Chronicles of ordinary racism 2011 - Cronache di ordinario razzismo

you look at it, against) foreigners, increasing their level of insecurity and their reliance
on some form of employment. In recent years, furthermore, with the rulings passed in
the last decade concerning public safety, this regulatory strategy was “enriched” by an
overuse of crime‐fighting methods that often pushed foreigners into a life of
delinquency and revealed themselves to be completely counter‐productive both as far
as concerns the rational supervision of the migratory influx and the goal of
guaranteeing legitimate safety requirements to each individual, regardless of his or her
nationality.
On top of this, new financial policies have entailed the suspension of many
programs that dealt with the reception and social integration of immigrants. In this far
from reassuring landscape we also come across government initiatives such as the
declaration of a state of emergency with reference to settlements of the Roma
community 171 concentrated in some regions 172 . These are measures that, by transferring
responsibility into the hands of the Protezione Civile (the Italian Emergency Relief
Service), appear to transcend the limits set by extant legislation. And it has, sure
enough, been declared a state of emergency, with the conferral of extraordinary powers,
with reference to a situation that does not present any hint of a threat ,nor any
particularly exceptional or extraordinary quality. The malaise and neglect of Roma and
Sinti communities have been structural for decades and have, for this very reason,
prompted criticism towards our country from several international organisations 173 .
However, let us proceed methodically, if schematically, and with no further ado, in
order to guarantee the necessary concision. 174
2. Law n. 125/2008
Law n. 125/2008 was the first regulation to be introduced. It included the following
innovations:
a) An amendment to the criminal code with regards to deportation as a guarantee of
public safety, prescribing its mandatory enforcement in cases involving a prison
sentence of two years or more or crimes against the State.
b) Introduction of so‐called “clandestinità” (illegal immigration) as an aggravating
circumstance, with respect to crimes committed by those who are found to unlawfully
reside in the country (art. 61, par. 1 num. 11‐bis, penal code). This measure would have
the effect of using the guilty immigrantʹs irregular status as an excuse to increase the
171 For an analysis on this issue see the contribution of S. Bontempelli, in Il paese degli sgomberi (e dei campi), (The
land of forced evictions – and of settlements), chapter 1.
172 The Decree from the Prime Minister’s office dated 21 May 2008 did not set out any specific measures as it made
reference solely to the precarious nature of Roma settlements and focused on issues of public order; the three
subsequent rulings of the Prime Minister’s Office on 30 May 2008 delegate authority on the matter to three
designated extraordinary Commissioners.
173 We do not have the time to dwell on said ruling nor on the criticism aimed at Italy for its discriminatory policies
against immigrants. We only call to mind the censure on the part of the European Committee of Social Rights in a
decision dated 7 December 2005, as well as the contents of the recent report from the Council of Europe
Commissioner for Human Rights, Thomas Hammarberg.
174 Both measures contained in the so-called safety package feature amendments pertaining to different legislative
areas; from measures concerning the criminal code to those relating to the highway code; from the amendments of
legislation concerning prevention to those on jurisdiction of and procedure before a Justice of the Peace. Among
these, we encounter laws on immigration that we will rapidly skim over, without tackling the amendments to
legislation on the recognition of the status of refugee and on international protection.
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