Focus: The New Nomads - An Italian tale

The entrance to Europe's biggest nomad camp is marked by hoardings advertising a health and beauty expo, English classes and cheese. There's no sign saying that this is Casalina 900, which, like most other gypsy encampments in Italy, took its name from the bus route that terminates here.

The drive is flanked by a wrecker's yard. "The city council paid an Italian company a fortune to build this road and look at it," says Rudi Salkanovic as we bounce in and out of the ruts. "If they had given that money to us gypsies, we could have built a motorway."

The gypsies' homes, often caravans with lean-tos in corrugated iron or junk wood, look like the makeshift dwellings that spring up after natural disasters. There are 12 lavatories for 70 families. The water supply is dubious.

The home of Ivo and Sofia Sakanovic is typical. The "lounge" has a rough cement floor and the heat from the corrugated iron is oppressive. Their five children include a six-year-old girl with Down's syndrome. "It's hard keeping the kids clean," says Sofia. "In winter we are surrounded by mud and have to wash the kids and their clothes with cold water. Summer is no better and the water is scarce. The teachers complain and the other pupils say our kids are grubby."

Ivo, who was originally from Montenegro, has spent most of his life in Italy. He trades in second-hand cars, while some of the older children clean car windows at junctions and beg.

"We take electricity illegally off our neighbours and they make us pay through the nose," says Sofia. "If we want to get the power put on, cable has to be laid from the main road to here and that costs. Anyway the power board won't hook us up unless we have residency papers."

The mayor of Rome, Francesco Rutelli, last month announced plans to close the Casalina camps and transfer the residents to more suitable structures. The new camps are all outside the Grande Racordo, Rome's equivalent of London's M25, in areas that are not built up. Illegal immigrants or those with criminal records will not be eligible.