Roma Segregated on Public Transport in Italy

07 November 2002

On July 15, 2002, Mr A.N., a 38-year-old Romani man living in camp Salone, testified to the ERRC that a previously proposed segregationist policy had been implemented on the Tivoli-Rome public commuter train owned by the company Trenitalia. Mr A.N. testified to the ERRC that, "Two days ago, when I tried to get on the train, a policeman stopped me and told me to go to another car. When I asked why, he said it was because that car was full. He told all the Gypsies the same thing. When I looked out the window, I saw Italians getting into the car that I wanted to go on." The Italian national daily newspaper Corriere della Sera reported on May 29, 2002, that the "ghettoisation" of the public commuter train was originally proposed by council member Mr Andrea Napoleoni of the Forza Italia party, a member of Italy's governing coalition. According to Mr Napoleoni, the train was "besieged daily by nomads." On October 18, 2002, Corriere della Sera reported that two hundred and fifty Italian passengers protested at the Lunghezze station against Romani passengers attempting to board the train, which passes the ghettoised camp Salone. The protesters claimed that "nomads storm the train daily and often urinate in the wagons." The ERRC attempted to contact Trenitalia several times, but officials at the company would not comment on the issue.

(Corriere della Sera, ERRC)