“ Since Berlusconi’s victory, these echoes of the 1930s have been backed by a series of chauvinistic and discriminatory measures. Claiming to address crime by clamping down on immigration, the Berlusconi government has conflated these two phenomena, scapegoating the country’s Roma, or Gypsy, population as a major cause of its social problems. An impoverished and marginalized ethnic group, the Roma are particularly vulnerable to resentment by the rest of the population. Despite a presence on the Italian peninsula since the Middle Ages, Gypsies are poorly integrated and many live in rundown encampments on the outskirts of urban centers. Recent increases in immigration patterns - and public outrage over a series of violent crimes - have hardened the Italians’ hostility and transformed Gypsies into the far right’s ideal targets. ”
Via [The Atlantic.com - The Current: Berlusconi’s Crackdown]