Europe needs Roma Inclusion Policy

Europe must end violence against the Roma
By Emma Bonino, Jan Marinus Wiersma and Andre Wilkens
Published: Financial Times, June 4 2008 17:11 Last updated: June 4 2008 17:11
Arsonists attacked Roma settlements on the outskirts of Naples late last month, in a stark reminder of the perils minority groups still face even in European Union countries.
The Italian authorities, unable to contain the violence, resorted to evacuating the camps’ inhabitants, ostensibly for their own safety. Meanwhile, a police crackdown on petty crime led to arrests of nearly 400 Roma, many of whom are likely to be expelled from the country. Italy’s tough, new policy for managing immigration problems makes it a crime to be an illegal immigrant: people found guilty of the offence can be sentenced to four years in jail.
Italy’s new government, under Silvio Berlusconi, the prime minister, has declared that the measures are fully compatible with Italy’s inter­national and European obligations. Many commentators, however, have noted with unease that these measures appear to be specifically crafted to strike Italy’s sizeable Roma commun­ity. Italians have come to associate the Roma with a perceived rise in crime and their own sense that the streets of their towns and cities have become less safe.
Is this a problem unique to Italy? We think not. Racist violence is anything but an exclusively Italian phenomenon, and the burnings of Roma settlements could have happened in any European country. So are negative attitudes toward the Roma, who face discrimination, social and economic exclusion and denial of their rights as citizens throughout Europe.
If we do not find the right approach to dealing with the Roma, events similar to the attacks in Italy could become more frequent and spread elsewhere in Europe. It would be bad news for Europe if the approach of the Italian government towards Roma – exclusion and expulsion – were to become the standard. This would place pressure on basic European principles, including the duty of governments to promote equality, provide the necessary legal safeguards, allow for freedom of movement and protect minorities.
Although policies to promote Roma inclusion have been put into place throughout Europe, not least in the framework of the European Union’s enlargement, progress in implementing these policies has generally been dis­appointing. Roma continue to be the single group most discriminated against in Europe. They are deprived of educational and employment opportunities and they suffer poor living conditions and access to healthcare.
Such social exclusion travels. In a sense, Italy is currently only the most visible example of Europe’s failing approach to its Roma. It is imperative that countries now find a common approach, one that respects fundamental freedoms.
Promoting Roma inclusion is a shared responsibility for the EU and its member states. Even though government leaders acknowledged this in December 2007 – after an earlier outbreak of violence against Roma in Italy – it is all too easy to hide behind subsidiarity (the notion of taking decisions at the lowest appropriate level) when it comes to minority issues. Both member states and the European Commission have the tendency to do so.
Countries in the east first recognised that an ambitious joint plan for Roma inclusion was the best way forward. In 2005, eight heads of state from central and south-eastern Europe adopted the Decade of Roma Inclusion, committing their countries to implementing 10-year action plans for opening the doors to Roma in education, employment, health and housing. Spain has joined since. Italy should do so now and so should the other EU member states that have not signed up.
European government leaders will discuss the Roma issue at their summit this month. They should not be satisfied with mere stock-taking of existing instruments drawn up by EU civil servants. It is time to announce a new policy, a long-term European Roma inclusion strategy based on the blueprint of the Decade of Roma Inclusion.
Italy and the other European countries, within the EU and outside it, must find an effective approach to end racist violence against the Roma people once and for all. This must be done now, before there is more violence and before the Roma retreat into a shell.
Emma Bonino is a vice-president of the Italian Senate. Jan Marinus Wiersma is Dutch member of the European parliament. Andre Wilkens is director of the Open Society Institute Brussels
Roma must respect the laws of Italy
Published: Financial Times, June 6 2008 03:00 Last updated: June 6 2008 03:00
From Mr Franco Frattini.
Sir, The Italian government could not agree more that there must be no violence against the Roma, as recommended by Emma Bonino, Jan Marinus Wiersma and Andre Wilkens ("Europe must end violence against the Roma", June 5). The Roma have the right to full protection and full respect for their culture, history and traditions. They deserve a serious offer of integration into our societies. However, they must also be required to respect the law of the country.
In Italy, tolerance towards crime has exasperated millions of honest citizens and risks generating feelings of hostility, which we want to prevent towards the many law-abiding Roma and immigrants. Contrary to the allegations in the article, there is no room for exclusion and expulsion in the current Italian government policies, which will be based on our people's traditions of tolerance and solidarity, but also on their expectation of respect for the rule of law.
Franco Frattini,
Foreign Minister, Italy
***RECEPTION IN A LEGAL FRAMEWORK, TODAY'S ITALY IS NOT XENOPHOBICIl Messaggero - 7 June 2008by Franco Frattini(an inofficial translation )
Italy, a founding member of the European Union, shares the fundamental values that guided the EU integration process over the last 50 years. Whether in my personal capacity or in my official commitments in National and European institutions, I have always sustained that the Charter on Fundamental Rights be binding, If the Charter is not formally included in the Treaty of Lisbon, it is because other influential European countries, certainly not Italy, did not want it.From the coasts of Sicily and Sardinia to the eastern frontiers of Italy, our people offered and continue to offer rescue operations, assistance, and food to thousands of immigrants who, driven by desperation, enter in Italy and therefore in Europe in violation of the law. We proceed in that manner because we consider that proactive solidarity for hungry people is our primary moral duty. But, after that we require the respect of the law and the credibility of the State. We require the appropriate punishment for those who steal, rape women, kidnap children, send their children begging in the streets instead of going to school. These are elementary rules in the UK, Italy, as well as in other European countries.In Italy it is now necessary to stop illegal immigrants from circulating within the border-free Schengen zone towards other European countries that certainly do not appreciate it. These are regulations that were largely forgotten by the previous Government where the Honorable Bonino was then an influential Minister and who now accuses Italy. It is also for this reason that Italians massively voted in favor of this new Government seeking for more credibility in the security policy. The Roma community have the right to guarantee and protect their culture, history and tradition. They must be seriously offered the opportunity to be integrated in the Italian society.But, like any other resident in the Italian territory, they are required to respect the law. Failure to do so would result in punishments for crimes committed. Millions of honest citizens are exasperated by a tolerance towards crimes. Today this creates a rejection towards those honest immigrants who work and respect the law.Italian standards therefore are not xenophobic, as it was claimed by MM Wiersma and Wilkens who hardly know Italy, or by the Honorable Bonino who, knowing her compatriots very well, said something serious and untrue.Italian standards are those of acceptance and legality. A country where children should go to school rather than beg in the streets; where one who commits a crime goes to prison without getting rid of his faults by passing them to others. A country like any other European country. Anyone who loves Italy will not stand itanother day seeing it represented as a haven for thieves and illegal immigrants; however, when the democratic State does react, it is described as a xenophobic country. The Italian Government, with strong popular support, will continue to uphold the respect of legality and the rights of everyone, but first of all, the right to security for honest persons.