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Neither Included, Nor Excluded: The Paradox of Government
Approaches Towards the Romanies in Italy
Riccardo Armillei
The Centre for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University, Australia
Correspondence: C Edwards Faculty of Arts & Education, Deakin University citglob@deakin.edu.au
Citizenship and Globalisation Research Papers, Vol. 5 No. 3, October 2014, pp. 1-22
ISSN 1838-2118 print/ISSN 1838-2126 online
Published by Centre for Citizenship and Globalisation, Faculty of Arts & Education, Deakin University, Australia
http://www.deakin.edu.au/arts-ed/ccg/
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Citizenship and Globalisation Research Paper Series Vol. 5, No. 3, October 2014
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Citizenship and Globalisation Research Paper Series Vol. 5, No. 3, October 2014
Neither Included, Nor Excluded: The Paradox of Government Approaches
Towards the Romanies in Italy
Abstract
Romani peoples currently live at the margins of the Italian society, particularly those living in the so
called “nomad camps”. The government has only recently focused attention on the situation of this
minority group. In 2011 a “National Strategy” was launched introducing a number of measures to
enhance their social inclusion. This commitment, though, was a cynical response to a larger
European Union initiative designed to address the causes of their marginalisation, and was not
supported by any real intention to introduce change. In 2008, in fact, the Italian government
introduced an extraordinary intervention, the “Nomad Emergency”, as a response to a number of
supposedly threatening situations which occurred among the Romani communities living in
“camps”, but also as part of a larger anti-immigrant national campaign. At the end of 2012, when
fieldwork for this study was conducted, the negative effect produced by the state of emergency
was still clearly visible. Instead of building capacity and autonomy among the Romanies, the Italian
institutions chose to adopt highly contradictory approaches which neither included, nor absolutely
excluded them. They now have a distinctive place within the Italian society. Millions of euros are
spent every year on Romani-related issues, and it has become a huge business both in public and
private sectors. The aim of this paper is to examine the contradictions embedded in the production
of Romanies as “nomads”, a term which positions them as being unwilling or unable to settle within
the host society. My analysis highlights the approach adopted by Italian institutions in terms of
“inclusive exclusion” of the Romanies, instead of thinking about it as mere “othering”,
marginalisation or exclusion. On the one hand, the government makes significant investment in
schooling and employment projects; on the other, it keeps promoting the “camp policy”, forced
evictions and emergency measures. Public funds are used in this way to promote a “fake” inclusion,
which creates and perpetuates a system of “welfare dependency”.
Key Words: Romanies, Italy, Nomad Emergency, National Strategy, “inclusive exclusion”.
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Citizenship and Globalisation Research Paper Series Vol. 5, No. 3, October 2014
Introduction
In Italy Romani peoples have been subjected to social exclusion and marginalisation for centuries. In
2008, in clear continuity with previous left-wing governments (Clough Marinaro, 2009; Lunaria, 2011),
the Berlusconi right-wing coalition implemented an extraordinary measure, the so called “Emergenza
Nomadi” (nomad emergency)
1
. This state of emergency aimed to solve an issue that, in the 1970s had
been categorised as the “problema nomadi” (nomads problem) (Ministero dell’Interno, 2006, p. 16),
but was now described and handled as a “natural disaster” (Fiorucci, 2010, p. 34). Being mainly directed
to the Romani “camp inhabitants/dwellers”, this approach turned Romani peoples into a “security
issue” and a specific ethnic category, fuelling widespread racism and reinforcing the stereotypical
binomials “nomad/foreign” and “Romani/crime”.
In November 2011, the “emergency” was declared “unfounded and unsubstantiated” by the Italian
Council of State (Amnesty International, 2012, p. 8). But since February 2012 a new government, led by
Mario Monti, has been trying to re-enact the same decree that in May 2008 had introduced the
intervention (Associazione 21 Luglio, Associazione per gli Studi Giuridici sull'Immigrazione [ASGI],
Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, & Open Society Justice, 2012). This obviously contradicts
the fact that the the Monti government had previously launched a National Strategy for the inclusion of
the Romani communities with the declared aim to overcome the emergency approach adopted during
the past years (UNAR, 2012b, p. 3).
Instead of building capacity and autonomy among this minority group, the Italian institutions keep
adopting an approach that produces and reiterates the opposite effect. Inclusion policies are still
centered on the institutionalisation of the Romanies into “camps” (Piasere, 1985; Sigona, 2002, 2005,
2009). In 2011 the European Commission launched the EU Framework for National Roma Integration
1
In the context of “emergency” policies it is interesting the parallelism existing between Italy and Australia. In
2007 allegations of sexual abuse of children in Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory brought
Indigenous issues to national attention (Anderson & Wild, 2007, p. 7). This case was strategically used by the
Howard government as a way to implement an extraordinary measure, also known as the “Northern Territory
Intervention” (NTER). Not only this policy failed to meet the requirements and obligations set by international
laws (Amnesty International, 2011; Martin, 2012), but three years later, James Anaya, the Special Rapporteur on
the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people, declared the NTER to be
illegitimate (Human Rights Council, 2010, p. 8).
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Citizenship and Globalisation Research Paper Series Vol. 5, No. 3, October 2014
Strategies up to 2020 aiming at improving the economic and social situation of this minority group
through the implementation of “common European goals”. Since then, however, Romani advocates
have strongly criticised the strategy, because it neither introduced real measures to combat a wide-
spread anti-Roma sentiment, nor did it involve the Roma community itself (European Public Health
Alliance, 2011). In this context the European Commissioner for Human Rights, Nils Muižnieks, has
criticised the Italian National Strategy for its “pompous and pretentious mumbo jumbo” (Marco
Brazzoduro, personal communication, July 21, 2012). On top of that, the UNAR, as the relevant National
Focal Point (NFP) designated for the elaboration and coordination of this strategy, not only is not able
to guarantee, both in law and in fact, the principles of independence and impartiality (European
Commission against Racism and Intolerance [ECRI], 2012), but it has no power to inflict penalties and
punish certain types of racist behaviour displayed by private or public institutions. There is thus a clear
gap between the theoretical framework and the concrete possibility to implement a real change.
Every year significant amounts are being spent ineffectively for the management of the camps, and the
great paradox is that the existence of the camp itself nullifies efforts aimed at furthering the social
inclusion of Romanies. Why does the government keep promoting and funding an inclusion strategy
based on the implementation of the “camps”? For example, Alessandro Scassellati, project manager of
Casa dei Diritti Sociali (CdS), one of the organisations working inside the camps, has raised serious
doubts regarding the Italian government’s real intention to close the gap between Romanies and
mainstream society:
the concept of ‘nomad’ is used strategically in order to adopt specific laws and implement
certain type of policies, whose aim is not actually to integrate, but rather to create the
Romani persons as ‘others’ and to marginalise them. This turns their situation into an
urgent but temporary problem, which over time becomes an endless, unsolvable question.
This way it is possible to create and maintain a system which is capable of constantly
generating money. The main aim is thus not to solve the problem, but to keep it like that
(personal communication, December 22, 2011).
This paper aims to show the existence of a paradoxical approach adopted by the Italian institutions,
defined as “inclusive exclusion”. Extraordinary measures were used by the government merely as a way
to enforce by law a “state of exception” which, as theorised by Agamben (1998), has eventually
become ‘the rule’, despite the initial announcement of its provisional aim. In turn, the enactment of an
emergency approach has allowed the government to put the blame on Romani peoples for their own
dire living conditions, while consolidating a well-rooted mechanism of control and assimilatory
practices. The contemporaneous commitment to adopt a national strategy for the improvement of the
Romani conditions not only failed to empower them but had the opposite effect. Major issues remain
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Citizenship and Globalisation Research Paper Series Vol. 5, No. 3, October 2014
lack of transparency and accountability. There are no independent bodies that can analyse the
performance of either tasks or functions, while providing information or justification for targeted
activities. The citizens, media, academics, and civil society, in general, have no real knowledge of what
goes on. There is very little information available and what is available is not rigorously elaborated. The
administrative structures are inefficient and unable to deliver the services mandated to them. The
decision making system about resource allocations and expenditures remains opaque. A formal process
of both internal and external evaluation is missing and corruption is widespread. Impartial and expert
decision-making and policy implementation remain unachievable.
Methodology
The present paper focuses on the city of Rome, where fieldwork was conducted between 2011 and
2012. Although data collection has been carried out using many of the classical tools that can be
identified as ethnographic (such as the use of qualitative data, based on structured and semi-structured
interviews, field notes, direct and participant observation of contexts), this did not lead to the
production of classic ethnography as theorised by authors such as Malinowski (2002) or Geertz (2001).
The object of this study was not specifically the Romani as a group or an ethnic community. My aim was
not to take up full-time residence in a ‘campo nomade’ and study its population. Rather, I was
interested in the metropolitan and national contexts as a whole, and in gaining a closer understanding
of the camps’ administrative machinery and relations among the actors operating in it. This involved
consultation with experts, institutions and associations (both Romani and non-Romani) that dealt with
Romani-related issues on the ground.
The specific focus on the capital city was chosen because this was the centre of Italian politics, and
because Rome’s local affairs assume national relevance, especially with regard to Romani-related
issues. Rome is also the area in Italy where the greatest number of Romanies reside. By focusing on the
last 20 years, the research has been able to provide historical context to policies implemented by both
left-wing and right-wing local administrations. Thus the capital city functions as a magnifying lens
through which the phenomenon of the social exclusion of the Romani people can be investigated over
a long duration. Rome was also the socio-political context the researcher had a better understanding
of, thanks to previous work experience as a social worker among Romani communities living in camps.
Statistical figures on Romani “camp dwellers”
According to the most recent figures, there are anywhere between 130,000 and 180,000 Romani living
in Italy (Commissione Diritti Umani del Senato, 2011). About half of them are Italian citizens, 20-25%
are from European Union countries, mainly Romania, while the rest are either non-EU members or
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Citizenship and Globalisation Research Paper Series Vol. 5, No. 3, October 2014
stateless, as a result of the dissolution of former Yugoslavia (European Roma Rights Centre [ERRC],
osservAzione, & Amalipé Romanò, 2010; Open Society Institute, 2010). The Romani population living in
camps in Italy number approximately 40 thousand people. It is important to stress, though, that there
is no precise data regarding the Romani people in Italy. Romanies, in fact, generally adopt mimetic
strategies in order to better assimilate to the rest of the population, avoiding potential forms of
surveillance and discrimination (Commissione Diritti Umani del Senato, 2011). Another important
reason for this data approximation is related to the fact that in Europe, no country gathers ethnic
information with the exception of Britain. In Italy, for instance, a census targeting the Romani minority
was conducted only under the state of emergency in 2008. In this political context, personal
information, such as photos and fingerprints, of individuals, families, children included, were collected
and stored (Amnesty International, 2012), raising serious concern within the Committee on the
Elimination of Racial Discrimination ([CERD], 2012). Based on the most recent census, the city of Rome
appeared to have the most dramatic situation in terms of numbers and living conditions of camp
dwellers.
In the city of Rome alone the operations of identification carried out by the authorities in collaboration
with the Italian Red Cross, revealed the existence of 167 encampments (Office for Democratic
Institutions and Human Rights [ODIHR], 2009). Of these, 124 were “abusivi” (illegal) while 43 were
“autorizzati” (recognised). According to the census, 12.346 people were living in these camps, almost
half of which were children (5.436). It was also estimated that at least as many people had abandoned
their dwellings since the State of Emergency had been declared (Ministero dell’Interno, 2009).
According to the “Piano Nomadi” (nomads plan) enacted by the right-wing Alemanno Mayorship in
Rome Approximately 2.200 people lived in “insediamenti abusivi” (illegal/unauthorised encampments),
2.736 in “campi tollerati” (tolerated camps) and 2,241 “villaggi autorizzati” (authorised villages),
totalling 7.177 inhabitants (Ministero dell’Interno, 2009). With a population of 2.844.821 in 2008
(Ferrazza & Menghi, 2010) the Romani community living in the camps amounted to only 0.25% of the
entire population of the capital city. And yet, despite these numbers, Rome was “the focus of various
media alarms referring to an ‘invasion’ and ‘threats’ posed by these groups” (Clough Marinaro, 2009, p.
274).
Campisation and lack of cultural recognition of the Romani people in Italy
Romani people from central and Eastern Europe have moved to and from Italy for centuries. The first
settlements can be traced to around the XIV century (Bellucci, 2007; Ministero dell’Interno, 2006;
Ufficio Nazionale Antidiscriminazioni Razziali [UNAR], 2011). Despite that, the “zingari” (“Gyspies”), as
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Citizenship and Globalisation Research Paper Series Vol. 5, No. 3, October 2014
they are often called in a derogatory way, have always been characterised as the “outsider par
excellence, forced to play the role of “guests” and living a condition of eternal “semi-clandestinità”
(semi-illegality) (Tomasone, 2012). Especially after the Risorgimento, the movement that brought
about the creation of the Italian Kingdom in 1861, the new unified nation-state started to introduce
policies which were specifically directed to the control of “vagabonds” and, more in general, “socially
dangerous” groups, like the Romani people (Clough Marinaro, 2009). The pinnacle of segregative
practices against this minority was reached in the 1940s. During World War II they started to be
imprisoned in concentration camps, because they were considered socially and racially dangerous by
the fascist regime of Benito Mussolini (Bravi & Sigona, 2006). According to a recent report issued by the
Commissione Diritti Umani del Senato (2011), despite the terrible price paid by this population as a
result of a widespread “anti-Gypsism” all over Europe, “the genocide of the Romani people is a
forgotten event” (p. 36).
A few decades since the end of the war “public safety approaches and the introduction of legislative
obstacles to nomadism” (Clough Marinaro, 2009, p. 273) were still in use. From the 1970s the Italian
government started to experiment with new forms of cultural protection explicitly directed to the
Romani communities. These were based on the premises that they were nomadic people. According
to Bravi and Sigona (2006), the very first form of recognition and protection of the “right to nomadism”
in Italy can be dated back to October 1973 when the Ministero dell’Interno issued the “Circolare”
(internal administrative document) MIAC no. 17/73. This document was directed to the mayors of the
Italian cities, that at that time had started to adopt “divieti di sosta” (no parking areas) against the
Romani people. Although this act required local administrations, among the other things, to abolish
these discriminatory bans and to facilitate the temporary stay of the Romani people (Maggian, 2011), it
also had negative consequences for them. Firstly, it started to address the Romani issue in terms of
“Problema Nomadi” (Nomads Problem) (Ministero dell’Interno, 2006). Secondly, the recommendations
contained in the MIAC no. 17/73 were also sowing the seeds of the future “camp strategy”. It led, in
fact, to the creation of special campsites, which had to be equipped with all modern conveniences
(Ministero dell’Interno, 2006; Sigona, 2002).
According to Piasere (1985), it is in the 1970s that all government interventions, either regarding the
education, sociality, health, or employment of the Romani people, started to be completely centred on
the existence of the “camp”. The characteristics of these early types of encampments resembled
already the modern “nomad camps”. They were delimited areas placed at the urban outskirts in
accordance with the “piani regolatori comunali” (urban planning regulations), which established their
location, size and settlement standards (Nessun luogo è lontano, 2008). In a study published in 2000 by
the ERRC, Italy was iconically defined a “Campland”, since it was the only country in Europe promoting
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Citizenship and Globalisation Research Paper Series Vol. 5, No. 3, October 2014
a policy of segregation of the Roma population inside “ghetto-like urban camps” (Clough Marinaro,
2009). More than a decade later the strategy of housing Romani people inside institutional camps still
represents the pivotal measure used by the Italian government to ensure the inclusion of this minority
group: “while many camps are being demolished because of their dire living conditions, others are
being built by the same authorities to continue warehousing an ethnic group for which few
alternative policy approaches are devised” (Clough Marinaro & Sigona, 2011, p. 587).
For more than 60 years a comprehensive national legislation regarding the Romani issue has been
missing in Italy (Bonetti, 2012). The ratification of a national law is thus urgently required especially in
relation to the unresolved condition of statelessness for a large number of Romani. The Romani
communities represent only 0.2% of the Italian population (Commissione Diritti Umani del Senato,
2011), but they keep being addressed as a national problem which has to be handled through the use
of emergency measures. In this context, the use of the camp has slowly become the “objectification of
the state of exception” (Bravi & Sigona, 2006, p. 858). In recent times a systematic construction of the
“Emergenza Nomadi” has eventually signed the juridical foundation for its proclamation (Clough
Marinaro, 2009). The new political conditions have decisively signed the reinforcement of an old a and
consolidated strategy to deal with the so called “problema nomadi”, with a slight difference though:
while between the 1980s and the 1990s there was a declared intention to preserve supposedly
“nomadic cultures” through the creation of settlement for Romani people inside authorised areas, in
more recent years this practice evolved into a clear “institutional segregation” (ERRC, 2000; Fiorucci
2010). The camp turned into a “no man’s land”, a place to confine the “Other” and where individuals
lose their subjectivity through their classification in bureaucratic and massifying categories (Bravi &
Sigona, 2006).
The “State of Emergency”
Between the end of 2007 and the beginning of 2008 a number of “high-profile crimes allegedly
committed by people of Roma ethnicity from Romania [were] extensively reported in the news,
exacerbating aggressive anti-Roma rhetoric by local and national politicians” (Amnesty International,
2012, p. 6). As a consequence, the presence of Romani groups was associated with crime and
consequently addressed as a security issue for the Italian population. In particular, the violent murder
of Mrs. Giovanna Reggiani, committed on the 30th of October 2007 by a Romanian Roma, brought the
“Nomads/Gypsies” issue to national attention (OsservAzione, 2008). At the same time, the EU
enlargement in January 2007, during the centre-left government led by Romano Prodi, had also
stimulated alarmism among Italians with fears of an immigrant invasion from the new entries in the
European bloc, Romania and Bulgaria (Sigona, 2010). The political turmoil was exacerbated when the
centre-left mayor of Rome, Walter Veltroni, resigned from office to become the national leader of the
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Citizenship and Globalisation Research Paper Series Vol. 5, No. 3, October 2014
Democratic Party (Sigona, 2009). According to Sigona, this led to “a transplant of ‘local’ issues into the
national arena” (p. 287).
Thanks to Veltroni, an urgent meeting of the Italian Council of Ministers was called in order to tackle
the alleged collective misconduct of Romani groups. This resulted in the enactment and
implementation of two governmental decrees, the “anti-Roma acts” (Lunaria, 2011, p. 13) - although
these agreements were ostensibly designed to curb criminality, some of them made explicit reference
to Romani people (ODIHR, 2009) – and, In May 2007, the “Patti per la Sicurezza” (Security Pacts) was
enacted by the Ministero dell’Interno and various local authorities, introducing a series of
discriminatory measures “aimed at facilitating the removal of EU citizens from Italy whenever they
were deemed to represent a threat to public and national security” (OsservAzione, 2008, p. 3). These
measures authorised forced evictions of abusive encampments, without conforming to procedural
safeguards required under regional and international human rights standards. At the same time, they
also had the effect of fuelling anti-Romani hysteria and violent attacks against them (ERRC,
osservAzione, & Amalipé Romanò, 2010).
A year later, on the 21st of May 2008, the initiative called “Emergenza Nomadi” was launched. Initially,
it involved only the regions of Lombardy, Campania and Lazio, but in May 2009 it was extended to
Piedmont and Veneto. The choice to implement an extraordinary approach not only misused the terms
‘nomads’ and ‘emergency’ in relation to the Romani people (Amnesty International, 2010, p. 4), but
also amplified a well-established tendency to disempower them. Romani voices were, in fact,
comprehensively ignored within the institutional framework of the emergency. They were further
institutionalised in a system of “welfare dependency” with government policies focused on control and
assimilatory practices
2
. Only with the rise of national and international criticism was the government
forced to reframe the rationale of its intervention. New guidelines for the implementation of the
ordinances of the President of the Council of Ministries of 30 May 2008, nos. 3676, 3677 and 3678 were
then issued. The government thus reiterated that the extraordinary measures did not target any
particular ethnic groups, but were actually motivated by the official aim to improve the living
conditions of the Romani people (Ministero dell’Interno, 2008).
The supposed existence of an issue of urgent national significance had determined the enforcement by
law of a “state of exception”. As theorised by Agamben (1998), despite its initial provisional character,
it slowly became the rule, extension after extension:
2
Quite interestingly, in Australia the NTER, while containing Indigenous rights to autonomy through and beyond
the law (Moreton-Robinson, 2009), had also the effect of reinforcing a “culture of dependency” based on a subtle
underlying prejudice and the perception of Aboriginal socio-cultural deficit (Gorringe, Ross, & Fforde, 2011;
Macoun, 2011).
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Citizenship and Globalisation Research Paper Series Vol. 5, No. 3, October 2014
On 21 May 2008, the Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi decreed a state of emergency until 31
May 2009. […] On 28 May 2009 yet another decree was issued, extending the state of
emergency to 31 December 2010. […] On 17 December 2010 the Prime Minister issued yet a
further decree extending the state of emergency to 31 December 2011. (Associazione 21
Luglio, 2012e, p. 32)
Sigona (2002) also notes how the “emergency” became a “new permanent political category”, an
approach designed to contain a problem rather than to solve it definitively. In other words, this
category allowed the government to ignore the complexity of the Romani issue and its structural
causes, while establishing a permanent practice of exclusion and marginalisation. Using a 1992 law
3
the
Italian government was able to transform the presence of Romani settlements into a threat to public
order requiring the adoption of extraordinary means and powers. By Decree of the Council of Ministers,
DCPM 21 May 2008, special powers were conferred to Prefects (permanent representatives of the
national government in a particular territory), allowing them to suspend existing laws (Amnesty
International, 2010).
The presence of the Romani community was thus compared to a sort of “natural disaster” while,
paradoxically, “the emergency didn’t relate to the shameful conditions that Romani people have been
forced to endure, but rather to their presence itself” (Fiorucci, 2010, p. 34). Even though the
government denied it, the Nomad Emergency was ethnically motivated. It introduced:
The monitoring of formal and informal camps, identification and census of the people (including
minors) who are present there, and taking photos (‘mug shots’); the expulsion and removal of persons
with irregular status; measures aimed at clearing ‘camps for nomads’ and evicting their inhabitants; as
well as the opening of new ‘camps for nomads.’ (ERRC, osservAzione, & Amalipé Romanò, 2010)
Since the majority of the camp dwellers were of Romani background this automatically made them the
sole target of the measures adopted by the government, thus replicating the same type of premises
underlying the previous Security Pacts. As Favero (2010) has argued, the main concern for the
authorities was the protection of the “good” Italian local population against the allegedly
“bad/dangerous” Romani people. The Italian government, supported by a condescending public
opinion, pushed for the implementation of restrictive measures which reflected a widespread
conception of the Romanies as an “exogenous” threat, or even a “degenerate” group, that had to be
kept separate from the rest of the society (Clough Marinaro, 2009). This approach was clearly in line
3
Article 5(1) of Law No 225 of 24 February 1992 authorised the President of the Council of Ministers to declare a
state of emergency in a specified area for a specified period of time. This was to enable a swift response to
natural calamities, catastrophes or other events requiring exceptional measures and powers.
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Citizenship and Globalisation Research Paper Series Vol. 5, No. 3, October 2014
with the expulsions enacted in France by then president Sarkozy since 2007 (Severance, 2010). Despite
international criticism, a number of human rights organisations have recently maintained that
collective expulsions are still occurring under the new president Holland (Martin, 2013).
Following a legal action which began in 2008, on the 16 of November 2011, the Nomad Emergency was
eventually declared “unfounded and unsubstantiated” by the Italian Council of State, the highest
administrative court (Amnesty International, 2012; UNAR, 2012b). However, despite this annulment, its
legal and practical consequences persisted (Amnesty International, 2012, p. 9). This left a legacy that
continued to affect the way public policies were specifically targeting Romanies. For instance, following
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's resignation on 16 November 2011, the new Prime Minister Mario
Monti re-enacted the “nomad emergency” (Sina, 2012). On 15 February 2012 the Monti government
appealed the decision of the Council of State before the Court of Cassation. As a result, a few months
later, on 9 May 2012, the Council of State suspended the implementation of its previous ruling, pending
the decision from the Court of Cassation (Associazione 21 Luglio, ASGI, Amnesty International, Human
Rights Watch, & Open Society Justice, 2012). The new Prime Minister’ policy was unclear, however. On
28 February 2012, in fact, the Monti government had also launched a National Strategy for the
inclusion of the Romani communities with the declared aim “to definitively overcome the emergency
phase, which has characterised the past years” (UNAR, 2012b, p. 3). In July 2012, as noted by
Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe Nils Muižnieks after his visit to Italy, the
emergency approach was yet to be discontinued (Commissioner for Human Rights, 2012).
The inadequacy of the National Roma Integration Strategy
During the last decade a number of international institutions have condemned the Italian government
for implementing a discriminatory approach towards the Romani people. One of the obvious points of
contestation was the policy of establishing camps. These are seen as isolated areas deprived of basic
facilities that reproduce systematic ghettoisation and exclusion (CERD, 2000, 2008; European
Committee of Social Rights, 2010; ERRC, 2000). Under pressure from EU institutions, the Italian
government has recently made an effort to develop, with prior consultation with Romanies
spokespersons, a unified policy and approach. This approach focuses on four pillars: access to housing,
employment, education, and health care (ODIHR, 2009). It is a major departure, and until 2008, as
stated by Clough Marinaro (2009), “no explicit policy concerning Roma existed at the national level and
different practices and regulations were applied in different cities and regions” (p. 274). It was only
since February 2011, when the publication of a report by a special human rights commission of the
Senato della Repubblica, that things begun to change.
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Citizenship and Globalisation Research Paper Series Vol. 5, No. 3, October 2014
This document, entitled the Final report on the condition of Roma, Sinti and Camminanti in Italy and
released with bipartisan endorsement, constituted the very first instance of research commissioned by
the Italian Parliament on the situation of the Romani population in Italy. This study explicitly criticised
the “politica dei campi” (camp policy) adopted by the government and raised concern about the
precarious conditions of the 40 thousand Romani living in camps. With regard to the city of Rome, the
report recognised the failure of the Piano Nomadi, stating that “in order to solve in an efficient way the
Romani issue, both in terms of national security and social integration, exploring new solutions which
go beyond the so called ‘campizzazione’ [campisation] would be useful” (p. 59). It also made reference
to the fact-finding mission conducted by ODIHR in Milan, Naples and Rome in July 2008, indirectly
confirming the conclusions drawn by this OSCE delegation: “The measures adopted by the government,
starting with the declaration of a state of emergency, were disproportionate in relation to the actual
scale of the security threat related to irregular immigration and the situation the Roma and Sinti
settlements” (p. 42).
Based on this document the Italian government elaborated its own national plan for the social inclusion
of this minority group (Mercenaro, 2012). The launch of the National Strategy for the Inclusion of
Roma, Sinti and Camminanti communities: European Commission Communication no. 173/2011
signaled, as argued by one of the members of the Commissione Diritti Umani del Senato, the beginning
of a new “counter-culture” in terms of government attitude (Di Giovan Paolo, 2012). In line with the
Europe 2020 growth strategy, this action was part of a larger initiative designed on a European level to
address Romani needs with a targeted approach directed at incorporating and adapting the National
Romani Integration Strategies within the EU framework (European Commission, 2011a). The growing
interest in the situation of the Romani people marked “an unprecedented commitment by EU Member
States to promoting the inclusion of Roma on their territory” (European Commission, 2012, para. 1).
But despite the declared commitment of the Italian government to introduce a new way of dealing with
the social inclusion of the Romani people, its implementation fell short. A number of factors were still
in place preventing the existing gaps between the theoretical framework of the strategy and the
concrete possibility to implement a real change from being closed.
The Italian National Strategy was adopted as part of an inter-ministerial approach, a systemic effort
involving all the main subjects involved in the four axes of intervention (UNAR, 2012b). The greatest
innovation of this new initiative was that it envisaged for the first time the participation of the
representatives of the Romani communities living in Italy. Romani organisations were actually
consulted during the design phase. But very little space was granted to them, and they ultimately had
little influence on the decisional process. Romani representatives were thus assigned a mere
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consultative role. UNAR, as the relevant National Focal Point (NFP), was the institutional body
designated by the Italian government for the elaboration and coordination of the entire strategy.
Together with a series of initiatives directed at the prevention of episodes of racial hatred, one of the
main goals of this governmental body was to include the Romani people in the process for the
elaboration of the National Strategy (UNAR, 2012b). UNAR elaborated a document of around 100 pages
as a first preliminary draft and on the 17th of February 2012 forwarded it to all Romani associations.
Only a few days later, though, they were asked to participate to a meeting at the UNAR head office, in
which they were given the possibility to present their comments or to apply for some modifications (U
Velto, 2012). The time limit that the Romani organisations were allowed to prepare a response was
thus revealing of the type of involvement that was offered to them.
This is how Federazione Rom e Sinti Insieme described this draft during the meeting organised by UNAR
the 22nd of February:
It is too heavy and illustrates a number of measures that are too hard to analyze in only a few
hours. […] If it would be possible to remove from the document all the references to what was
already done, suggested or written in the past, then the strategy would be more original, less
heavy and the positive proposals would be recognised more easily (U Velto, 2012, para. 4).
On the 30th of May the president of Fondazione Romani Nazzareno Guarnieri organised a meeting to
discuss the new national strategy. The representatives of several organisations working on Romani
issues, academics and political personalities participated to the event:
Some defined [the national strategy] as redundant, while others saw in it a new control
instrument over Romani people. As a matter of fact [the proposed consultation with Romani
organisations] represents a mere advisory forum. The main national Romani organisations were
given little time to elaborate their response during the planning stage. As for our future
involvement, we will keep being subjected to the decisions dictated from the top” (personal
communication, May 30, 2012)
4
.
Guarnieri argued that Romani people need a governing body rather than a consultative one, but they
are still relegated to having a mere token role.
4
In a similar way Ian Anderson (2007) puts the approach adopted by the Australian government in the category of
“new paternalism”, framing it as a top-down crisis intervention. Lack of consultation with Indigenous communities
about the proposed measures is an issue that had been emphasised by the Australian Human Rights Commission
(2007) with regard to the Howard government’s NTER.
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The business of the nomad camps
In 2012 Carlo Stasolla, president of Associazione 21 Luglio, published a book, providing a precise
measure of the entire cost sustained for the strategy of integration of the Romani people in Rome.
According to Stasolla, the “Piano Nomadi” (Nomads Plan), introduced by the right-wing Alemanno
Mayorship, was a business of at least 60 million euro (p. 61). It gave jobs to approximately 450 people
who were involved in the management of the camps and the running of all the services, either directly
or indirectly, attributable to the implementation of this policy. In the preface of Stasolla’s book,
Leonardo Piasere, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Verona and one of the most
prominent scholars of Romani issues, explained the main characteristic of the “late modern Anti-
Gypsism”: It means segregating the Romani people in camps, with the excuse that this is for their own
good. This new version of Anti-Gypsism presents itself by using the “good face” of the associationism.
Together with that, the government keeps displaying its power, through army or police force, when it is
needed. Piasere described the associationism as a “machinery” that, in order to guarantee an
employment to its own members, was somehow forced to support the government approach towards
the Romani people (pp. 7-8).
The fact that every year a huge amount of money is spent for the management of the camps has
constantly attracted the appetites of different subjects, both private and public (Bonaccorsi & Vazzana,
2011). The Romani issue turned into a huge business in which it is really hard to know exactly how the
available fundings are being used. Monica Rossi (2010) used the definition “mercato della solidarietà”
(the market of solidarity) when referring to it (p. 219). This expression gives an immediate idea of the
rise of the social sector’s monetary value. As a Romani intellectual pointed out, “nobody is really
interested in improving the conditions of minority groups. Everyone consider us as a mere business”
(Nazzareno Guarnieri, personal communication, April 12, 2012). The only visible thing was that the
results of the actions that both government and NGOs implemented were very poor and that the
situation of the Romani people got worse instead of improving.
According to Dijana Pavlovic (as cited in Cugusi, 2011), a Romani actress and activist from Serbia, who
has been living in Italy since 1999,
there are no Romani people who are enabled to speak up for their interests with the
institutions. Public administrations keep delegating Romani issues to the Third Sector and to
Catholic organisations, instead of Romani representatives. […] Social workers have their own
convenience in using a charitable approach to deal with the Romanies. Many of them would be
without job if there were no “Gypsies” to take care of. (para. 5)
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As a consequence, the relationship occurring between Romani people and institutions/Third Sector
appear to be more a monologue, rather than a dialogue. A similar claim was made by Santino Spinelli,
an internationally renowned Romani musician and Professor of Romani Language and Culture, at the
University of Chieti:
Millions of euros were wasted in the last thirty years, in the name and on behalf of Romani
people. This created welfare dependency and their segregation inside camps, with all the
inevitable consequences that are for the all world to see today. (Associazione Thèm Romanó,
2010, para. 4)
One of the main issues regarding the existence of the camp policy is that it actually created the basis
for “racialised” interventions. It generated, in fact, the need for the introduction of a number of ad hoc
services specifically directed to Romani people. The interview with the administrative official of the XII
Municipal Hall in Rome can provide an interesting perspective on the local government’s approach in
relation to a specific case study, the former “tolerated camp” Tor De’ Cenci.
Millions of euros have been spent on Romani issues. Unfortunately these were mainly used either for
keeping alive the camp policy or to carry out forced evictions. This approach does not aim to solve the
problem, but to move it temporarily somewhere else. Two of the main projects supported by the
government in Tor de’ Cenci, the so called “borse lavoro” (paid traineeships) and the project of “pulizia
del campo” (camp cleaning), were not a way of promoting inclusion. They were rather bribes used to
convince the alleged “portavoce” (spokesperson) of the camp to move from one place to another.
Basically, the main message that the government wants to convey is that these people will not
integrate. This camp has been left to deteriorate to such an extent that its closure would become more
justifiable (personal communication, April 24, 2012)
As for the education of Romani children, projects have been in place since 1992. After a preliminary
experimental phase, in 1999 the “Progetto di Scolarizzazione” (Schooling Project) went under the
competence of the Department XI of the City Council, with a cost of approximately 2 million of euro
every year (Romano Lil, 2007). Contemporaneously, a number of other services, connected to the
running of the camps brought over the years to a growing public expenditure. Especially during the
enactment of the “Piano Nomadi” the entire cost for the management of the “camps system” has
almost double compared to 2006 under the left-wing Veltroni administration. In the course of the
interview with a representative of the Education and Schooling Policies Office of the City of Rome the
awareness of the above mentioned issues clearly emerged.
The city council invests 2 million euro each year for the all schooling project, but more than a half goes
for the transport, instead for actions that should promote the school attendance, the learning
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opportunities, extracurricular activities, individual educational projects, etc. (Personal communication,
May 19, 2012)
As observed by the European Committee of Social Rights in 2010, one of the main obstacles which
deprived the Romani people in Italy (particularly those living in camps) of the capacity to formally
exercise their rights to take part to the decision-making processes was the “lack of personal status or
denial of citizenship or a residence permit” (Council of Europe, 2012b, p. 209). The lack of personal
documents and residence permits, which are a key priority for “foreign Romanies”, becomes also a
political tool which can be used to threaten individuals with expulsion (Sigona & Monasta, 2006).
According to Romani intellectual Nazzareno Guarnieri the fact that there are still many Romanies from
former Yugoslavia (around 15 thousand) without documents is a form of extortion. Without
documents, not only these people cannot do anything legally, but all the projects run within the camps
are useless and meaningless. (Personal communication, April 21, 2012)
One of the main consequences of the implementation of the “camp policy”, is that today a relevant
part of the Romani population, mainly those living in institutional or informal camps, are forced to
submit to a condition of “welfare dependency”, which doesn’t really eliminate or undermine the main
causes of their marginality, and to adapt themselves to survive by using their own wits (informal and
occasional employments, or, in the worse cases, criminal activities).
The highly criticised policy of housing Romanies in authorised camps, their poor education and a
consequent high illiteracy rate, are all factors which, together with an undefined judicial position, and
the consequent impossibility to be employable following standard procedures or to have access to
social security and the health system, contribute to marginalise the Romani communities and to
exclude them from public and political life.
Conclusions
The analysis of the Italian context during the “Emergenza Nomadi” emphasises the dichotomous
approach adopted by the Italian government in relation to the Romani issue. On the one hand, the
application of extraordinary measures, which was disproportionate to the real degree of the threat,
involved the suspension of democratic rules, the curtailment of human rights and the dis-
empowerment of the Romani people, leading to the worsening of socio-economic gaps between them
and mainstream society. On the other hand, the National Strategy was launched, but an official
commitment to enhance the inclusion of Romanies was not supported by the intention to introduce a
real change. Both these actions thus contributed to reproduce and reinforce a well-established
condition of welfare dependency.
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A brief reconstruction of the most relevant events can help to make this point more clear.
The emergency decree n.181/2007, also labelled “Pacchetto Sicurezza” (security pacts) was enacted by
the left-wing Romano Prodi government.
A year later, on the 21st of May 2008, a state of emergency was enacted under
the right-wing Berlusconi government.
In February 2011 the Commissione Diritti Umani del Senato officially criticised
the “politica dei campi” (camp policy).
On the 16th of November 2011, the Nomad Emergency was declared
“unfounded and unsubstantiated” by the Italian Council of State.
On the 15th of February 2012, the newly instated Monti government appealed
this ruling which, a few months later, will push the Council of State to suspend its
previous decision, thus allowing the government to continue the Emergency
approach.
On the 28th of February 2012, the Monti government launched the National
Strategy for the Inclusion of Roma, Sinti and Camminanti Communities with the
main aim to overcome the emergency phase.
As argued by the president of Associazione 21 Luglio, Carlo Stasolla, all this was evident proof of
unresolved ambiguity:
Just like the previous ones, the new government’s policy was contradictory: at first it declared certain
things, but then later it did the complete opposite. This shows a clear political continuity with the
previous administrations. The shift from Left to Right didn’t bring any change. This is particularly true
when considering the case of the city of Rome. There was no difference between the left-wing Rutelli
and Veltroni administrations, and the new right-wing mayorship under Alemanno (personal
communication, April 4, 2012).
A gap between declared intentions and actual implementation of an innovative approach was thus
quite visible. On the one hand, concepts such as “camps”, “emergency”, “nomadism” were officially
rejected by a number of institutional bodies, on the other hand, though, the Italian government
maintained a type of intervention based on these now disendorsed notions.
After many years from the end of the II World War, “public discourse about the ‘problema Zingari’ still
revolves in Italy around the same three key concepts of ‘nomadism’, ‘asociality’ and ‘re-education’”
(Bravi & Sigona, 2006, p. 858). No serious policies have ever been enacted in order to guarantee a real
social inclusion of the Romanies within the Italian mainstream society. Decay and abandonment, which
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by now constitute a common feature in these encampments, are generally the result of the
institutional immobility and indifference to the living conditions of those who have been once defined
as “popoli delle discariche” (peoples of the dumps) (Piasere, 2005). It is thus a “vuoto istituzionale”
(institutional/political vacuum) which created the “emergency” and the premises for extraordinary
measures.
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