Interior Minister Matteo Salvini
said Tuesday that he was not backing down on his controversial
proposal to have a census of the people of Roma ethnicity in
Italy.
"'Census' of Roma and control of the public money spent (on
them)," Salvini, who is also deputy premier and League leader,
said on Facebook.
"If the left proposes it, then it is all right, but if I
propose it, then it is RACISM.
"I'm not giving up, I'm going straight on! The Italians and
their security come first".
The 21 Luglio association that defends the rights of the
nation's Roma and Sinti communities said Salvini's plan was
illegal.
Noemi Di Segni, the president of Italy's union of Jewish
communities, said the proposal recalled the Fascist racial laws.
The opposition centre-left Democratic Party (PD) said the
plan was "abhorrent".
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