Panel Discussion: Roma Migrations, Stories from Italy and the USA

Romani people – Roma – have been migrating west for hundreds of years. The most recent wave of mass migrations from Central and Eastern Europe began in the 1970s and increased in the 1990s after the fall of the Communist regimes there. The situation of migrant Roma in Italy, whose number is estimated at around 75,000, has been particularly difficult, in large part because of the inadequate housing situation in many urban areas, where a substantial proportion of Roma still live in camps.

This panel discussion will start with a screening of the short film Roma settlements in Rome (20 minutes, in Italian with English subtitles) and will then look at the situation in Italy. It will then consider, for comparison, the situation of Roma migrants in the USA from Macedonia, Bulgaria and Romania.

Participants:
Ion Dumitru, former officer for Orientation of Roma and non-Roma immigrants (Comune di Roma)
David Forgacs, NYU
Carol Silverman, University of Oregon

RSVP here.

From Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò.