The Bulgarian shanty town near the Italian town of Foggia will be cleared, the town mayor Franco Landella has declared. In this he is being assisted by Bulgaria’s ambassador to Rome Marin Raykov.

The Bulgarian Roma living in the ghetto – around 100 in number, among them children – have ten days to leave. They are living there illegally in extreme squalor and unsanitary conditions; in December last year a fire broke out and one man was killed.

Ambassador Raykov proposed the French model for solving the problem – the assembly of caravans with electricity and water in a designated area. There will be conditions – that the children attend school, pay for the utilities and do not turn down job offers coming from the social services. The administration of the region of Puglia will discuss the proposal so as to find funding for the project. The ghetto near Foggia will be pulled down, and the terrain – cleared and sanitized.