Making scapegoats out of unpopular minorities is a dangerous game, as Italy’s dealings with its gypsy minority show. Last weekend, a 16-year-old girl from Turin falsely claimed that she was raped by two gypsies while on the way home. A mob of around 50 people soon formed to “show solidarity”: By calling for all women and children to leave a nearby Roma camp before setting fire to it by throwing firecrackers. No one was injured, but the camp was destroyed.

Just around 150,000 Roma, or gypsies, live in a country of around 60 million – a tiny minority which includes communities which arrived in Italy centuries ago – but they receive significant attention, which they would probably prefer to live without. New arrivals of Roma from Romania when that country joined the EU in 2007 only helped fuel existing tensions.

Italian politicians have often used anti-Roma rhetoric in their campaigns, including former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi when he won his last term in May 2008.

Days after his election, an incident similar to the recent one in Turin had occurred in the outskirts of Naples, where a gypsy camp was torched by a mob as locals applauded after a woman claimed one of its occupants tried to kidnap her child. The woman’s comments to the press indicate a common sentiment: She did not want things to go this far, but nevertheless insisted that “the gypsies had to go”.

Two months later, Italy started fingerprinting its Roma minority, a move justified by the authorities as part of a crackdown against street crime and illegal immigration, despite condemnation from the European Parliament and numerous human rights groups.

A chilling photograph also emerged that very same month. Two teenaged Roma sisters had drowned after jumping into the sea, and the ambulance did not arrive for hours. But as the photo shows, the tragedy did not spoil beachgoers’ fun; they stayed on, apparently oblivious to the two bodies covered in a beach towel.

The photograph may have been iconic, but it appears to have been no wake-up call, as the latest episode shows.

Inevitably, the perception that negative sentiments on gypsies are justified by facts is common; particularly since many Roma – in Italy and elsewhere – visibly do not integrate into mainstream society. But it is hard to integrate into a society that is often openly hostile. For one, it makes it that much harder to get a decent job – who would hire a “criminal”? – forcing people to rely on casual work and social security to get by. Or to crime; which, ironically, becomes an easier decision to make in an unwelcoming society.

It may be interesting to see how the new Italian government will address the latest incidents. It has more pressing economic matters to attend to, but an interim government of technocrats with no political ambitions would inevitably be less prone to populist measures, should it find the time to intervene.

The Turin incident, however, offers a cautionary tale to all countries hosting an unpopular minority – including Malta’s dealings with its African community. The authorities may be using measured tones when the issue of asylum seekers is discussed – though frequently describing them incorrectly as “illegal immigrants” is unhelpful – but if comments on online articles concerning asylum seekers are any indication, they have some work ahead of them.

Seeking the resettlement of beneficiaries of international protection to other countries is well and good, but it would be a mistake not to adequately address the reality that others will be settling in Malta permanently. We could either strive to ensure everyone who lives here feels welcome to do so, or risk retracing Italy’s steps.