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.

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2004ROME04430 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED