Italy Moves to Fingerprint Gypsies

(Rome, Italy) About 150,000 Roma Gypsies, mainly from Romania, live in Italy. Approximately half are Italian citizens. The government is considering a proposal to fingerprint them all.

An Italian government proposal to fingerprint all the country's Gypsies, including children, has drawn stern criticism from members of the Catholic Church and from the opposition.

Gypsy children whose parents keep them out of school and send them to beg on the streets would be taken into care, under plans announced by the Interior Minister Roberto Maroni.

Maroni said the planned 'census' of Gypsies is not 'ethnic profiling' but aimed ensuring decent living conditions for all individuals who have the right to residency in Italy and expelling those who are here illegally.

He was addressing the lower house of Parliament's constitutional affairs committee.

"Does living among rats as Gypsy children do in their camps respect their rights?" he asked.

"As Italian citizens , we should be ashamed about this situation, which should not be allowed to continue."

Is it not ethnic profiling when you round up people in one ethnic group for fingerprinting? Okay. Special Gypsie Commissioners will be appointed to oversee the fingerprinting.