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Italy Sends Romanians Home

08 11 2007  Bucharest _ Six Romanians living in Italy received expulsion orders on Thursday for their alleged involvement in various crimes, local news agencies reported.

Last week Italy began deporting Romanians deemed to be a danger to public safety after a wave of violent crimes blamed on immigrants from Romania, one of the European Union's newest and poorest members.

The number of people expelled during the last week is around 40, but no official figure has been released so far.

In a related development, Italy and Romania agreed on Wednesday to implement new measures to deal with the influx of Romanian immigrants.

Italian Premier Romano Prodi and Romanian Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu said they had written a joint letter to the European Commission asking the EU to do more to help governments deal with EU migration, paying particular attention to integrating disadvantaged immigrants.

They also asked the Commission to elaborate on the best ways to deal with EU citizens who do not fulfil the requirements of living in another member-country and need to be sent home.

The Rome government last Tuesday adopted an emergency decree after a Romanian was arrested in connection with the beating to death of an Italian naval officer’s wife on the outskirts of the Italian capital.

Under the decree, police are given the authority to expel citizens of other EU countries considered dangerous to society, and those who return illegally can be jailed for up to three years.

No trial is necessary before an expulsion, and reasons for ordering them could include past criminal convictions.

Rome has said the measures are permitted under European Union rules.

Around 500,000 Romanians are officially registered as living in Italy, but unofficial estimates put the actual number at double that figure or perhaps even more.