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Italy Plan to Fingerprint Gypsies Under Fire

Posted Jul 3, 08 12:31 PM CDT in World 

(Newser) – Italy has begun taking fingerprints from members of its Gypsy minority, in what the government calls a “census” of the people living in nomad encampments. The plans to document adults and children lacking an EU passport has brought condemnations from critics, who charge that “census” is the Berlusconi government’s euphemism for a racist practice, the BBC reports.

"We intend…to see who lives in Gypsy camps, who has a right to stay,” said the interior minister, who said the move will help fight crime and improve living conditions. Italy performs a complete census every 10 years in which individuals are not fingerprinted. The EU parliament will review the issue next week.

Source Associated Press

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    Jul 10, 08 1:00 PM CDT
    EU Blasts Italy Over Gypsy Fingerprinting Italy’s mandatory fingerprinting of its Gypsy minority is "an act of discrimination based on race and ethnic origin" and should be stopped, the European Parliament said in a resolution passed today. The assembly voted 336-220, with 77 abstentions, to condemn the practice—though the resolution is not binding, the AP notes. Italy continues to defend the program as a necessary measure to fight street crime. More »

The savage, fatal beating of an Giovanna Reggiani, wife of a top navy commander, near a Gypsy camp on Rome's outskirts earlier this week increased pressure on authorities to crack down on immigrants.   (AP Photo/Riccardo De Luca)
Demonstrators protest against the discrimination of Gypsies on June 8, 2008 in Rome. Romanian gypsies have aroused widespread anger among Italians, who blame them for rising crime and insecurity.   (Getty Images)
Gypsies protest against their community's discrimination outside Rome's Colosseum on June 8, 2008.   (Getty Images)
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Italy  • fingerprinting  • government spying  • minority  • Gypsy  • Roma people


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