Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini has ordered a collection of Roma and Sinti minority camps to prepare an „expulsion plan“ and close „illegal“ camps.
As the Home Office in Rome announced today, the Italian prefects were asked to submit reports on the Roma, Sinti and other traveling people within their jurisdiction within two weeks. Salvini is chairman of the right-wing Lega.
Sinti and Roma are a minority in many European countries. Some of them have lived in camps and on migration for centuries.
The number of Roma and Sinti in Italy is estimated by the Council of Europe at 120,000 to 180,000. About half of them are Italian citizens, have a regular place of residence and work places. The associate group Associazione 21 Luglio issued a report in 2017 that estimated the number of Roma and Sinti living in camps or shelters in Italy at 26,000.
Already last year, Salvini demanded a census of Roma and Sinti with the aim of referring all members of the minority without Italian nationality of the country. Since then, the attacks against Roma and Sinti have increased.
