Italy continues to see incidents of persecution against Roma. Last month, members of far-right organizations Casa Pound and Blocco Studentesco stopped about 90 Roma children on their way to school (and 100 adults going to work). Supporters of the far-right groups stood outside the school entrance, blocking the children from entering the building. This news has now been overshadowed by another story of persecution and intimidation of Italy's Roma.
Now it appears Roma settlements are at the center of the current corruption scandal in Rome (now often dubbed "Mafia Capital"), as investigators are seeking to determine how the mafia was able to infiltrate the politics of Italy's capital. Among those allegedly involved is the former mayor of Rome, Gianni Alemanno.
The controversial Roma camps and temporary reception centers were exploited by the criminals: in one of the prosecutors' recordings, the head of a social cooperative that managed services at the reception centers and Roma camps claimed that the business is worth 40 million euros annually, adding that "drug trafficking is not as profitable."
A history of persecution
In addition to being denied the opportunity to lead a normal life, Roma people and their homes are viewed as a business to the mafia and corrupt officials, who at the same time blame Roma for economic problems and unsafe neighborhoods.
The Roma people have been a convenient scapegoat for a long time: during World War II, Nazi Germany and its allies defined Roma as "enemies of the race-based state" and targeted them along with Jews; between 300,000 and 500,000 Roma were murdered during the war.
Sometimes known as the “Forgotten Holocaust,” the Roma Genocide was excluded from the history of World War II for decades after the end of the war and officially recognized by Germany only in 1982.
On January 27, International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Italian civil society organizations CILD and Associazione 21 luglio will remember the Porajmos, or Romani Holocaust, with a conference that will be held at the Italian Senate.
