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The War On Roma People – From clichés...to anti-Gypsyism...to social conflict

“For centuries, people have been led to fear Jews, to see them as a threat, even though they were a minority. Ugly, dirty and nasty. Like Gypsies. Like a social cancer. Woe for those who accept them as fellow nationals.”
(G. Lerner, "Gli zingari, gli ebrei e le leggende razziste" [“Gypsies, Jews and racist legends”], in La Repubblica newsdaily, March 1, 2007)

A public demonstration against the presence of Roma people in a neighborhood of Milan, Italy.

Milan - Italy

• What law and order? Rom e gagi a confronto ["Roma people and Gadjos in dialogue"] by Arrigoni P., Vitale T., 2008, in Aggiornamenti sociali.

• Opera: Essere contro i Rom diventa un'identità ["Being against the Roma becomes a matter of identity"] (Dec. 2006-Feb. 2007). Adapted from the exhibition "Io vivo al campo." Storie di bambini Rom a Milano" ["'I live in the camp.' Stories of Roma children in Milan"] produced by Comunità di Sant'Egidio.

• Propaganda: Hostility to Roma and Sinti people is often played upon to curry favor with the electorate.

A few Italian incidents

• Ponticelli district, Naples: the "PogRom" of May 2008: "Lasciateli bruciare, altrimenti tornano" ["Let them burn or they'll come back"]; "La pulizia etnica si fa necessaria" ["Ethnic cleansing is becoming a necessity"].

• Report: In 2008, the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights issued a report on events in Ponticelli entitled Incident Report—Violent Attacks Against Roma in the Ponticelli district of Naples, Italy ["Relazione sugli avvenimenti. Violenti attacchi contro la popolazione Rom nel quartiere di Ponticelli di Napoli, Italia"].

• Turin: The Turin "pogRom", Dec. 9, 2011

A European incident: the 2009 murder of Roma people in Hungary

• Kisleta: In 2009, between August 2 and 3, a Roma woman, Mária Balog, was shot dead and her 13-year-old daughter injured. It was the latest in a series of murders of Hungarian nationals of Roma ethnicity, including a 4-year-old boy.

• Anti-Gypsyism has dramatically increased in Hungary. The popularity of "Jobbik", a far-right political party with strong anti-Roma and anti-Semitic beliefs, is of particular concern.

• Amnesty International's 2010 Report on Hungary.

The expulsion of Roma people from France, 2010-2012

• August-September 2010: France expels about 1,000 Roma people, who are EU citizens, and repatriates them to their countries, Romania and Bulgaria.

• September 2010: the European Parliament and Commission criticize France about the repatriations.

• 2011-2012: forcible evictions continue.