Children's rights organisations on Thursday reacted angrily to a government proposal to take fingerprints from all children living in Italy's gypsy camps.
The Italian branch of the United Nations' Children's Fund (UNICEF) expressed ''astonishment and serious concern'' over the idea, which forms part of a wider government crackdown on illegal immigration and crime committed by foreigners.
Under plans by Interior Minister Roberto Maroni, the fingerprints of both adults and children will be recorded during a census of all gypsies (or Roma) which is scheduled to begin within the next few months.
''In order to respect children's rights of equality, it would also be necessary to take fingerprints from every Italian child,'' said UNICEF branch president Vincenzo Spadafora.
''Roma children are no different from other kids, but above all children cannot and must not be treated as adults,'' he added.
''We hope the Italian government deals with the public safety issues without neglecting children's rights, including the right to non-discrimination set down in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child''.
The coordinator of the European Council for Roma Activity and Rights, Henry Scicluna, said that while he welcomed the idea of a census, he ''absolutely disagreed'' that it was necessary to take children's fingerprints.
''It doesn't happen in any other European Union country,'' he added.
The former president of the Italian Jewish Community Union, Amos Luzzato, said the measure was ''unacceptable'' and a form of ''ethnic surveying'' and accused the country of having ''lost its memory'' over the treatment of Jews during the Second World War.
''Taking the fingerprints of young children from a certain ethnic group means labelling them congenital thieves,'' he told Rome daily La Repubblica. ''It's a clear and unacceptable sign of racism''.
Italy's privacy watchdog said fingerprinting ''could involve delicate discrimination issues affecting human dignity, especially in regard to minors'' and asked for clarification on the measure.
But Maroni defended the plan, hitting back at what he described as ''sterile political polemics''.
The minister said fingerprinting was ''the right path to guaranteeing children's rights''.
''A civilised country cannot accept that minors are sharing living space with rats, which is what happens in the gypsy camps,'' he said.
''I want to allow children to live a normal life, in decent conditions, without being forced to beg or worse''.
GYPSY CAMPS TO BE DISMANTLED.
Earlier this month, Maroni said that the government census was the first step towards dismantling illegal camps as well as authorised camps that do not have adequate facilities.
Gypsies found to be in the country illegally will be expelled after three months, while those with the correct paperwork will be 'regularised' and expected to pay tax.
Maroni added that he was discussing the possibility of setting up properly equipped 'villages' for gypsies with Italian citizenship.
The city prefects of Milan, Rome and Naples have been given special powers to deal with camps at a local level and coordinate the census.
According to the latest interior ministry figures, there are 152,000 Roma living in Italy, around 37% of whom have Italian citizenship.
The vast majority of gypsies living in Italy are of Romanian origin, with a small percentage coming from the Balkans.
Public feeling towards gypsies has soured following a spate of violent crimes, in particular a high-profile case in which a Roma is alleged to have sexually assaulted and murdered a naval officer's wife outside a Rome rail station in October.
Gypsy camps sparked a public order debate in May when Naples residents torched a number of settlements on the outskirts of the city after a 16-year-old Roma woman tried to kidnap a baby.
Also in May, Romanian Prime Minister Calin Popeascu Tariceanu said Italy had been ''too soft'' in allowing the spread of the camps, which he said served ''as bases to carry out crime''.
Tariceanu noted that France and Germany did not have problems with Roma crime because these countries did not allow the nomads to set up camps.
