Number of forced evictions of Roma and Sinti in the Italian city of Rome 2014-2019

In 2019, the forced evictions of Roma and Sinti communities living in Rome amounted to 45 cases. However, the year were the most forced displacements occured was in 2015. Such operations costed about 1.3 million euros in 2019. This amount was spent for the evictions of about one thousand people. Forced evictions were a very popular topic in the political debates of the leader of the right-wing party Lega, Matteo Salvini. The politician actively promoted forced displacements of Roma and Sinti communities as well as migrant camps.

Target group of racist attacks

  In Italy, Roma and Sinti were often victims of hate speech such as stereotyped speeches and incitement to hatred and discrimination. For instance, in 2018, 102 cases of hate speech against Roma and Sinti were recorded nationwide. Among these, 87 events were related to stereotypes about these communities. Most cases of hate speech occured in the Central region of Lazio, the region in which Rome is situated.

Hate speech in Italy

  Between 2014 and 2018, the number of hate crimes, including cases of hate speech and discrimination, experienced a significant increase. In 2014, almost 600 cases were recorded by the police in Italy. Whereas, the attacks rose up to 1.1 thousand crimes in 2018. The xenophobic crimes registered by the Italian police concerned mainly incitements to violence. More specifically, 337 cases of incitements to racial violence were reported in 2017.