State of Emergency: Timeline of Discrimination

26 March 2013

What happened when? Our quick guide to the key dates in Italy’s ‘Nomad State of Emergency’ targeting Roma

21 May 2008: The Italian Council of Ministers, led by Silvio Berlusconi, issued a decree declaring the State of Emergency (SoE).

29 July 2008: ERRC appeal before the regional administrative tribunal (TAR) of Lazio claiming that the Decree is unlawful, unfounded, discriminatory and lacking motivation.

Summer 2008: Census of Roma living in formal and informal camps. At the beginning the census including fingerprinting of Romani people.

18 February 2009: The Special Commissioner presented the “Regulation for managing the equipped villages for nomads communities in the Lazio Region. It established that it was possible to stay in camps for two years, renewable for another two years. The Roma living in camps were told there would be integration projects for employment, school enrolment and social support. An NGO was in charge of socio-educational projects. An advisory committee was established including, among others, local and state police.

23 February 2009: The Special Commissioner adopted the Regulation for Temporary Staging Areas of Nomads in Milan. The Regulation, still using the word nomads, provided a Committee of Management, which coordinated and controlled the social and legal pact, school attendance, educational support, social integration, training and job placement that Roma needed to respect. Article 12 stated the authorisation would be revoked for an entire family if just one member had convictions for offenses against property or persons, even if s/he had already served their sentence. 61 families have been evicted from the formal camps in accordance with this regulation, according to an Amnesty international report.¹

24 June 2009: TAR Lazio judgment confirming the SoE, and only lifting ethnic profiling measures (fingerprinting), surveillance of camps and the imposition of employment/training restrictions, but leaving the State of Emergency generally intact.

31 July 2009: The municipality of Rome and the special commissioner presented the Nomad plan for Roma in Rome. The plan stated that 6,000 of the 7177 Roma in Rome (according to the Prefecture’s census) would be moved to 13 formal mega camps far from the city centre. The formal camps would be monitored by cameras and guards 24 hours. Roma housed in formal camps received a DAST (an authorisation document to the temporary appropriation).

5 August 2009: ERRC appeal before the Council of State

19 November 2009: Milan plan for Roma – the so-called “Maroni Project” - adopted by the Special Commissioner: closure of four formal camps (Triboniano – Barzaghi, Novara, Bonfadini e Negrotto), Idro became a transit area and Martirano and Chiesa Rossa were to be upgraded, and there was to be an improvement of the social conditions in formal camps, a census and eviction of informal camps. Funds from the Minister of the Interior: 13,115, 700 Euros.

January - February 2010: Rome, Eviction of Casilino 900 semi formal camp. Some inhabitants were moved to other formal camps: Salone, Candoni, Camping River, Gordiani. The special commissioner and mayor promised them that jobs and houses would be found. The affected Roma have not received anything to date.

21 February 2010: Rome, eviction of La Martora semi formal camp. Inhabitants are moved to formal camps (Castel Romano, Salone and Camping River) and shelters.

30 April 2011: Milan, Eviction of Triboniano-Barzaghi formal camp. To date works are still in progress in the Chiesa Rossa and Martirano camps.

4 November 2011: Council of State’s judgment declaring the SoE unfounded, unmotivated and unlawful. No discrimination was found in the SoE itself, only some parts of it may be considered discriminatory.

15 February 2012: Presidency of the Council of Ministers’ appeal before the Court of Cassation, claiming that the Council of State trespassed its jurisdiction, judging on the merit of the government’s act.

2 March 2012: ERRC cross-appeal.

29 March 2012: Presidency of the Council of Minister’s request to the Council of State to lift its decision concerning contracts initiated under the SoE, in order to protect the State from potential claims by companies due to contracts’ breach.

9 May 2012: Council of State’s order stating that the contracts initiated should be continued.

18 June 2012: Rome, La Barbuta, formal camp opened.

5-13 July 2012: Rome, eviction of Tor del Baiardo semi formal camp

28 September 2012: Rome, Tor de Cenci semi formal camp evicted. Inhabitants moved to formal camps (La Barbuta, and Castel Romano) and shelters.

26 March 2013: Hearing before the Court of Cassation.

Endnote:

^{1. Amnesty International, “Tolleranza zero verso I rom”. Sgomberi forzati e discriminazione contro i rom a Milano, 2011.}