The ngo movement in Italy needs our support

Στο μέηλ μου πήρα ένα μήνυμα - κάλεσμα για συμπαράσταση για την υπόθεση της μαζικής απέλασης Ρουμάνων από την ιταλική κυβέρνηση. Την Κυριακή βρέθηκε στα χέρια μου ένα βιβλιαράκι της ΕΕ που περιλάμβανε άρθρα που βραβεύθηκαν για τη λεγόμενη (με νευριάζει τούτος ο όρος) "διαφορετικότητα". Ανάμεσα στα άρθρα αυτά ήταν και το ιταλικό που περιέγραφε την κατάσταση σε ένα από τους (εντελώς) πρόχειρους και αυτοσχέδιους καταυλισμούς τους. Ο δημοσιογράφος τον περιγράφει ως "πόλη-φάντασμα". Τα "σπίτια" ήταν φτιαγμένα από χαρτόνια, διάφορα νάιλον και πλαστικά... οι "ιταλικές φαβέλες" όπως λέει και ο δημοσιογράφος. Άνθρωποι που επειδή δεν βρίσκουν μια καλή ζωή στη χώρα τους, πάνε να ψάξουν ένα καλύτερο μέλλον αλλού. Αποτελούν το μεγαλύτερο πληθυσμό μεταναστών στην Ιταλία, και η γενικευμένη επίθεση ακόμα και από την "αριστερή" κυβέρνηση του κ. Πρόντι, έχει ξεπεράσει κάθε όριο! Διαβάστε το γράμμα που ακολουθεί και στηρίξτε την προσπάθεια συμμετέχοντας σε αυτή την εκστρατεία!

Dear Colleagues,

Following a sustained campaign carried out in a number of prominent media since the summer months of 2007, inciting panic about crimes purportedly committed by Romanians -- and in particular Romanian Roma -- the Italian government has passed an emergency decree facilitating the expulsion of Romanian citizens, with only limited procedural protections. In the context of agitating for these new draconian measures, media in Italy and Romania have participated in explicitly racist incitement, and a number of high-ranking officials have made explicitly anti-Romani statements.

In Romania, although some high-ranking public officials condemned the decree, there have also been expressions of anti-Romani hatred at very high level. For example, Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Adrian Cioroianu purportedly stated in an interview on 4 November 2007 elated to the current crisis: ". I was wondering if we couldn't buy a piece of land in an Egyptian desert where to send those people, those people who makes us (Romanians) a laughing stock. It is clear that if they go to Italy, there they still feel well, the climate is nice, they hear around them a Latin language they understand somehow in a month."

On 3 November 2007, Commissioner for Justice and Civil Liberties Mr. Franco Fratini, himself of Italian origin and with high-level links to Italian party politics, reportedly both urged Italian authorities to expel Romanians, as well as to pull down Romani camps in Italy to prevent persons from returning.


Several new policy initiatives in Italy and elsewhere appear deeply infected with anti-Romani considerations. There are evident systemic abuses of fundamental human rights ongoing now, directly linked to these new policies, as well as the threat of serious harm to race relations in Italy and Romania, as a direct result of the events of recent weeks.


An urgent action appeal letter, targeting the Romanian and Italian Prime Ministers, the Romanian President, the President of European Commission, and the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, is available at http://www.romanetwork.org/protest2.htm .


We urge you to please join the letter campaign, as well as to forward this communication to other interested parties.

This is a common initiative of a number of Roma Civil Organisations and Roma rights activists. -

- Claude Cahn
Head of Advocacy UnitCentre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE)
83 Rue de Montbrillant, 1202 Geneva,
Switzerland Geneva Tel +41.22.7341028 ;
fax +41.22.7338336
Mobile: (41 76) 203 46 88
Skype: claudecahn
Email: claudecahn@cohre.org