The situation for Romani residents of Naples is deteriorating. On 15 October
press agencies reported on an alleged “accident” in which acid was spilled onto
a
Romani child and his mother from a balcony above them.
The incident occurred in the Fuorigrotta area of Naples. The press reported that
non-Romani residents of Naples responded to the incident, tried to help the
victims, and had bitter remarks to make about the alleged perpetrator, affirming
that this was not the first time the Romani lady and her child had been targeted
by this same person, who had previously thrown all kinds of things at them from
her balcony, from toilet paper rolls to bleach.
One of the locals interviewed said this was the first time that acid had been
thrown. Other residents of the same apartment building said no one else had any
complaints about their Romani neighbor, whom they described as polite.
According to some press agencies, the alleged perpetrator is claiming that what
happened was an accident, but eyewitnesses claim it was deliberate. The child
was taken to hospital; reportedly his clothing was damaged in the incident.
On 12 October another alarming article directly quoted a social worker with a
local pro-Roma organization, who has recently published an essay about the
Romani community, as saying the following:
“For Romanian Romani men, prostitution is normal; if it’s Slavs instead, the
situation becomes alarming because this takes place within the context of
pedophilia. And the fact that their mothers favor this is even worse.”
The article reports that the social worker claimed that Romani minors are first
being sexually abused in their own homes (by their uncles, for example) and are
then “lent” to people outside the family to provide sexual services for money.
Wives and sisters are said to be encouraged to prostitute themselves as
well.This is said to be new to the Giugliano camp, which until recently has been
inhabited predominantly by Romani people from the former Yugoslavia.
Finally, on 3 October Corriere del Mezzogiorno reported that local non-Romani
people in the Ponticelli area of Naples threw stones at a 22-year-old Romani
man. According to the press, when the Romani man ran towards his attackers, he
headed in the same direction as two local children, who screamed, prompting the
mistaken belief among others that he was attempting to kidnap or otherwise harm
the children.
He was beaten up before the matter was clarified.
These are not the first such incidents of violence against Romani people in
Naples in recent years. In 2008, Romani camps were set on fire in Ponticelli and
a Romani minor was accused of having attempted to kidnap a local non-Romani
child. Camps in Scampia were attacked during the summer of 1999.
