Integrate not persecute Roma people

(ANSA) - Rome, May 27 - Center-left Democratic Party (PD) Rome mayoral candidate Roberto Giachetti told an ANSA Forum on Friday that if elected, he will aim for the integration of Roma people, not their persecution.
    "As far as the Roma people camps, we don't need bulldozers," said Giachetti, currently the deputy speaker of the Lower House.
    "What we need is to do a census and figure out who needs public aid and who doesn't," Giachetti said.
    "Some (Roma) are financially OK and just need to find a home - as many do".
    Giachetti added he would relaunch a campaign for the education of Roma children.
    Former PD Rome mayor Ignazio Marino said last year that some 8,000 Roma, Sinti and travellers are still living in makeshift camps that were set up two decades ago, and that city officials must overcome widespread prejudice among voters in order to get them into council housing.
    Also last year, Roma people organizations asked to be admitted as civil plaintiffs in the so-called Rome Mafia case centering on a racketeering ring made up of gangsters, businessmen and politicians that muscled in on lucrative city contracts for Roma people camps, refugee reception centers, trash collection, and parks maintenance.