Italy's far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini circulated an order on Tuesday for the ministry's regional offices to prepare "a report on the presence of Roma, Sinti and Camminanti settlements" in their areas in the next two weeks, Italian media reported.

The maps are part of Salvini's campaign to "verify the presence of illegal camps to draw up an eviction plan."

Roma, Sinti, and Camminanti are traditionally nomadic ethnic groups that have lived in Europe for hundreds of years.

According to the Council of Europe, Italy has one of the lowest concentrations of these groups in the EU, with a population of between 120,000 and 180,000, according to the AFP. More than half of these people are Italian citizens who have integrated into mainstream society, AFP claims.

Despite this, hate crimes and prejudice against Roma, Sinti, and Camminanti are rampant, particularly against the less fortunate, some of whom still live in unofficial settlements.

Some 26,000 members of these groups were living in emergency shelters or camps across Italy in 2017, according to the advocacy group Associazione 21 Luglio.

Salvini, who is also leader of the far-right Lega party, has called for non-Italians found amongst the Roma, Sinti, and Camminanti to be rounded up and sent back to their countries of origin.

The avowed ethno-nationalist has also tried to curb all non-European immigration to Italy, moving to close down the country's refugee camps and forbid migrant rescue vessels from docking at Italian ports.

Remembering Nazi genocide of Sinti and Roma Serving the fatherland Many German Sinti fought for Germany not only in the First World War but also in the Wehrmacht from 1939 on. In 1941 the German high command ordered all "Gypsies and Gypsy half-breeds" to be dismissed from active military service for "racial-political reasons." Alfons Lampert and his wife Elsa were then deported to Auschwitz, where they were killed.

Remembering Nazi genocide of Sinti and Roma Measuring and registering race Eva Justin, a nurse and anthropologist, learned the Romani language to gain the trust of Sinti and Roma. As a specialist in so-called scientific racism, she traveled through Germany to measure people and create a complete registry of "Gypsies" and "Gypsy half-breeds" — the basis for the genocide. She and others researched family ties and and assessed churches' baptismal records.

Remembering Nazi genocide of Sinti and Roma Locked up and dispossessed In the 1930s, Sinti and Roma families were in many places forced into camps on the outskirts of town, surrounded by barbed wire and patrolled by guards with dogs, like here in Ravensburg in southwestern Germany. They were unable to leave. Their pets were killed. They had to work as slave laborers. Many were forcibly sterilized.

Remembering Nazi genocide of Sinti and Roma Deportation in broad daylight In May 1940 Sinti and Roma families were sent through the streets of the town of Asperg in southwestern Germany to the train station and deported directly to Nazi-occupied Poland. "The dispatchment went smoothly," a police report noted. Most of those deported traveled to their deaths in work camps and Jewish ghettos.

Remembering Nazi genocide of Sinti and Roma From school to Auschwitz Karl Kling appears on this class picture from Karlsruhe in the late 1930s. He was collected from school in spring 1943 and sent to the "Gypsy Camp" at Auschwitz-Birkenau, where he became one of the victims of the genocide. Survivors reported that before being deported they had been marginalized in their schools and sometimes weren't even able to take part in lessons.

Remembering Nazi genocide of Sinti and Roma Greeted with an evil lie "I can work," thought nine-year-old Hugo Höllenreiner when he arrived at Auschwitz in a cattle car with his family in 1943. He was greeted by the phrase "Arbeit macht frei" ("work will set you free") above the entrance. It offered hope, Höllenreiner remembered later. He wanted to help his father work: "Then we could be free again." Only one out of every ten people deported to Auschwitz survived.

Remembering Nazi genocide of Sinti and Roma Brutal experiments by the 'Angel of Death' Notorious SS doctor Josef Mengele worked at Auschwitz. He and his colleagues tortured countless prisoners. They mutilated children, infected them with diseases and carried out brutal experiments on twins. Mengele sent eyes, organs and entire body parts back to Berlin. In June 1944, he sent the head of a 12-year-old child. He escaped Europe after the war and never faced trial.

Remembering Nazi genocide of Sinti and Roma Liberation comes too late When Russia's Red Army arrived at Auschwitz on January 27, 1945, children were among the prisoners. But for the Sinti and Roma, the liberation came too late. On the night of August 2-3, 1944, the officers in charge of Auschwitz ordered those remaining in the "Gypsy Camp" sent to the gas chambers. Two children came crying out of the barracks the next morning and were subsequently murdered.

Remembering Nazi genocide of Sinti and Roma Racially persecuted After the concentration camps were liberated, allied and German authorities issued survivors certificates of racial persecution and imprisonment. Later, many people were told they had only been persecuted for criminal reasons, and their requests for compensation were denied. Hildegard Reinhardt (above) lost her three young daughters in Auschwitz.

Remembering Nazi genocide of Sinti and Roma Calling for recognition In the early 1980s, representatives of the Sinti and Roma communities staged a hunger strike at the entrance of the former Dachau concentration camp. They were protesting the criminalization of their minority and calling for the recognition of Nazi persecution. In 1982, then-Chancellor Helmut Schmidt officially recognized the Sinti and Roma as victims of Nazi genocide.

Remembering Nazi genocide of Sinti and Roma A memorial in Berlin In 2012, a memorial for the Sinti and Roma victims of Nazi persecution was erected near the Bundestag in Berlin. The site is a reminder of the fight against discrimination for the world's Sinti and Roma, particularly on International Romani Day. To this day, members of the minority still experience discrimination in Germany and around Europe. Author: Andrea Grunau



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