Following in France's footsteps...
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First Paris unveiled plans to repatriate the Roma, now Italy wants to be next in line to expel European citizens. Its interior minister has set alarm bells ringing with his proposals to expel citizens of other EU states from Italy if they fail to pull their weight economically.
At the end of last week France began the repatriation of ethnic Roma who are unable to prove they can support themselves. The authorities say this is part of a larger crackdown on those who outstay their work permits in France, but civil rights activists claim this is thinly disguised discrimination.
But President Nicholas Sarkozy's plan has impressed Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni, from the anti-immigrant Northern League party.
In a newspaper interview on 21 August, he praised France's move to deport Roma people and said he would like to go a step further, changing the law to allow the expulsion of any non-Italian EU citizens that the authorities believe are not contributing to the country.
Mr Maroni added that he was going to lobby for this change at a 6 September immigration summit in Paris.
The minister's proposals have been denounced by the opposition and civil rights groups as smacking of racism.
Our Rome correspondent Nancy Greenleese says that, with elections possible in the autumn, this may well be an attempt by the Northern League to cash in on a strong anti-Roma sentiment among the Italian population.
