Amnesty day of protest for Italian forced evictions of Roma

Amnesty International will hold a day of protest today to protest against the Italian government's forced evictions of Roma people. 

The event will take place outside Brown Thomas on St Patrick St from 2pm to 4pm today as part of a global day of protest against the Italian's actions of six months, leaving many Roma families homeless. 

"Loss of their homes means Roma families must move away from the communities in which they had lived, worked, and their children had been educated," said a statement by Amnesty International.

“The Italian government is not living up to its international obligations and to its commitments to the European Commission," said Colm O'Gorman, Executive Director of Amnesty International Ireland. 

"Children, women and men living in camps continue to be evicted without adequate consultation, notice and alternative housing. Inhabitants of informal camps are the worst affected and continue to be kicked out at every opportunity.

“The recent opening of a new segregated camp, La Barbuta, outside Rome, is a very obvious example of the authorities’ failure to change. Monti’s cabinet does not use the derogatory language of their predecessors. But when it comes to a transition from words to deeds, no real difference can be detected.”

The global day of action will be collecting signatures for a petition to be presented to the Italian ambassador from eight different locations across the country, including Clonakility, which collected signatures yesterday, according to a Clonakilty activist.