Supermarket posts sign against Roma beggars, denies racism

(ANSA) - Catania, August 20 - A supermarket in the Sicilian city of Catania on Wednesday posted a sign urging shoppers not to give money to Roma panhandlers, because they allegedly make more than a skilled worker.
    "Don't give handouts to gypsies, they make 80 euros a day tax-free. Thus is more than qualified Italian workers make," read the sign.
    Management denied charges of racism, explaining that they simply wish to discourage the Roma family that has been panhandling in front of the supermarket for three years.
    "They stick to our opening hours, and drive clients away," management claimed, adding that police merely referred them to social services.
    Italy has been repeatedly criticized by human rights watchdogs like Amnesty International for ongoing discrimination against the Roma people's rights to education, housing, health care and employment.
    Pope Francis earlier this summer called on Italy to stop discriminating against this ethnic minority.
    More than half of the Roma and Sinti people living in Italy have Italian citizenship, according to the interior ministry.