Might elections actually matter or make a difference for Roma in Italy?
13 June 2016
By Nicole Garbin and Rosi Mangiacavallo
Will the outcome of the 5th of June local elections make a whit of a difference to the exclusion and privation suffered by Roma in Italy? The authors fear not, and vague campaign promises notwithstanding, anticipate more of the same with no respite from forced evictions and segregationist solutions.
The 5th of June municipal elections in Italy made the headlines because of the ‘abysmally low’ turnouts; the successes of 5-Star candidate Virginia Raggi amidst voter dissatisfaction with traditional parties over corruption scandals in Rome; and the fact that no candidate won outright in the mayoral races in Italy’s five biggest cities. Runoffs are scheduled for the 19th of June. But will the eventual outcomes make a difference for Roma?
Four of those five cities, Turin, Rome, Milan and Naples are ‘home’ to the greatest number of Roma in Italy. The Roma in these cities bore the brunt of the so-called ‘Nomad State of Emergency’, declared by Silvio Berlusconi’s government in 2008. This extraordinary measure was the government response to the so-called “Roma problem”. The State of Emergency led to relentless forced evictions of Roma, and systematic drives to segregate, fingerprint, harass and expel Roma, violating their fundamental rights to adequate housing, education and freedom from racial discrimination. The Roma, Sinti and Caminanti communities and individuals in the country were targeted as a threat to society and a security concern. After years of a judicial saga started by a Roma family with the support of the ERRC, the State of Emergency was finally declared illegal. On the 2nd May 2013 the highest Italian court upheld the ruling which declared the State of Emergency unfounded, unmotivated and unlawful.
Three years later what’s the situation on the ground? Has the “state of emergency” actually ended for Roma, or are they still considered a problem and a threat to society?
Looking at the policies pursued by the authorities in the four cities over recent years, it seems clear that the illegal, security approach adopted under the State of Emergency still holds a strong appeal among mayors and prefects, who never stopped evicting and segregating Roma. The good intentions written into the National Strategy for the Inclusion of Roma, Sinti and Caminanti never amounted to more than words on paper.
In Turin for example, the Municipality decided in 2013 to prioritise closing the Lungo Stura Lazio informal camp where about 1000 Romanian Roma had lived for more than 10 years. Alternative housing solutions were proposed only to some of those living in the settlement and in many cases these ‘solutions’ were short stays in ethnically segregated, and substandard temporary shelters. Others were simply offered paid returns to their country of origin (most of the families take the money, travel back to their country of origin and then resettle in Italy), or cast out onto the street. Since the end of November, those people housed in segregated social housing live under the constant threat of eviction and the prospect of ending up on the streets. According to ERRC's local partners, only 18 families now have a home and the main result of this project was to disperse Roma across the territory, putting them in an even more precarious situation.
In Rome, local NGOs have witnessed an egregious number of forced evictions. The most recent one occurred just a couple of weeks ago when about 500 Roma, including 250 minors were forcibly evicted from their home in Casalbertone where they had been living since 2013. All were left homeless in the street. The authorities did not respect any of the procedural safeguards related to forced evictions as provided by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of the United Nations and as a result of the eviction, approximately 100 children had to stop to attending school. .
Segregated camps are still a sad reality for Roma notwithstanding the fact that the Municipality of Rome is obliged to dismantle them and provide its inhabitants with adequate alternative housing according to “La Barbuta” judgment. Those Roma living in ethnically segregated shelters such as the “Ex Cartiera” shelter are no luckier. Segregated, abandoned and living in precarious conditions under the constant threat of eviction,, their future could not be more uncertain.
Naples and Milan have done little to distinguish themselves in the recent past with forced evictions of camps like via Idro in Milan or the attempt to evict Gianturco and build a “brand new” segregated camp with EU Funds in Naples; not to mention the squalid living conditions in shelters in Milan. None of this can be considered convincing first steps towards Roma inclusion. These are just a few examples of approaches that have proven to be failed and flawed, bringing new hardships upon desperate Roma. Unfortunately, there are many more examples we could cite.
When you evict a family from its home of several years, and the only alternative you provide them is life in a container, crammed together with 20 other unknown persons, without privacy or freedom of movement, and subject to local police checks, how can you expect this family to embark upon the famous “inclusion path”? Why for such families, do paths to inclusion have to start in segregated shelters and not in their own homes?
So, while we wait for the final results from the final round of the elections, the big and perhaps hugely naïve question is whether the newly elected administrations will make any difference to the Roma.
Looking back over the many months of the election campaigns, we fear that the results won't really make any difference to the rights and wellbeing of Roma. Empty promises of a better future alternated with forced evictions and camp closures, and politicians have deliberately created a vacuum, preferring to remain vague and ambiguous to conceal the lack of any concrete or sound strategy for Roma inclusion.
Moreover, the few promises and suggested solutions still make Roma look like a problem that former politicians failed to solve. Most of the plans and ideas sound all too familiar, and dampen any hope for a more enlightened management of the ‘issue’. Stereotypes and ignorance still prevail and the sole purpose of so many populist public statements is to garner votes. Failure to act due to lack of funds has been a favourite operatic aria played by the Italian authorities. It doesn’t convince and can no longer serve as an excuse, for it is abundantly clear from the resources dedicated by municipalities to discriminate, to evict, and segregate Roma, that what is lacking is not money but the political willingness to change direction.
However with local elections underway and some changes expected in terms of who will hold office, it’s good timing for Roma and civil society organisations to step up the struggle with renewed energy, combining advocacy, campaigning and litigation to get authorities to change their behavior, honour the commitments made under the EU Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies, and finally come around to fully respecting Roma rights.
