Many in Italy are decrying what they see are handouts and favors bestowed on migrants that they feel have no willingness to integrate or become 'productive' citizens. In fact, most people see migrants as moochers, who are draining a financial system already at the brink.
But the truth is much starker. Roma have been persecuted and ostracized for centuries. Even after the fall of the wall of Berlin and the subsequent pullout of Russia from the Balkan zones, Roma were still imprisoned in filfthy ghettos. After inclusion into the Shenken zone, most Balkan countries had to free the Roma as a precondition for inclusion. But that has not always bettered their lot in life. In some places like Hungary, which is experiencing a strong, right wing surge, the Roma are more persecuted than they were before.
All Roma are forbidden from entering the school systems, citing concerns over the lack of vaccination and hygiene in the Roma camps. In addition, they are blocked from most jobs, except for the dirtiest and most difficult ones. One of the hallmarks of the Bosnian war, was the use of Roma to dig mass graves or disposal of bodies killed by the Serbian army. Roma were forced to do it, not paid. And they were the only ones who could do it, without the outside world knowing the extent of the savagery that characterized the Jugoslavian civil war.
After the EU zone inclusion of Balkan countries, many Roma have left their place of origin, trying to escape the life they had led. In Germany for example, they are included in the school system, but even Germany is trying to stem the flow of Roma, who they see as difficult to manage.
But in other countries, such as Italy, Roma are seemingly back to square one. They are living in rickety encampments and are shunned from living in regular neighborhoods. Those Roma who seek to educate themselves and escape a life of crime or poverty, or both, have to wade through the stumbling blocks of a system that makes their inclusion very difficult.
Integration is a word very dear to the indigenous people of France, Italy and Germany and so forth. But when it comes down to it, the people who should be given the most tools to integrate end up being the ones with the least.
Until now, Italy has laws that do not grant automatic citizenship to Roma or other children born on Italian soil. Attempts at passing a law that would grant such right, have been met with incredible resistance both from citizens and from right wing parties, such as Forza Nuova and the Northern league.
In Rome, "housing" facilities provided for the Roma are veritable security enclosures, with high walls, security cameras, and deplorable conditions inside. Such isolation breeds criminal activities.
One of such facilities, called the Salone encampment, was relegated to a zone far outside the city, beyond even the massive beltway that surrounds the Roman suburbs. To get to Rome from this place, Roma people need more than 2 hours by bus.
Another, similar 'housing' facility, called the Cesarina camp, was put together with funds from the Vatican, but the encampment has now been cut off from electricity or running water. Conditions there are so dismal that a congressional delegation has been ordered to investigate the living conditions.
According to EU conventions, Italy has to provide fit and proper habitation for all its refugees. There are almost 40,000 people living in ramshackle camps in italy. But of the 40,000 a good part are actually Italian citizens, or eligible for citizenship through recently passed legislation or because they have met refuge status conditions.
Roma people then, are back to square one, in the same unfit conditions they found themselves before they emigrated, and excluded from accessing valuable institutions and resources.
The ghettization of Roma people furthermore, is a financial disaster. It costs Rome almost 100 million dollars to keep the Roma in the ghettos. In fact, the law that permits such 'accomodations' for Roma, passed by Berlusconi years ago, feeds the pockets of many unscrupulous contractors, who get handsome pay to monitor and supply the camps. The contractors are awarded through a corrupt system that is believed to be under the control of the mafia.
The rights to access education and jobs, are fundamental to the integration of Roma people. They do want to integrate and become part of society in large part, but if they cannot, they will revert to a life of begging and crime.
While many other European Countries have made great strides in the inclusion of Roma in the workplace and schools, Italy seems to have regressed to a form that most thought had been wiped out by the adoption of the EU zone.
To make matter worse, the political instability and the economic fragility in Italy leave very little room for financing programs and fit housing for the Roma in Italy. Even the new government is more apt at infighting than resolving what they see as marginal issues.
In some Italian cities, progress has been made to include Roma people. But in Rome, the right wing mayor Alemanno, is actually campaigning on a platform of exclusion and repression of the Roma people. The reason why he can, is because a good number of Romans are supporting his agenda.
Roma people rights watchdog groups have published hair raising reports on the condition of the Roma camps outside the Italian capital.
The problem seems to be that the goodwill displayed at the acceptance of refugees and migrants into Italy, does not translate into plans or programs to help the newly arrived integrate into society, or even to obtain dwellings. Many lament that migrants have incredible privileges, such as monthly stipends, that are not even granted to Italians who have serious financial problems. That kind of practice, throwing money at a problem, instead of solving it, has created a climate in which hatred and resentment flourish, while intelligent, well thought out plans, flounder.
Source : FT/ 10.31.13
