ITALY CREATES NEW OFFICE TO COMBAT RACIAL

UNCLAS ROME 004430 SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PHUM IT HUMAN RIGHTS SUBJECT: ITALY CREATES NEW OFFICE TO COMBAT RACIAL DISCRIMINATION ¶1. (U) At a well-attended press conference November 16, Stefania Prestigiacomo, Minister for Equal Opportunity, announced the creation of a new office in her ministry to combat racial and ethnic discrimination in Italy. The Ufficio Nazionale Antidiscriminazioni Razziali (UNAR),which was founded in accordance with EU Directive 2000/43, will officially begin activities on December 10. Under the slogans "diversity and equality" and "united in our diversity" UNAR's goals are to prevent discrimination and promote equal opportunity through education projects in the schools, mass media campaigns and victims' assistance programs. A contact center will field questions about discrimination and provide judicial assistance for victims in the private sector. A phone line available in eight languages, including Arabic, Romanian and Chinese, will provide information on anti-discrimination laws and assistance available at the new UNAR office. The office will also monitor incidents of racial discrimination and public attitudes. ¶2. (U) Interestingly, speakers included incidents of prejudice (both direct and indirect, ranging from physical attacks to swastika graffiti) against Muslims and Jews as examples of racial/ethnic discrimination. Muslims, Jews and "extracommunitari" (foreign workers) are considered the three "cultural minorities" against whom most discrimination is directed. It is not clear how UNAR will collect statistics on racial/ethnic prejudice given the legal privacy protections that prevent requesting information about an individual's ethnic/racial background. ¶3. (SBU) In highlighting creation of UNAR, the Government clearly wanted to present a high-level positive focus on immigration, probably to help counter the negative press Italy has received about its recent actions to quickly return to Libya illegal immigrants arriving on Sicily's shores. Speakers at the press conference included Undersecretary of State Gianni Letta and Mayor of Rome (and possibly the next leader of the Center-Left) Walter Veltroni. In both the speeches and the brochure describing UNAR activities, the focus was on promoting integration of Italy's immigrant community. After decades of Italian emigration, Italy now is faced with an increasing number of both legal (2.5 million) and illegal (300,000 plus) immigrants, who arrived first from Eastern Europe after the collapse of communism, and now increasingly from Africa and China. ¶4. (SBU) Historically, Italians have strongly supported the concepts of anti-discrimination and equal opportunity. For example, many newspapers ran editorials decrying the alleged racism behind the recent Amsterdam murder of the filmmaker who criticized Islamic treatment of women. But a recent survey indicated there are growing levels of ethnic racial/ethnic intolerance, especially in northern Italian cities and among young people. At the same time, one in four Italians, according to this same survey, believe that the presence of different cultures enriches the country. The mixture of attitudes reflects the current state of public ambivalence on the issue of immigration. Despite strong support for human rights and the need for foreign workers, Italians are beginning to question how they can assimilate a growing immigrant population that does not share Italy's racial/ethnic background or Catholic traditions. The creation of the new UNAR office indicates the Government wants the issue resolved positively through better integration of immigrants into Italian society. SEMBLER NNNN 2004ROME04430 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED