Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
tinuously evicted, pushed by the authorities into a condition of forced nomadism,
and obliged, after each police raid, to rebuild a minimal level of security and
quality of life in the same spots or in ever more isolated and dangerous spaces.
by 2011, nothing had changed in this dynamic except that the right-wing munici-
pal authorities were pushing the national government to develop new policies to
facilitate the expulsion of european union citizens, while NGos continued to
denounce the failures of the municipality's repressive approach. During easter
week of that year, though, events appeared to reach a breaking point. within the
space of a few days, the authorities had evicted four of the largest unauthorized
encampments. as with previous such raids, the municipality's emergency social
service (sala operativa sociale del Comune di Roma) offered Roma women and
their youngest children shelter for a limited period in the large Red Cross cen-
ter for asylum seekers almost 40 km outside Rome at Castelnuovo di porto. The
vast majority of Roma refused the offer which would otherwise have forced their
families apart; thus, over a thousand people found themselves on the street.
in the case of one of the evictions, which targeted a camp near Via tiburtina
on easter friday of 2011, many of the families that had been driven away from
their homes refused to disperse to seek yet more hidden locations in which to
settle and instead headed for the basilica of saint paul outside the walls, accom-
panied by volunteers and members of local NGos. preparations were underway
in the basilica, one of Rome's key tourist attractions, for the imminent easter
celebrations as various dozen Roma entered the building and were later joined
by other evicted families. Their arrival was met by astonishment on the part of
the basilica's security personnel and Vatican authorities who were unsure how
to react to the presence of men, women, and children sitting in silent, orderly
rows along the church pews. The city's lay authorities were equally unprepared
for such a demonstration in a space where they had no jurisdiction. The Roma
immediately wrote an open letter declaring that theirs was not a violent action
against the church but rather a request for sanctuary and shelter so that their
families would not have to be separated. it was a very simple request which the
Catholic Church could not ignore but which would soon prove to have a highly
disruptive effect on the city authorities.
on easter friday afternoon, while the Roma continued to sit quietly without
obstructing services and tourist visits, the cloister began to fill with journalists
and news crews, local politicians, and members of the city's antiracist organiza-
tions. Various members of the municipal government appeared and made public
statements, among them the administration's head of social policies, the head
of security, and two spokesmen for the prefect and the state police. each one
put pressure on the Roma to back down, but they refused to leave the church
and accept accommodation which would divide their families. The standoff only
came to an end when, after sunset, the basilica's management reassured the Roma
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