Italy's far-right interior minister Matteo Salvini has asked his staff to carry out a census of Roma Gypsies living in the country, Salvini told the Telelombardia TV station on Monday
"It will be reconnaissance on the situation of Roma Gypsies in Italy, to see who they are, how they live and how many there are," Salvini said.
Opposition centre-left Democratic Party politicians called Salvini's census plan "chilling" and "reminiscent of Nazi policies".
Salvini has come under criticism in the past for inflammatory remarks about Roma Gypsies, including comments in 2015 saying that given the chance he would “raze the Roma camps to the ground”.
There are 180,000 Roma and Sinti Gypsies in Italy - 0.25 percent of the population - according to figures from the 21 July Association, an anti-discrimination group.
A total 110,000 of Roma and Sinti Gypsies are from Balkan countries, 60 percent are aged under 18, 60 percent live in houses and 40 percent are nomadic, according to the 21 July Association.
