ITALY: Italian police swarmed through illegal migrant settlements in Rome, after the government authorised expulsions

Italian police swarmed an illegal migrant settlement in Rome on Friday (November 2), following a government decree allowing police to expel fellow European Union citizens who are believed to be dangerous to society. The decree by Italian prime minister Romano Prodi came into force for the first full day on Thursday (November 1) and followed a spate of violent crimes in Italy -- many blamed on immigrants from Romania, which joined the EU this year. On Friday, police were re-investigating the scene where an Italian naval officer's wife was attacked, raped and left for dead. Giovanna Reggiani was walking on a dark and empty street on Tuesday (October 30) near a settlement of shacks where the Romanian who has been charged with her murder was living. She died on Thursday (November 1) after being in a coma. Flowers and notes were left near the place where the woman was found. "It's not possible to die like this", one note read. Rome's mayor, Walter Veltroni, has said that in the first seven months of 2007, Romanians made up 75 percent of those who raped, stole and killed. The death of Reggiani has gripped Italians and led news reports on Friday. Italian Daily "La Repubblica" opened with an headline saying: "Romanians. Green Light to Expulsions". "If the numbers they are saying are true and if its true that Romanians commit 75 per cent of crimes, they surely are a problem," said one woman on the streets of Rome. Romanian prime minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu has pledged his full support to Prodi, news agencies have reported. Italian officials have long urged Bucharest to help them counter the influx of Romanians, who now make up Italy's biggest foreign immigrant community. Prodi, also a former head of the European Commission, said the government has done what it needed to do. "We'll continue to seriously keep an eye on the situation and we'll make sure this doesn't happen again," he said, speaking to journalists in Bologna on Thursday. "This surely is a problem that does not involve just Italy. There is no doubt that we shall have immediate international contact about it," he added. On Friday, police were swarming several illegal shacks and camps inhabited mainly by Romanian immigrants, checking documents. "We are Romanians. There is nothing we can do. Gypsies are assholes. They damage us as well. We have families, children," said one woman who had lived in Italy for two months. EU citizens are allowed to travel freely across borders, but Italian officials say the new expulsion powers are permitted under European Union rules. Under the decree, police would be given the power to expel EU citizens considered to be dangerous to society, and those who returned illegally could be jailed for up to three years. No trial would be necessary before an expulsion and justifications could include past criminal convictions or even lack of income, an interior ministry spokesman told Reuters.

ITN Source | November 5, 2007

Tags:. .borders. .jailed. .commit. .counter. .fellow