Better
keep quiet
In
recent years we have witnessed incredible displays of
anti-Gypsyism
all across
Europe
and covering most of the political spectrum. These, largely, have
been received with nothing but shameful silence from the highest
levels of the European Commission.
For
example, in 1995, a pipe bomb killed four Roma in
Oberwart
,
Austria
. It was planted under a sign reading “Roma zuruck nach Indien”
(Roma go back to
India
).
More
recently, on Saturday, 18 August, 2007, an unknown extremist group
in
Italy
sent a letter claiming its involvement in the death of four Roma
children, and threatened the Roma community in
Italy
. The main message of the letter was that Roma should leave
Italy
.
Now,
a violent and criminal incident has released a new wave of anti-Gypsyism
in Romania and abroad. On 31 October 31, 2007 an Italian woman was
killed in
Rome
. The suspect is a Romanian citizen of Roma origin.
A
large part of Romanian and Italian media were fast to blame the
entire Roma community for the criminal acts of an individual, in
what can only be described as a “lynching” campaign. This
dangerous practice of projecting the negative acts of an
individual onto an entire community created the premises for the
Holocaust and numerous other genocides. And as has happened
before, the
fact that anti-Gypsyism is promoted, without sanction, by European
media outlets gave legitimacy to open racist messages transmitted
from the highest level of the Romanian and Italian political
class. The event was also shamelessly used by a number of
Italian politicians to justify measures against immigrants.
The
“no-comment” attitude of EU governments in general when it
comes to anti-Gypsyism, and the lack of reaction to the inept and
racist discourses of some EU politicians are largely to blame for
the situation. The EU, with its silence, encourages the Romanian
state to join in casting collective blame on a part of its
citizenry, and to take a docile approach, disguised as diplomacy,
towards the xenophobic comments of some Italian politicians.
The
fact that crimes committed by Romanians in Italy (as opposed to
local, Italian-perpetrated crimes) receive such huge attention and
media coverage can only be explained by a deep xenophobic feeling
which should be sanctioned and not justified by the government in
Bucharest and the European Union.
What
did the Commission do in this case?
On
November 3, Mr Frattini, Italian Commissioner for Justice and
Civil Liberties declared:
“What
has to be done is simple. Go into a nomad camp in
Rome
for example, and ask them: ‘Can you tell me where you live?’
If they say they do not know, take them and send them home to
Romania
. That is how the European directive works. It is simple and safe.
Romania
cannot say they will not take them back, because it is an
obligation that is part of being a member state of the EU.”
He
also urged
Italy
to pull down the camps to prevent any Romanians from returning.
At
best, this declaration is stupid, as the Commissioner implies that
Romania
should receive anybody who does not know where he or she resides.
Coming from a Commissioner charged with fighting for the civil
liberties of European citizens, it is simply unacceptable.
Frattini
seems to forget that he is not paid by the Italian extreme right
or Berlusconi but by the European Commission, an organisation
which promotes (at least on paper) “respect for human rights”,
“tolerance” and “unity through diversity”.
If
the Commissioner can’t do his job better resign or keep quiet as
he successfully did it up to this point.
PS. A number of most proeminent Roma NGOs in Romania such as
Partida Romilor, Romani Criss, Agentia Impreuna, Alianta Civica
a Romilor and ERGO will call for Commissioner Frattini to step
down
