Italy’s Interior Minister Roberto Maroni has praised the French government for deporting hundreds of Romanians last week. The deportations were said to have been “voluntary” but human rights groups have accused the French government of coercing the Romanians to leave.
Now Minister Maroni, in an interview with Corriere della Sera, has said that the Italian government will prove itself “tougher than Sarkozy” on the issue of the Roma and other EU immigrants who do not fulfill certain requirements.
First of all let us be careful with the terminology: the term “Roma” or “Rom” in Italian was originally used, along with the term “Sinti” to describe the nomadic peoples of Europe. However, it is now often used, by Italian politicians and media alike, to refer to Romanians, especially those who live in camps.
In the interview, Mr Maroni, of the anti-immigration Northern League, told Corriere della Sera that, although EU citizens cannot legally be deported, he intends to lobby for EU approval for expulsion measures at a meeting of EU Interior Ministers on September 6th. Mr Maroni says that EU citizens in Italy who do not meet minimal income and housing requirements should be deported, just as non - EU citizens are.
The Minister also said that in Italy, many Roma and Sinti immigrants have EU citizenship and so cannot be deported under EU legislation. This, he insists, is a policy that has to change.
The Vatican has already criticised the French government’s actions and the Italian Opposition has accused Mr Maroni of being racist.
