Fingerprint all Italians, minister says

Italy’s defence minister suggested all Italians be fingerprinted so the government would not be accused of racism for fingerprinting gypsies, in comments published Friday, rejecting EU lawmakers’ cries of discrimination.

The minister, Ignazio La Russa, suggested "taking the fingerprints of everyone, for at a time like this everyone needs to be identified," in comments quoted by the daily Il Messaggero.

"Let’s do it to remove any suspicion of racism… In this framework it will be possible to take the fingerprints of Roma children," said La Russa, who is also chairman of the right-wing National Alliance party.

Interior Minister Roberto Maroni announced on June 26 that he planned to send police into all "nomad camps" around the country to collect the fingerprints of everyone there, adults and children.

European lawmakers demanded in a resolution Thursday that Italy stop fingerprinting Roma, branding the action a direct act of discrimination on grounds of race.

La Russa said this demand "made me laugh," in the comments published Friday, echoing the rejection of the European resolution by Maroni and other Italian ministers.

"They have made a political propaganda argument out of it, without really caring about the fate of these children," he said, stressing his government’s line that the fingerprinting aims to protect children from exploitation.

According to statistics from the Sant’Egidio lay religious group, between 130,000 and 150,000 Roma live in Italy, where they tend to be blamed for crime and insecurity.

The fingerprinting has already begun in Naples and Milan.