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Italy: Frattini asks for a European database containing the fingerprints and DNA of Roma children
01 July 2008
Frattini pide un banco de datos europeo con huellas y ADN de niños de etnia gitana (link)
'If Europe does not adopt this solution, we will adopt it anyway' 'The first way to protect a minor is to give him an identity and a document'. The Italian foreign affairs minister, Franco Frattini, believes that a European database containing the fingerprints and DNA of all the children of the Roma ethnic group(*) living in nomad camps is necessary as, without an identity, they have no rights, nor can they be protected.
The former European justice commissioner pointed out in an interview with Italian newspaper 'Il Messaggero', that "the first way to protect a minor is to give them an identity and a document", know who s/he is, because without this "a Roma child has no right to health or school".
Moreover, "without an identity, it is impossible to rescue these little innocent souls from the hands of paedophiles and child traffickers". Frattini considered that "a European database with the names, fingerprints, DNA indicators of all these children" is necessary "to make their lives safer". The minister indicated that "if Europe does not adopt this solution, that of fingerprints, of DNA, which strikes me as being the only possible one, we will adopt it anyway", although he explained that they will always respect European norms.
The Italian government has embarked upon a process to create a census of the people living in underprivileged neighbourhoods and settlements, that includes the taking of fingerprints, including those of minors."
* Statewatch translation Note: " gitano ", the term used in the Spanish original, would translate as " gypsy " or " zingaro ", the problem being that both in the UK and Italy the term is derogatory, while in Spain a lot of work has been carried out to give it back its positive connotations, largely to do with culture, performing arts and dark beauty... the same has not happened, at least not to the same extent, in Italy and the UK. " Roma " is what tends to be used, but it is inadequate, as there are different ethnic groups (Rom and Sinti in Italy, Calò in Spain, travellers in the UK.