Interior Minister Matteo Salvini on
Tuesday hailed the demolition of an illegally constructed home
in an unauthorized camp where people of the Sinti ethnicity live
near Turin.
The demolition was ordered by a town council run by his
League party, he said.
"This morning an illegal house in an unauthorized Sinti camp
was knocked down at Carmagnola (province of Turin), where the
League run the council," Salvini, who is also deputy premier,
said via Twitter.
"(We're going) from words to deeds. The Italians come first".
Earlier on Tuesday Salvini said 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 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".
Roberto Speranza, a lawmaker for the leftwing Freedom and
Equality (LeU) group, said Tuesday that he had reported Salvini
for allegedly inciting racial hatred over the Roma census
proposal.
"Enough is enough," Speranza said.
"Today again Salvini was insisting on the (idea of) a census
for Roma.
"Words are no longer enough for me. That's why I have decided
to report the minister".
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