A/HRC/4/19/Add.4 page 6 I. INTRODUCTION 1. The Special Rapporteur visited Italy from 9 to 13 October 2006. He travelled to Rome, Lampedusa, Siracusa, Ragusa and Palermo. He met with the Ministers and other high-public officials of the Ministries of Education, the Interior, Justice, Rights and Equal Opportunities and Social Solidarity. He also met with the Vice-President of the Supreme Court, members of various political parties represented on the Parliamentary Commission on Foreign and Constitutional Affairs and of local Government, including the police, and with the Vice-President of the Italian Federation of Football. Furthermore, he met with representatives of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and a wide range of national and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) active in the combat against racism and xenophobia. He visited a Roma and Sinti community in Rome, met with representatives of the Jewish and Muslim religious communities as well as journalists and trade unionists, and visited the reception centres at Lampedusa and Cassibile and the Temporary Stay and Assistance Centres (Centri di Permanenza Temporanea e Assistenza, CPTA) of Ragusa, where he had the opportunity to meet with migrants and asylum-seekers of African, Eastern European, Asian and South American origin. 2. The Special Rapporteur carried out his visit in excellent conditions, thanks to the full cooperation of the Italian authorities. He also thanks NGOs, the communities he met and UNHCR for their excellent support. II. GENERAL BACKGROUND A. Ethnic and demographic situation 3. Five per cent of Italy’s population of 58,751,711 are estimated to be of foreign origin. Eastern Europeans constitute the greatest number of foreigners, the four largest groups being Albanians, Moroccans, Romanians and Chinese.1 Official sources estimate a population of 120,000-150,000 Roma and Sinti. 4. Since the late 1980s, Italy, like other European countries, has evolved from a country of emigration to a country of immigration. Estimates indicate that between 1876 and 1970 around 25 million Italians emigrated to the Americas and Australia mainly in search of work and the improvement of their living conditions.2 Since the 1970s, Italy has progressively become a recipient of migrant populations, experiencing significant migratory pressure and witnessing the arrival of populations from Eastern Europe, North Africa, Asia and South America. In its recent history, Italian society, sharing a common historical, cultural, ethnic, linguistic and religious background, has become exposed to an increasing process of multiculturalization, involving in particular cultures of non-European origin. 1 Information updated to 1 January 2006 provided by the Inter-Ministerial Committee of Human Rights of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 2 See Encyclopaedia Britannica online. http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-26980/Italy.