull'Italia contemporanea,
ed. Alfredo Alietti (Milano: Mimesis, 2017), 217-241.

37
CIVIL SOCIETY MONITORING REPORT ON IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NATIONAL ROMA INTEGRATION STRATEGY
in Italy

• Projects for the training of Roma and Sinti moderators: the project “TRE ERRE
Fuochi Attivi” realized by the Romanì Italia Foundation;145 the courses for Roma and
Sinti activists promoted by Associazione 21 Luglio;146 the theatre company Rom
Faktor of Upre Roma.147

• Media campaigns: the campaign “Even words can kill” by Avvenire, Famiglia
Cristiana, Armando Testa and Federazione italiana settimanali cattolici.

• School campaigns: in 2016-2017 MIUR financed the project “Together. From

Porrajmos to the National Inclusion Strategy with Roma and Sinti”, realized by five
Italian schools in collaboration with the University of Siena, the Tuscan Press
Association, the Sucar Drom Association and the Hypothesis Theatre.148

• Cultural initiatives: UNAR published in 2017 a notice to promote positive actions for
the 14th Week of Action against Racism.

One of UNAR’s initiatives includes a training day for 20 Roma and Sinti youths (17 October
2016) at the Presidency of the Council,149 and a training course for 20 other young activists
(Roma and non-Roma) on the fight against antigypsyism and on hate speech online (13-
15 November 2017), realized together with the Youth Department of the Council of Europe
within the Rome Youth Action Plan.150

Among the institutional initiatives aimed at the acknowledgement of the genocide of Roma
and Sinti must be pointed out the project, promoted by the Ministry of Education, University
and Research of the Working Group for the training of teachers and school managers on
issues related to the National Strategy (Decree 603 of 18 July 2014), which identified the
web resource http://www.romsintimemory.it (English version:
http://sfi.usc.edu/education/roma-sinti/en/) as a basis for educational initiatives in
schools, carried out by the Center for Research on Intercultural Relations of the Catholic
University of Milan and by USC Shoah Foundation – The Institute for Visual History and
Education.151

Also it is to be mentioned “Memors”, the first virtual museum about Porrajmos in Italy
founded (or set up) by Sucar Drom, L. da Vinci University, Roma and Sinti Insieme
Federation, Fossoli Foundation and Freedom Legality and Rights around Europe. 152

Minister of Justice Andrea Orlando, announcing an independent authority for the fight
against hate speech, stressed the need to encourage the creation of different narratives,
as recommended also by the CoE.153 Among the initiatives is to promote change in the
narrative from that of casting Roma as outsiders who need to “fit in" to that of Roma
integrally involved in European historical, political, economic and cultural developments, it
is worth mentioning the videos of the campaign “Roma, citizens of the future Italy” realized

145
www.fondazioneromani.eu/archivio/57-fuochi-attivi.
146
www.21luglio.org/21luglio/corso-formazione-attivisti-rom-sinti/.
147
www.upreroma.eu/teatro.
148
www.unar.it/unar/portal/?p=8374.
149
“Verso la Roma National Platform - Giovani Rom, Sinti e Caminanti: esperienze e percorsi a confronto”,
Roma, 17 ottobre 2016.
150
“Training seminar on combating antigypsyism and online hate speech”, Roma, 13-15 November 2017
www.coe.int/en/web/youth/-/training-seminar-on-combating-antigypsyism-and-online-hate-speech-seminario-
di-formazione-sul-contrasto-all-antiziganismo-e-sull-hate-speech-online.
151
Experts worked for free: See: www.romsintimemory.it.
152
www.porrajmos.it; www.istruzione.it/allegati/2014/nota%2018400%20Porrajmos.pdf
153
“Internet: Orlando, lavorare a soggetto vigilanza odio online”, in Il Sole 24 Ore, 30 novembre 2017.
Available at: http://www.diritto24.ilsole24ore.com/art/guidaAlDiritto/dirittoPenale/2017-11-30/internet-
orlando-lavorare-soggetto-vigilanza-odio-online-173420.php

38
 ADDRESSING ANTIGYPSYISM

by Associazione 21 Luglio,154 the documentary “Fuori campo. Stories of Roma in today’s

Italy” by OsservAzione,155 the movie about Salento Rom “Gitanistan” by Pierluigi De Donno
and Claudio Giagnotti “Cavallo”, Roma Mascarimirì musician and singer,156 the “Dosta!”
Campaign,157 and the cultural activity of the activist Roma Santino Alexian Spinelli.158

154
www.21luglio.org/21luglio/video-gallery-rom-cittadini-dellitalia-che-verra/.
155
http://www.osservazione.org/it/4_15/film-documentario%E2%80%94fuori-campo-storie-di-rom-
nellitalia-di-oggi.htm.
156
www.gitanistan.com.
157
http://dosta.org/it.
158
http://www.alexian.it/intro_italiano.htm.

39
RECOMMENDATIONS

Governance and overall policy framework

Strengthen the mandate of UNAR, the national Roma contact point (NRIS), which must be
granted greater autonomy and recognised as an independent authority, as recommended
by the ECRI. Provide UNAR with the resources it needs to be able to reach administrative
and financial autonomy, along with the ability to impose sanctions against national or local
agencies when failing to comply with the NRIS. The lack of this power is one of UNAR’s
greatest weaknesses, and one of the principal causes of the lack of implementation of the
National Strategy for Roma inclusion.

Set a clear time schedule binding on all the regions where regional/local Operating Tables
must be created. Define the methods of cooperation with local stakeholders in order to
allow the involvement of the associations and organisations operating on the territory in
promoting the social inclusion of RSC population.
Guarantee a democratic and transparent involvement of RSC in the interventions laid down
by the NRIS. It would be useful to define, within the Roma communities, shared criteria of
representativeness, including criteria for evaluating the effectiveness in the participation
process, with respect to the achievement of specific and clearly defined objectives, and
considering the framework of the critical issues and weaknesses related to this process.

Develop a monitoring and evaluation system for NRIS, identifying clear and measurable
indicators for assessing the achievement of targets and unexpected negative/positive
impacts and effects of NRIS implementation. This monitoring system should check the
compliance with NRIS provisions at a national and territorial level.

Provide NRIS with adequate resources from the State budget, making information available
to the public and giving priority, in the allocation of resources, to the regions with a higher
number of RCS people. The activation of national programmes and the approval of projects
concerning the inclusion of the RSC population is to be linked to the compliance with
concrete conditions for their sustainability.

Promote the inclusion of RSC population in universalistic socio-political programmes

against poverty and social exclusion. Public policies and debates are to promote a
comprehensive intercultural approach with a particular focus on fostering dialogue and
building constructive mutual relations between RSC groups and the rest of the population.

Anti-discrimination
It is necessary that the Italian government, through UNAR, builds a local network of
working groups , organized by the municipalities and regions with the participation of Roma
and Sinti communities. The working groups must plan the actions shared with the
communities intervening within the 4 axes identified by NRIS. This can allow the
government to intervene on the causes of discrimination (housing, school, work) according
to the specific needs in each territory. This method allows to build relationships between
local authorities and local communities, an element that is fundamental for the success of
the actions.

Addressing antigypsyism
Adopt and recognize a legal definition of “hate speech”, also on the basis of ECRI
Recommendation no. 15 of 8 December 2015. Promote actions to encourage self-regulation
of web platforms to remove online hate-speech and avoid fake news often attracting
advertising revenue, according to the Code of Conduct stipulated with the European
Commission in May 2016. Support the training of Roma and Sinti activists to combat
Antigypsyism.

40
 RECOMMENDATIONS

Develop initiatives to fully implement the Mancino Law and its aggravating factor, online
and offline, by promoting training courses for police forces and magistrates.

Set up a Code of Conduct sanctioning political and public authorities that are promoting
Antigypsyism. Sensitize national and local Associations of Journalists so that issues relating
to Roma and Sinti people be reported in compliance with professional ethics and
deontology. Envisage disciplinary measures in case of incitement to antigypsyism, as
provided by the Association’s Code of Conduct.

Invest in the promotion of Roma and Sinti culture, by focusing on long term counter-
speech/counter-narrative campaigns, rather than temporary events, as suggested by the
Council of Europe. This task cannot be accomplished solely by UNAR: a stronger
involvement is required from the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of University and
Research (MIUR) and the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Tourism. MIUR, together with
the publishing houses concerned, is requested to urgently review primary and secondary
school textbooks to remove all anti-gypsy stereotypes and terms and promote the
knowledge of Roma and Sinti culture. In this respect, Roma and Sinti genocide is also to
be commemorated in the Holocaust Memorial Day (Law no. 11 of 2000) and MIUR should
see to it that the Italian concentration camps and the Porrajmos be mentioned in official
history and textbooks.

41
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