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Journalism of Courage
A curious thing happened when Italian sunbathers near Naples found themselves steps away from the bodies of two Roma girls who drowned in the sea — absolutely nothing.
The girls had gone swimming, got into difficulty, and drowned despite a rescue attempt. Once their corpses were hauled ashore and covered with towels, many beachgoers went back to the task at hand, sunning themselves for an hour until police took the bodies of Cristina, 11, and her sister Violetta, 12, away.
An estimated 140,000 Roma, also known as gypsies and nomads, live in Italy, many in squalid shantytowns on the fringes of cities. The reaction, or lack of it, was captured in a widely published photograph that has resonated in Italy and abroad. It has raised questions about attitudes towards Roma as Italy pursues a census of minorities as a way of tackling crime. Conservative Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi won a landslide victory in April’s election on a promise to get tough on crime, which many Italians blame on immigrants.
Although many are citizens of Italy or other European countries, critics say they are often treated like a sub-class of immigrants and targeted by police. Religious groups compared an Italian government plan to fingerprint Roma and their children to the tagging of Jews by Nazis in the 1930s. The plan was condemned by the European Parliament and by Romania, whence many Roma hail. It now appears to have been dropped.
A European Union survey showed 47 percent of Italians are uncomfortable around Roma — the highest figure in the 27-nation bloc, tying with the Czech Republic. Only 5 percent of Italians said they had Roma friends, compared to 32 percent in Spain and 11 percent in Britain.
U.N Special Rapporteurs criticised Berlusconi’s government for aggressive and discriminatory rhetoric against Roma, saying it created an environment of hostility, antagonism and stigmatization. Rights group Amnesty International called on EU member states to speak out against a full-fledged campaign against Roma. “Let’s be clear: what we are seeing is a witch-hunt disguised as security concerns,” said Nicolas Beger, Director of Amnesty’s EU Office. Interior Minister Roberto Maroni says Italy is engaged in a humanitarian mission to help the Roma community and held out the promise of Italian citizenship to abandoned Roma children.
