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Across Europe thousands of children
are being forced onto the streets

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00:00:22,360 --> 00:00:24,960
to beg and steal.

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They come from the poorest community
in Europe, the Romanian gypsies.

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For centuries, they've lived on
the margins of society

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and faced brutal discrimination.

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Many have resorted to begging
and stealing to survive.

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But in the last 20 years,
organised crime has taken over.

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00:00:46,300 --> 00:00:50,660
And since 2007,
when Romania joined the EU,

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gypsy children have been trafficked
and exploited on a massive scale.

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In Spain, eight-year-olds robbing
grown men at cash machines

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has become a common sight.

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In Italy,
a major police investigation

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found enslaved children
locked in a shack like animals.

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TRANSLATION:
It's only the tip of the iceberg

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and it's a phenomenon we'll have to
fight against for a very long time.

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My name is Liviu Tipurita.
I grew up in Romania

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and I've been making films
about gypsies

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and about child trafficking
for many years.

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To investigate what's happening
to these children,
I'm going on a journey

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that takes me inside the
closed world of the gypsy community.

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TRANSLATION: This child needs to go
to school, not to beg and to steal.

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And we reveal the shocking tide
of racism they face.

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TRANSLATION: They are people
who should be killed
but we can't kill them.

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These children are the victims
of a culture of crime

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and a wider society
that seems to have abandoned them.

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The question is,
will anyone save them
from the hands of their exploiters?

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It's the week before Christmas
in Madrid.

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For the Spanish children, it's a
time of great joy and anticipation.

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But it's not all tinsel
and presents.

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I'm here because I've heard there
are many gypsy children from Romania

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in the city working as thieves.

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Wandering about the centre of town,
I see gypsy beggars and buskers,

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but there's something more sinister
going on here.

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As I head back to my hotel,

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I see a girl hanging around
the cash machine.

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She's no older than 13.

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At first sight,
she appears to be begging,

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but actually she's watching
customers as they enter their PIN

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and approaches them
as they're about to withdraw money.

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A police car drives by
and she flees. We follow.

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She's using a piece of paper
to cover her hand

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as she tries to press the button
for the highest sum available

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on the cash machine
and take the money as it comes out.

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She's a distraction thief,

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one of the gypsy children
that the police say

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make up a third of
all the under 17-year-olds
they have to deal with in the city.

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She's gone.

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She saw us, she's running away now.

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I'm heading for
the outskirts of Madrid

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to try and track down some
of the children who are stealing.

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One of my gypsy contacts
has tipped me off

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that they might be living in a camp
south of the city.

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Nestling between two motorways
and an open cast mine,

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this gypsy camp
is one of Spain's largest.

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They live in plywood shacks. There
are mountains of garbage everywhere.

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There's no sanitation,
no running water.

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They use an improvised crude
wiring system to steal electricity.

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I'm supposed to be
in a civilised European country

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but the conditions these children
are living in

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are more like the slums of India.

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TRANSLATION: Most of us are ill,
nearly all of us.

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If a doctor comes here
to give us a check-up

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he's bound to find hepatitis C
or hepatitis B.

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There's definitely hepatitis here.

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They're ill, the children, tortured.

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Look at the state of these children,
they don't even have trousers on.

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The Roma children are cleverer
than any other nation's children.

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They are clever,
but they are not in school

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because we don't have the means
to send them there.

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Among the piles of garbage
I meet a man called Zabar,

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who's skinning a stolen sheep
for his neighbour.

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Zabar has lived in this camp
for five years

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with his wife and three children.

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Leaving his share of the cutlets
out to dry,

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Zabar takes me
to the top of the hill
to tell me about life in the camp.

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TRANSLATION: This is our camp,
where we live.

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242 families.

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Everybody came here to make money,
but it's not clear how.

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There are 500 children,
and out of the 500 children,

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I don't know if there are 150
that go to school.

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As we head back towards the camp,

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Zabar opens up about how his two
teenage nephews are making a living.

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They break into cars,
steal car stereos and sell them

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for 20, 30 euros apiece
and they can live off that.

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Zabar himself steals copper.

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His wife begs,
and with the money they make

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they're building a house in Romania.

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Until it's completed,
they have to put up with the camp's
dreadful conditions,

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which include the rats
that roam everywhere.

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They used to jump on us and they
nipped my children's legs and hands.

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They were very aggressive.
Now they've calmed down.

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We put concrete on the floors of the
shacks and now they don't come in.

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It's nearly 10pm,
and a group of children
are returning from the city.

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They're three girls and two boys,
all under the age of 14.

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Zabar knows them.

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00:07:21,640 --> 00:07:23,880
Another day, I go back to the camp

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to try and find the children
who go out stealing in the city.

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Daniela was in the group of kids
I saw the other night.

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She's hanging out
with Zabar's nephews.

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I take a chance and approach her.

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TRANSLATION: To beg, to steal,
What, we can't steal?

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From cash machines.

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Who says we can't steal?

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So what if they lock me up? Big deal.

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You put in your card,
you type in your PIN,

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you take the card, we take the money.

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We take the money and come home.

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400, 300, 600, sometimes 1,000 euros.

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When you go begging, you work until
ten at night and you make 50, 60,

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and you come home, but when you steal
you make 300 in one go. It's easier.

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What, stealing?

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It's not dangerous.

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Seriously,
it's only the police that catch us.

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They take the money,
they take us to the day centre

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and the centre lets us go.

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They're minors. If they're under 14
they don't do anything to them.

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I give it to my mother
so we can build a house in Romania,

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but I hide some of it for myself.

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I give her 150 and I keep 150.

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Suddenly an argument breaks out
and they turn against me.

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It's time for me to leave.

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It's becoming dangerous.

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Next morning I return to the camp.

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I want to follow the children
into town

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and see if what Daniela told me
is true.

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The only link between the camp and
the city is the bus, number 339.

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After 9 o'clock, children start to
appear and head for the bus stop.

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We follow the bus into Madrid.

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They get off in Conde Casal.

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We monitor the bus stop.

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00:10:07,080 --> 00:10:13,080
Every day, we see children arriving
with the women who beg in the city.

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One day, I see a girl
who lives in the camp

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wandering by herself
in the centre of Madrid.

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She looks about 13.

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I watch as she targets a woman
at the cash machine

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and nearly succeeds
in stealing her money.

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00:10:34,080 --> 00:10:36,800
It takes four passers-by
to stop her.

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The girl steals a scarf right in
front of me and disguises herself.

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00:10:46,320 --> 00:10:50,800
Then she hangs around a number of
cash machines ready to pounce.

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00:10:50,800 --> 00:10:55,000
A security guard from the bank
calls the police.

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They arrive swiftly.

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00:10:58,040 --> 00:11:03,040
But after talking to her
for a few minutes, they let her go.

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00:11:03,040 --> 00:11:06,160
She skips off
and waves to the security guard.

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00:11:07,840 --> 00:11:11,960
I've spoken to the
Madrid police department
that deals with child crime.

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00:11:11,960 --> 00:11:14,840
9 % of the children
under the age of 14

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00:11:14,840 --> 00:11:19,400
they pick up for stealing in Madrid
are Romanian gypsies.

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00:11:19,400 --> 00:11:22,880
The police say there's not much
they can do, as in Spain

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children of this age cannot be
held responsible for their crimes.

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00:11:29,480 --> 00:11:32,800
They also tell me that
many of the children

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are sent out to steal
by their own parents.

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The police feel powerless because
the punishment for those who exploit
their children is very light.

152
00:11:46,320 --> 00:11:50,840
It's Christmas Eve,
and the Romanian gypsy band
is entertaining the families

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00:11:50,840 --> 00:11:55,920
who are out with their children
enjoying the street performances,

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00:11:55,920 --> 00:11:59,280
the extravagant light displays
and the decorations.

155
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But ten miles away in the
gypsy camp, things are different.

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Here, children are gathering
around the fire

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and are trying to
make the most of this day.

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00:12:16,600 --> 00:12:20,240
MAN HUMS "JINGLE BELLS"

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00:12:26,240 --> 00:12:31,240
A man is trying to set up an aerial
to get Romanian TV channels

160
00:12:31,240 --> 00:12:34,120
and beat the homesick
Christmas blues.

161
00:12:34,120 --> 00:12:37,800
When he finishes,
the man, who's called Nai,

162
00:12:37,800 --> 00:12:41,480
joins Zabar and his son
by watching a wedding party

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that is taking place on a hill
on the other side of the camp.

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Many Roma gypsies marry off
their children at a very early age.

165
00:12:59,760 --> 00:13:03,280
The girls are in effect
sold into marriage.

166
00:13:03,280 --> 00:13:07,360
Nai himself sold his daughter
when she was 12.

167
00:13:09,360 --> 00:13:12,360
TRANSLATION: Look, that gypsy
who lives on top of the hill

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00:13:12,360 --> 00:13:14,120
got 7,000 euros for his daughter.

169
00:13:14,120 --> 00:13:18,120
I got 25 million lei
for my daughter in 2004.

170
00:13:24,440 --> 00:13:27,080
About 800 euros.

171
00:13:27,080 --> 00:13:30,400
But now since we're in the EU,
it's become much more expensive.

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00:13:31,960 --> 00:13:36,120
The marriage was consummated last
night and now they're celebrating

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00:13:36,120 --> 00:13:40,440
the fact that the 13-year-old bride
was a virgin.

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This is our gypsy custom.

175
00:13:43,000 --> 00:13:46,640
If she's untouched,
if she's a virgin, she's valuable.

176
00:13:46,640 --> 00:13:50,000
But the reason the bride
fetched such a high price

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00:13:50,000 --> 00:13:51,840
was not only her virginity.

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00:13:51,840 --> 00:13:57,520
She steals, she follows the Spanish,
she withdraws 700, 800, 1,000 euros.

179
00:13:57,520 --> 00:13:59,440
She robs them and she runs.

180
00:14:00,960 --> 00:14:02,720
Yes, at 13.

181
00:14:02,720 --> 00:14:06,640
If she wasn't a valuable thief,
they wouldn't have paid 1,000 euros
for her.

182
00:14:06,640 --> 00:14:08,920
7,000 euros,

183
00:14:08,920 --> 00:14:11,320
in two weeks maximum,

184
00:14:11,320 --> 00:14:13,240
they'll get it back.

185
00:14:13,240 --> 00:14:18,520
At this point I tried to film the
wedding, but I'm told that I can't.

186
00:14:18,520 --> 00:14:22,280
Marrying off their under-age
children is illegal in Spain

187
00:14:22,280 --> 00:14:24,000
and they could go to jail.

188
00:14:28,400 --> 00:14:29,960
Over the next few weeks,

189
00:14:29,960 --> 00:14:34,000
I follow many children from the camp
as they head into the city.

190
00:14:36,240 --> 00:14:40,800
One day I see a group of three girls
from the camp,

191
00:14:40,800 --> 00:14:43,520
all around the age of 13.

192
00:14:43,520 --> 00:14:48,360
They walk for miles across the city
staking out cash machines.

193
00:14:51,240 --> 00:14:54,400
I'm later told that this girl,
in the black leather jacket,

194
00:14:54,400 --> 00:14:58,560
is the bride
who was sold for 7,500 euros.

195
00:14:59,840 --> 00:15:01,760
Watching them play in the snow,

196
00:15:01,760 --> 00:15:06,680
I think that these are probably
their last moments of childhood.

197
00:15:06,680 --> 00:15:11,400
I was told the girl in purple
is also married and the girl in pink

198
00:15:11,400 --> 00:15:14,840
is up for sale as a bride
for 25,000 euros.

199
00:15:16,720 --> 00:15:18,680
They're bold in their attacks,

200
00:15:18,680 --> 00:15:22,240
and do not seem to care
if their target is much stronger.

201
00:15:25,760 --> 00:15:31,120
This man has to physically fight
them off before they finally leave.

202
00:15:35,160 --> 00:15:37,400
I wonder what makes them
so fearless -

203
00:15:37,400 --> 00:15:39,960
the knowledge that
they cannot be punished,

204
00:15:39,960 --> 00:15:44,480
or the desperation to make back
the money that is paid for them.

205
00:15:47,320 --> 00:15:50,120
On another day, a car pulls over.

206
00:15:50,120 --> 00:15:53,160
The man ushers them in.

207
00:15:53,160 --> 00:15:56,320
It looks like the police
and they are taken away.

208
00:16:00,560 --> 00:16:04,080
Once the police identify the kids
they pick up on the streets,

209
00:16:04,080 --> 00:16:06,960
they take them to this centre.

210
00:16:06,960 --> 00:16:12,720
The role of this place is to assess
the family situation of each child.

211
00:16:12,720 --> 00:16:17,560
If their family
is deemed responsible,
they are called to collect them.

212
00:16:17,560 --> 00:16:21,800
But I've been told that sometimes
the kids are handed back

213
00:16:21,800 --> 00:16:25,080
to the very adults
who send them out to steal.

214
00:16:25,080 --> 00:16:29,440
So we decide to stake out the place,
to see who picks the children up.

215
00:16:32,200 --> 00:16:35,760
Soon we see three children
being released.

216
00:16:35,760 --> 00:16:39,680
But they're on their own,
no-one has collected them.

217
00:16:39,680 --> 00:16:44,040
One of them is the girl who stole
a scarf in the centre of Madrid.

218
00:16:44,040 --> 00:16:46,440
They head for the tube.

219
00:16:46,440 --> 00:16:48,560
They go into
the underground station,

220
00:16:48,560 --> 00:16:51,560
but guards with dogs
force them out.

221
00:16:53,960 --> 00:16:58,720
They seem lost and we follow them
as they continue to walk for miles

222
00:16:58,720 --> 00:17:03,880
until, eventually, they catch the
bus back to the rat-infested camp.

223
00:17:03,880 --> 00:17:07,560
I asked these people
for an interview a few weeks ago

224
00:17:07,560 --> 00:17:09,600
and they finally agreed to it.

225
00:17:09,600 --> 00:17:13,880
I really wanted to talk to the staff
who work directly
with the gypsy children.

226
00:17:13,880 --> 00:17:16,040
Unfortunately, that's not possible.

227
00:17:16,040 --> 00:17:20,760
However,
I'm meeting the head of the Madrid
Institute for Children and Family.

228
00:17:20,760 --> 00:17:22,520
I really want to find out from her,

229
00:17:22,520 --> 00:17:24,680
what are they doing
for these children?

230
00:17:26,960 --> 00:17:29,440
Can you release these children
from the centre

231
00:17:29,440 --> 00:17:32,240
if they are not picked up
by an adult?

232
00:17:33,760 --> 00:17:37,160
TRANSLATION: No. Here we don't
leave the door open for them to go.

233
00:17:37,160 --> 00:17:40,840
We wait for an adult to come
because we are talking about minors.

234
00:17:42,440 --> 00:17:45,920
On two other occasions,
I saw young children

235
00:17:45,920 --> 00:17:49,640
being let out from the centre
and returning home on their own.

236
00:17:49,640 --> 00:17:52,160
Since the interview,
Ms Martin has said

237
00:17:52,160 --> 00:17:56,200
that they can't stop the kids from
coming and going as they please,

238
00:17:56,200 --> 00:17:58,360
as it's an open centre, not a jail.

239
00:17:58,360 --> 00:18:01,240
I am concerned about
the Spanish authorities

240
00:18:01,240 --> 00:18:04,800
allowing under-age children
to wander the streets at night.

241
00:18:04,800 --> 00:18:08,440
But what worries me even more
is the prospect of them

242
00:18:08,440 --> 00:18:11,760
handing back the children
to those who may exploit them.

243
00:18:11,760 --> 00:18:15,080
Is it a good idea
to return these children

244
00:18:15,080 --> 00:18:17,960
to the families that exploit them?

245
00:18:17,960 --> 00:18:20,480
We never return a child to a family

246
00:18:20,480 --> 00:18:24,760
unless we have all the guarantees
that the family
is going to take care of the minor.

247
00:18:24,760 --> 00:18:29,240
How do you make sure that the family
doesn't exploit the child?

248
00:18:29,240 --> 00:18:32,000
It's not a job we do from here.

249
00:18:32,000 --> 00:18:34,760
It's the job of the police
and the judges to check.

250
00:18:36,280 --> 00:18:39,000
We ask for information
from the social services

251
00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:43,480
to have guarantees that the family
has the necessary means of survival.

252
00:18:43,480 --> 00:18:46,360
That they have jobs, a home.

253
00:18:46,360 --> 00:18:49,440
And, of course, we check
if the child is at school,

254
00:18:49,440 --> 00:18:53,080
receiving his education
like all other children in Spain.

255
00:18:57,720 --> 00:19:01,720
This short interview
didn't really allay my fears

256
00:19:01,720 --> 00:19:05,600
raised by what I had seen during
my surveillance of the centre.

257
00:19:09,720 --> 00:19:13,240
One night I watch
as three young children,

258
00:19:13,240 --> 00:19:17,640
all around the age of 10,
are released.

259
00:19:17,640 --> 00:19:20,840
They appear to be
accompanied by two adults.

260
00:19:20,840 --> 00:19:27,280
But the adults go their own way
and the kids are on their own
for over an hour.

261
00:19:27,280 --> 00:19:30,000
Then a man arrives.

262
00:19:30,000 --> 00:19:31,880
He wears a red hooded top.

263
00:19:31,880 --> 00:19:35,000
He goes inside the centre
and, soon after,

264
00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:37,760
he comes out
with some more children.

265
00:19:37,760 --> 00:19:41,120
'They all get in a green car.'

266
00:19:41,120 --> 00:19:46,600
There are one, two, three, four,
five...six children.

267
00:19:46,600 --> 00:19:48,360
A car full of children.

268
00:19:48,360 --> 00:19:51,240
This is the man, the man in red.

269
00:19:51,240 --> 00:19:52,840
'They drive off.'

270
00:20:02,800 --> 00:20:05,720
God, this is bad luck.

271
00:20:05,720 --> 00:20:08,480
Is it them up there?

272
00:20:08,480 --> 00:20:10,680
We're just following them.

273
00:20:10,680 --> 00:20:12,720
We're trying to find them.

274
00:20:12,720 --> 00:20:15,680
We caught two red traffic lights.

275
00:20:15,680 --> 00:20:17,720
I don't know if we'll ever

276
00:20:17,720 --> 00:20:22,160
catch up with them.
We hit the motorway
which leads to the camp.

277
00:20:22,160 --> 00:20:25,720
But the chances of finding
them now are quite slim.

278
00:20:25,720 --> 00:20:30,400
There they are, there. On the left.

279
00:20:30,400 --> 00:20:32,640
Oh, there they are.

280
00:20:32,640 --> 00:20:34,240
That's the car.

281
00:20:35,760 --> 00:20:38,040
We found them.

282
00:20:38,040 --> 00:20:40,000
Thank God for the traffic.

283
00:20:42,080 --> 00:20:46,600
We think they might be going to the
camp, but we're not sure. Let's see.

284
00:20:52,320 --> 00:20:54,680
They're heading off
and they're just ahead of us.

285
00:20:54,680 --> 00:20:56,560
These people don't live in the camp.

286
00:20:58,480 --> 00:21:01,760
They are turning right.
Turning right.

287
00:21:01,760 --> 00:21:05,520
They're getting out of the car.
There they are.

288
00:21:09,280 --> 00:21:11,800
All the kids.

289
00:21:11,800 --> 00:21:14,600
I'm going to go
and have a closer look.

290
00:21:21,720 --> 00:21:23,640
These guys don't live in a camp.

291
00:21:23,640 --> 00:21:28,760
They live in a block of flats
over there.

292
00:21:28,760 --> 00:21:33,000
Over the next few days, we stake
out the block of flats.

293
00:21:33,000 --> 00:21:36,840
Every morning, a woman checks
to see if the coast is clear.

294
00:21:36,840 --> 00:21:42,000
Then, four young boys leave
the building and take the tube.

295
00:21:43,840 --> 00:21:47,600
One day we follow them into town.

296
00:21:47,600 --> 00:21:49,240
They split up into pairs.

297
00:21:49,240 --> 00:21:52,880
We watch as one of the pairs
target a cash machine.

298
00:21:52,880 --> 00:21:55,080
One of the boys looks about 12.

299
00:21:55,080 --> 00:21:58,600
The other one, as young as eight.

300
00:21:58,600 --> 00:22:01,120
They try to rob an elderly customer.

301
00:22:01,120 --> 00:22:03,520
These boys are aggressive.

302
00:22:03,520 --> 00:22:06,880
They don't stop
until passers-by intervene.

303
00:22:08,400 --> 00:22:12,960
When I see them acting like this,
my first reaction is anger.

304
00:22:12,960 --> 00:22:15,880
But then I remember that
they are just young children.

305
00:22:15,880 --> 00:22:19,040
A few minutes later,
they're at it again.

306
00:22:19,040 --> 00:22:22,240
The older boy pushes the younger one
towards the customer.

307
00:22:22,240 --> 00:22:27,200
But the man, who's twice their size,
pushes him back.

308
00:22:28,720 --> 00:22:34,240
They give up.
These children are under enormous
pressure to make money.

309
00:22:34,240 --> 00:22:39,920
They're gutsy and daring
and they're ready to take on
and defy even strong, young men.

310
00:22:41,640 --> 00:22:45,280
When passers-by approach,
they pretend to beg.

311
00:22:45,280 --> 00:22:49,800
This is well rehearsed. They are
probably trained to act like this.

312
00:22:51,320 --> 00:22:55,160
As I watched them asleep on
the tube, I ask myself who are

313
00:22:55,160 --> 00:22:58,080
the adults forcing these
kids into a life of crime?

314
00:22:58,080 --> 00:23:01,440
No one here in Madrid
seems to be investigating.

315
00:23:07,120 --> 00:23:11,120
Back in the gypsy camp,
the children are enjoying the snow.

316
00:23:11,120 --> 00:23:18,440
As they play, many other kids from
this camp are on the streets of
the city, robbing and stealing.

317
00:23:20,480 --> 00:23:23,320
What is to blame for
their lost childhood?

318
00:23:23,320 --> 00:23:26,840
Is it extreme poverty?
Is it the Roma culture?

319
00:23:26,840 --> 00:23:29,920
Or is it ruthless
criminal exploitation?

320
00:23:36,960 --> 00:23:43,680
It is a new year and the City is
holding the traditional Three King's
Parade for the Spanish children.

321
00:23:45,400 --> 00:23:50,040
Looking at their joyous faces,
I can't help thinking about

322
00:23:50,040 --> 00:23:53,960
the gypsy children and how this
city's authorities are failing them.

323
00:23:57,800 --> 00:24:01,120
Why are they being handed
back to those who are

324
00:24:01,120 --> 00:24:04,920
at best neglecting them and at
worst severely exploiting them?

325
00:24:34,240 --> 00:24:37,680
To understand what's behind
this disturbing phenomenon,

326
00:24:37,680 --> 00:24:44,440
I'm leaving Spain for the country
where gypsy crime has come
to dominate the headlines - Italy.

327
00:24:47,240 --> 00:24:52,520
Here, the right-wing government
recently declared a gypsy emergency,

328
00:24:52,520 --> 00:24:57,680
giving police powers to the army
in major cities and strengthening
the immigration laws.

329
00:24:57,680 --> 00:25:04,560
And several gypsy camps have been
attacked by local residents,
some being burned to the ground.

330
00:25:07,920 --> 00:25:14,600
I've come to Milan to meet the
policeman who's been investigating
crime in the gypsy community.

331
00:25:17,440 --> 00:25:21,040
TRANSLATION: If I come to Italy
and I try to live in Italy,

332
00:25:21,040 --> 00:25:23,320
I have to adapt to the Italian law
and behaved civilly,

333
00:25:23,320 --> 00:25:25,760
like any other citizen does.

334
00:25:27,400 --> 00:25:32,800
Stealing is a crime and you
can't hide behind your culture.

335
00:25:32,800 --> 00:25:37,960
A few months after Romania joined
the European Union in 2007,

336
00:25:37,960 --> 00:25:42,760
the police noticed a massive upsurge
in pick-pocketing and theft

337
00:25:42,760 --> 00:25:46,240
by children around Milan's Central
Station.

338
00:25:46,240 --> 00:25:49,600
So, we started an investigation
that lasted seven months.

339
00:25:49,600 --> 00:25:53,320
It showed the existence of
a multi-pronged, transnational

340
00:25:53,320 --> 00:25:57,000
organisation that operates
in different countries in Europe.

341
00:25:57,000 --> 00:26:03,000
The police installed surveillance
cameras around the square
to identify the 50 gypsy children

342
00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:07,080
who were operating there
and those who control them.

343
00:26:07,080 --> 00:26:13,480
The 13-year-old boy in the
red-sleeved T-shirt follows
a tourist to steal her money.

344
00:26:13,480 --> 00:26:15,440
The woman notices him.

345
00:26:15,440 --> 00:26:19,800
She's shocked.
The boy feigns innocence.

346
00:26:21,320 --> 00:26:26,640
There are dozens of attacks like
this in the Central Station,
day-in and day-out.

347
00:26:29,000 --> 00:26:33,720
Then, obviously, we tapped
the adults' phones, which they
used to talk to each other.

348
00:26:36,520 --> 00:26:38,920
These kids were clearly controlled.

349
00:26:38,920 --> 00:26:41,920
They were controlled every
single moment of the day.

350
00:26:43,440 --> 00:26:48,040
The recordings show adults cruelly
exploiting vulnerable children.

351
00:26:48,040 --> 00:26:52,520
This man was one of the controllers,

352
00:26:52,520 --> 00:26:58,400
said to have his own
army of children stealing for him.

353
00:26:58,400 --> 00:27:03,200
We learnt that the organisation
could make about 400 euros
per day from each kid.

354
00:27:07,720 --> 00:27:14,160
And, if we calculated the
activity over a period of a month,
each kid earned about 12,000 euros.

355
00:27:16,000 --> 00:27:19,520
12,000 euros times by 50 kids...

356
00:27:19,520 --> 00:27:23,240
If you do the maths, you reach
an astronomical amount of money.

357
00:27:26,880 --> 00:27:30,160
According to the police,
the children were making over

358
00:27:30,160 --> 00:27:34,360
half a million euros per month
for their exploiters.

359
00:27:34,360 --> 00:27:39,040
In order to establish the complex
connections within the organisation,

360
00:27:39,040 --> 00:27:43,800
it took months of hard work for
Messina and his investigative team.

361
00:27:53,320 --> 00:27:58,720
Men and women were part of this
complex organisation that
was structured

362
00:27:58,720 --> 00:28:01,880
on three levels.
At the first level, we have the young

363
00:28:01,880 --> 00:28:05,280
adults that control the kids while
they're operating on the street.

364
00:28:06,840 --> 00:28:12,000
Then, at the second level,
we have people whose job
it is to pick up the kids.

365
00:28:18,640 --> 00:28:23,000
The police found that members
of the children's families
were often involved.

366
00:28:31,960 --> 00:28:36,480
Most of the money made by
the children was sent to Romania.

367
00:28:38,000 --> 00:28:42,000
Then, the third level, the command
level, the most important one,

368
00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:45,680
is based in Romania
and consists of the bosses who decide

369
00:28:45,680 --> 00:28:52,400
the strategy of the organisation
and reinvest the money that comes
from the criminal activities.

370
00:28:52,400 --> 00:28:55,600
The police established that the
Milan part of the operation

371
00:28:55,600 --> 00:29:02,160
was run from an illegal camp set in
a derelict farm just outside
the city.

372
00:29:02,160 --> 00:29:07,960
On the morning of
11th December 2007,
Messina's team got ready to move in.

373
00:29:14,920 --> 00:29:20,720
Nearly 200 police officers,
with helicopter backup,
descended upon the gypsy camp.

374
00:29:33,280 --> 00:29:36,120
There were around 200
people living in the camp.

375
00:29:45,480 --> 00:29:50,080
The police were looking for
25 suspects, all involved in

376
00:29:50,080 --> 00:29:53,400
the exploitation of the children
operating at the Central Station.

377
00:29:59,160 --> 00:30:02,800
This man and his wife
were wanted for kidnapping

378
00:30:02,800 --> 00:30:07,120
a ten-year-old boy from Romania
and forcing him to steal.

379
00:30:07,120 --> 00:30:12,040
They threatened to
break the boy's arms
if he didn't bring in the money.

380
00:30:12,040 --> 00:30:17,520
As the police search for
suspects continued,
they made a shocking discovery.

381
00:30:17,520 --> 00:30:22,320
In a small shack, locked with
a chain, they found over 15 children.

382
00:30:27,120 --> 00:30:32,120
These children were kept in
captivity in terrible conditions.

383
00:30:35,480 --> 00:30:42,040
The police knew the children well
from the numerous times they stopped
them in Central Station square.

384
00:30:43,880 --> 00:30:46,880
The exploited children
were taken into care.

385
00:30:53,920 --> 00:31:00,480
But they all escaped,
apart from one, who testified
against his exploiters.

386
00:31:00,480 --> 00:31:05,480
19 members of the organisation
were arrested in the camp and six

387
00:31:05,480 --> 00:31:08,680
in Romania,
with the help of the local police.

388
00:31:08,680 --> 00:31:10,360
The trial was held in Milan.

389
00:31:10,360 --> 00:31:18,440
They were all found guilty for
enslaving the children and given
sentences between 4 and 14 years.

390
00:31:20,480 --> 00:31:23,440
I'm a parent.
I have two small children.

391
00:31:23,440 --> 00:31:27,560
I'm a father and, frankly, to see
this situation deeply shocked me.

392
00:31:34,960 --> 00:31:39,840
I'm heading for the gypsy camp where
the police operation took place.

393
00:31:39,840 --> 00:31:43,600
The ruined farm is located
in the middle of some fields.

394
00:31:43,600 --> 00:31:47,840
To my surprise,
the place is still inhabited.

395
00:31:47,840 --> 00:31:51,800
I've seen quite a few
expensive cars going in and out.

396
00:31:51,800 --> 00:31:54,560
There's a BMW X5
coming out just now.

397
00:31:54,560 --> 00:31:59,120
This place is impossible to surveil
without being noticed.

398
00:31:59,120 --> 00:32:00,720
We need to move.

399
00:32:00,720 --> 00:32:04,000
Could child exploitation
still be going on here?

400
00:32:04,000 --> 00:32:07,920
The camp is too dangerous to go in,
but I have an idea.

401
00:32:10,080 --> 00:32:15,160
Nearby, there's a tube station
that links this place with the city.

402
00:32:15,160 --> 00:32:18,320
If children are still being
sent into Milan to steal,

403
00:32:18,320 --> 00:32:23,080
it's very likely they'll be
taking the train from here.

404
00:32:23,080 --> 00:32:27,400
Over the next few days,
I stake out the station and watch

405
00:32:27,400 --> 00:32:32,360
as every morning different
groups of children head into town.

406
00:32:33,760 --> 00:32:38,320
They're young boys,
often accompanied by adults.

407
00:32:39,920 --> 00:32:45,520
One day, I recognise one of the boys
that police found locked in the
shack when they raided the camp.

408
00:32:45,520 --> 00:32:47,280
His name is Bobi.

409
00:32:47,280 --> 00:32:50,160
We follow him into town.

410
00:32:50,160 --> 00:32:53,440
He becomes aware of us
and we lose him.

411
00:32:53,440 --> 00:32:58,280
But, on another day,
we see him following an old man.

412
00:32:58,280 --> 00:33:02,960
A young adult with a black top
walks right behind him.

413
00:33:02,960 --> 00:33:05,600
Bobi picks the old man's pocket.

414
00:33:05,600 --> 00:33:09,560
It's the same technique I've seen
in the police surveillance videos.

415
00:33:09,560 --> 00:33:13,040
I wonder if the adult
is his controller.

416
00:33:13,040 --> 00:33:17,400
We follow them and see the adult
getting rough with Bobi.

417
00:33:19,360 --> 00:33:22,600
He must be his controller.

418
00:33:22,600 --> 00:33:27,440
We continue to monitor
the station near the camp.

419
00:33:27,440 --> 00:33:32,160
I recognise Dixan and Dan,
two more boys from the police raid.

420
00:33:32,160 --> 00:33:36,760
We see them at work
in the busy Tube station,

421
00:33:36,760 --> 00:33:41,520
attempting to steal from a woman's
bag as they follow her
up some stairs.

422
00:33:43,800 --> 00:33:48,360
On another day, they spot
a woman with two young children.

423
00:33:48,360 --> 00:33:50,680
They run after her

424
00:33:50,680 --> 00:33:54,080
and ruthlessly
lift her purse from her bag.

425
00:33:57,880 --> 00:34:03,120
They empty the contents
of the wallet,
drop it on the floor and walk off.

426
00:34:07,400 --> 00:34:11,360
They head back to the camp.
Our investigation has shown
that the children who were

427
00:34:11,360 --> 00:34:18,680
being exploited two years ago
from the ruined farm are once again
thieving on the streets of the city.

428
00:34:18,680 --> 00:34:25,000
It's clear that the elaborate
police operation has not saved
them from a life of crime.

429
00:34:33,440 --> 00:34:37,720
I'm meeting up with the Deputy Mayor
of Milan, Riccardo De Corato,

430
00:34:37,720 --> 00:34:41,960
who has led the city's controversial
crackdown on gypsy crime.

431
00:34:45,400 --> 00:34:49,120
TRANSLATION: A strong response would
be to kick out Romania

432
00:34:49,120 --> 00:34:50,680
from the European Union

433
00:34:50,680 --> 00:34:53,120
and consider Romania outcast.

434
00:34:53,120 --> 00:34:55,560
Do you believe it could be done?

435
00:34:55,560 --> 00:34:58,600
It's impossible.
Today the EU is expanding.

436
00:35:03,680 --> 00:35:07,600
De Corato expresses
opinions that would be unthinkable

437
00:35:07,600 --> 00:35:10,400
for politicians
in most European countries.

438
00:35:16,160 --> 00:35:21,760
The Roma don't really know
the meaning of work because
we always find them in the camps.

439
00:35:21,760 --> 00:35:27,200
They send the women to work
and prostitute themselves
and the children are sent to steal.

440
00:35:31,840 --> 00:35:37,120
Also if you went now
to any of the camps you'd
just find men playing cards.

441
00:35:38,640 --> 00:35:45,120
So someone tell me how I can possibly
explain to these people the concept
of work, when their concept of life

442
00:35:45,120 --> 00:35:50,080
is without work and the work is
left to women and children instead.

443
00:35:56,680 --> 00:36:03,640
So it follows that it's not us being
racist, but it's them who don't
know how to be in our society.

444
00:36:09,080 --> 00:36:14,320
Deputy Mayor De Corato
has pledged to close down the
51 illegal gypsy camps around Milan.

445
00:36:16,480 --> 00:36:22,480
And this morning the camp
will be bulldozed.

446
00:36:22,480 --> 00:36:27,320
This is the 7th time it's been
closed down in the last two years.

447
00:36:27,320 --> 00:36:32,200
The gypsies who live here
know the drill and they're
already clearing out.

448
00:36:57,640 --> 00:37:05,320
The social services offer of shelter
has conditions attached which
the people here find unacceptable.

449
00:37:33,360 --> 00:37:38,200
Only one family take
the social services assistance.

450
00:37:38,200 --> 00:37:40,600
The rest scatter.

451
00:37:43,240 --> 00:37:46,440
The camp is now closed.

452
00:37:46,440 --> 00:37:52,520
But for a handful of gypsy families
who live there, life may be about
to change for the better.

453
00:37:59,640 --> 00:38:04,240
A local charity, Casa della Carita,
is offering them shelter.

454
00:38:13,000 --> 00:38:15,360
We just brought here the five
families

455
00:38:15,360 --> 00:38:19,080
we're going to welcome
here in the house. They seem happy.

456
00:38:19,080 --> 00:38:23,800
These families are being given help
because in spite of the hardship of

457
00:38:23,800 --> 00:38:27,360
the camp
they send their children to school.

458
00:38:27,360 --> 00:38:30,200
Don Massimo is the
vice-president of this charity.

459
00:38:30,200 --> 00:38:33,880
He explains to the new arrivals
the house rules.

460
00:39:00,560 --> 00:39:03,560
Don Massimo has little tolerance
of those who break the rules,

461
00:39:03,560 --> 00:39:08,200
which also include
no begging and no stealing.

462
00:39:13,680 --> 00:39:16,400
That night it rains.

463
00:39:16,400 --> 00:39:20,920
The new arrivals of Casa della
Carita have a roof over their head.

464
00:39:22,440 --> 00:39:27,280
But for all the other gypsies
that were left homeless
it's going to be a bad night.

465
00:39:31,480 --> 00:39:35,680
A few days later I return
to the site of the camp to see if

466
00:39:35,680 --> 00:39:40,240
any gypsies have moved back in, as
has happened several times before.

467
00:39:41,760 --> 00:39:45,440
All that's left are the rats.

468
00:39:47,360 --> 00:39:52,360
Around the corner
the local residents
are having coffee and cakes.

469
00:39:52,360 --> 00:39:54,760
There's a heavy police presence.

470
00:39:57,400 --> 00:40:02,320
The gathering has been organised
by Lega Nord, a popular
right-wing political party.

471
00:40:04,440 --> 00:40:05,960
Why are you here today?

472
00:40:05,960 --> 00:40:11,120
TRANSLATION: To celebrate
the closure of the Romany camp

473
00:40:11,120 --> 00:40:13,520
and because I was
pick-pocketed twice.

474
00:40:13,520 --> 00:40:16,160
Now that they've been kicked out,
I'm happy.

475
00:40:20,280 --> 00:40:23,080
TRANSLATION: Sure, it's safer now,
but for how long?

476
00:40:23,080 --> 00:40:26,360
Because these people just move
from one kilometre to the next.

477
00:40:26,360 --> 00:40:28,520
They're always here.

478
00:40:28,520 --> 00:40:32,960
TRANSLATION: The Roma, the nomads,
what ever you call them,

479
00:40:32,960 --> 00:40:36,600
it's disgusting the way they exploit
children and old people.

480
00:40:38,720 --> 00:40:42,880
TRANSLATION: They're people
who should be killed
but we can't kill them.

481
00:40:46,520 --> 00:40:51,240
The gypsy issue has fuelled
a swing to the right in Italy.

482
00:40:51,240 --> 00:40:56,680
Casa della Carita believes
the situation is more complex.

483
00:40:57,160 --> 00:41:02,440
The right wing says the Romany
gypsies are just people that exploit
their children and women

484
00:41:02,440 --> 00:41:10,320
for stealing, for begging
and maybe there's a bit of a truth
in this, but the real problem

485
00:41:10,320 --> 00:41:14,160
is that some of the gypsies
actually beg and steal

486
00:41:14,160 --> 00:41:18,400
because that's the only chance that
they have for surviving.

487
00:41:24,000 --> 00:41:28,400
Donatella has been working with
Romanian gypsies
for over four years.

488
00:41:28,400 --> 00:41:34,320
The charity has developed
a programme which tries to integrate
gypsies into Italian society.

489
00:41:34,320 --> 00:41:39,360
It starts with paying close
attention to the needs
of each individual.

490
00:41:39,360 --> 00:41:44,120
Generally what they want to achieve
is a job, a regular job, and a house,

491
00:41:44,120 --> 00:41:49,560
but not all of them can speak
good Italian,
can relate in a very good way

492
00:41:49,560 --> 00:41:55,360
or have professional skills that
they can use on the market.

493
00:41:58,440 --> 00:42:02,400
As well as training, Casa della
Carita has a lot more to offer.

494
00:42:02,400 --> 00:42:07,840
There's free food and clothing,
tutoring for the children,

495
00:42:07,840 --> 00:42:12,880
the chance to live rent-free
in a little purpose built house.

496
00:42:12,880 --> 00:42:17,120
They can even provide subsidised
flats in the city.

497
00:42:17,120 --> 00:42:19,920
And they've had some successes.

498
00:42:19,920 --> 00:42:25,880
She's Loridana and she's
one of our youth. She's 19 years old.

499
00:42:25,880 --> 00:42:27,760
She'll soon be 20.

500
00:42:27,760 --> 00:42:30,960
And she's just started to work.

501
00:42:30,960 --> 00:42:35,440
She's just started to attend
the course for the driving licence

502
00:42:35,440 --> 00:42:39,000
and she's just opened
her personal saving account

503
00:42:39,000 --> 00:42:46,120
because she wants to spare
the money for herself and she
really doesn't want to marry. So..!

504
00:43:08,160 --> 00:43:14,120
This is probably the effect
of the cultural influence
that we had on her,

505
00:43:14,120 --> 00:43:21,240
so she attended school here,
she learnt a job here, she
started to relate to our models

506
00:43:21,240 --> 00:43:25,600
and so she actually embraced our
models as her own.

507
00:43:31,680 --> 00:43:34,480
As vice-president of Casa
della Carita, Don Massimo

508
00:43:34,480 --> 00:43:37,640
is fighting a constant battle.
He's under regular attack

509
00:43:37,640 --> 00:43:41,360
from the right wing.
But there's also the question

510
00:43:41,360 --> 00:43:47,080
of whether their model
of integration is actually
destroying the gypsy culture.

511
00:43:50,480 --> 00:43:53,880
TRANSLATION: I don't want
to change their values.

512
00:43:53,880 --> 00:43:57,960
I want these values to live together
next to other people's lifestyles.

513
00:43:57,960 --> 00:44:01,440
Of course to do this maybe
someone has to renounce something,

514
00:44:01,440 --> 00:44:05,160
to give in a bit, but this
path is absolutely possible.

515
00:44:09,840 --> 00:44:12,920
Possible it may be but
the process of integration

516
00:44:12,920 --> 00:44:16,720
takes time and is beset with
difficulties, as many gypsies

517
00:44:16,720 --> 00:44:20,760
aren't prepared to change
and follow the charity's rules.

518
00:44:20,760 --> 00:44:27,160
One of the main things they
have to renounce is using their
children for stealing and begging.

519
00:44:27,160 --> 00:44:30,800
This is by no means
a simple exercise.

520
00:44:30,800 --> 00:44:33,960
Ten year-old Irinel
has just arrived here.

521
00:44:33,960 --> 00:44:39,800
His family used to live
in the Bakla camp and from there
they sent him begging.

522
00:44:54,520 --> 00:44:58,280
Irinel's eight-year-old brother,
Claudio, also goes begging.

523
00:45:53,920 --> 00:45:58,200
If this family persists in sending
their two sons begging,
there's a strong chance

524
00:45:58,200 --> 00:46:04,600
that the charity will
send them back onto the streets.
This has happened before.

525
00:46:07,880 --> 00:46:12,960
Only this tough of approach
can break the cycle
of child exploitation,

526
00:46:12,960 --> 00:46:16,400
common in the Romanian
gypsy culture.

527
00:46:16,400 --> 00:46:21,680
Casa della Carita's model
of integration seems to be working.

528
00:46:21,680 --> 00:46:27,200
But the task facing them
and other charities trying to
help the gypsies is enormous.

529
00:46:27,200 --> 00:46:31,920
During my time in Milan, I have
seen gypsy children exploited

530
00:46:31,920 --> 00:46:35,920
by both their own families
and by organised crime.

531
00:46:35,920 --> 00:46:40,560
I've seen children as young as
three begging here on the tube.

532
00:46:40,560 --> 00:46:42,080
It's very sad.

533
00:46:42,080 --> 00:46:45,680
And it's shocking that today,
in Europe,

534
00:46:45,680 --> 00:46:50,480
with all that laws and services
that are there to protect children,

535
00:46:50,480 --> 00:46:54,960
this exploitation can happen
on such a large scale.

536
00:46:56,560 --> 00:47:03,440
It's time for me to leave
Italy and head to Romania, to
trace the routes of this problem.

537
00:47:03,440 --> 00:47:08,280
But before my departure, as I walk
through the centre of Milan,

538
00:47:08,280 --> 00:47:13,640
I encounter one of the most
heartbreaking cases I have seen
since I've been on the road.

539
00:47:13,640 --> 00:47:20,440
This girl, who looks no older
than ten, is begging as this woman
watches on.

540
00:47:20,440 --> 00:47:24,840
I'm not sure whether she is her
mother or her controller, or both.

541
00:47:24,840 --> 00:47:30,400
The girl is friendly with the local
store owners. She's good at her job

542
00:47:30,400 --> 00:47:33,280
and seems to get a reasonable
amount of money.

543
00:47:33,280 --> 00:47:37,320
All the cash she makes,
she gives to the woman.

544
00:47:39,520 --> 00:47:42,080
They have a strange relationship.

545
00:47:42,080 --> 00:47:45,600
I watch as they share
a tender moment.

546
00:47:45,600 --> 00:47:49,480
But it's not long before I see
a much darker side to it.

547
00:47:49,480 --> 00:47:54,800
The girl goes to help a church
worker for a few moments,
and doesn't make any money.

548
00:47:54,800 --> 00:48:01,560
When she returns, the woman
is angry and beats her
with a stick from her bag.

549
00:48:01,560 --> 00:48:05,720
The girl cries
and is clearly afraid.

550
00:48:05,720 --> 00:48:08,880
Under pressure,
she goes back to work.

551
00:48:10,600 --> 00:48:15,560
She even feeds the woman a few
times, with the food she has begged.

552
00:48:16,800 --> 00:48:21,360
I watch this girl working solidly
for ten hours late into the night,

553
00:48:21,360 --> 00:48:25,400
begging in restaurants and bars
where a young child has no place.

554
00:48:25,400 --> 00:48:30,200
She hands her last pennies over
but the woman is still not happy...

555
00:48:34,560 --> 00:48:37,360
..and hits her across the face.

556
00:48:48,120 --> 00:48:52,000
I've returned to Romania to try
and find the origins of this

557
00:48:52,000 --> 00:48:55,240
exploitation within the gypsy
community.

558
00:48:56,480 --> 00:49:02,520
Romania is home to the largest
gypsy population in the world.

559
00:49:02,520 --> 00:49:08,760
The gypsies originally came here
about 1,000 years
ago from northern India

560
00:49:08,760 --> 00:49:13,880
and have been subjected
to discrimination and violence
ever since.

561
00:49:18,760 --> 00:49:22,160
In a village near the border with
Hungary, I meet Cornel,

562
00:49:22,160 --> 00:49:28,160
who lives with his family in abject
poverty, like most of the gypsies
in Romania.

563
00:49:29,920 --> 00:49:36,040
This man is 38 and he has so many
children that he has literally
lost count of them.

564
00:49:36,040 --> 00:49:42,120
His story is similar to those of
tens of thousands desperately
poor gypsies

565
00:49:42,120 --> 00:49:48,520
who have been trafficked to
the West and exploited there by the
people from their own community.

566
00:49:48,520 --> 00:49:52,320
It all began with a promise,
made by a trafficker.

567
00:49:53,840 --> 00:49:58,960
TRANSLATION: He says come
because it is good there,
everyone is getting houses.

568
00:49:58,960 --> 00:50:01,040
Come, you will get some business.

569
00:50:01,040 --> 00:50:05,200
Within a month you will get yourself
a house like you've never seen.

570
00:50:05,200 --> 00:50:10,480
The trafficker sorted out
the passports and took Cornel
and his wife,

571
00:50:10,480 --> 00:50:14,200
with two of their young children
to Milan.

572
00:50:14,200 --> 00:50:17,360
When they arrived there
they were put in a squat.

573
00:50:17,360 --> 00:50:23,680
TRANSLATION: There were about 100
families there, from top to bottom
it was full of children.

574
00:50:25,840 --> 00:50:30,400
Cornel and his family worked as
beggars for two months in Milan.

575
00:50:30,400 --> 00:50:34,160
But the trafficker
took everything they earned.

576
00:50:34,160 --> 00:50:37,360
They escaped and returned
to Romania.

577
00:50:37,360 --> 00:50:43,040
The trafficker caught up with them,
demanding the money he claimed
he'd spent taking them to Italy.

578
00:50:43,040 --> 00:50:49,640
TRANSLATION: Seven years I
paid him the debt. I paid it back.
I gave him all my social benefits.

579
00:50:51,280 --> 00:50:55,120
But it wasn't just Cornel
that went abroad to make money.

580
00:50:55,120 --> 00:50:58,600
Almost al the gypsies in the
village have been as well.

581
00:51:39,800 --> 00:51:47,200
Largely excluded from mainstream
society, many Romanian gypsies
have resorted to criminality.

582
00:51:47,200 --> 00:51:52,440
I have come to one of the gypsy
crime strongholds,
the city of Craiova.

583
00:51:52,440 --> 00:51:55,400
Most of those in prison
for child enslavement

584
00:51:55,400 --> 00:51:58,840
as a result of the police
operation in Milan come from here.

585
00:51:58,840 --> 00:52:02,160
This is a dangerous place.

586
00:52:02,160 --> 00:52:05,760
TRANSLATION: Craiova seems
a suffocated by the gypsy clans

587
00:52:05,760 --> 00:52:10,880
which control half the city.
Although it is unacceptable
in a European Romania

588
00:52:10,880 --> 00:52:14,440
the authorities admit they are
helpless to face this phenomenon.

589
00:52:14,440 --> 00:52:19,160
The internal wars between gypsy
families are carried out on
the streets with guns and swords.

590
00:52:20,600 --> 00:52:26,400
I'm here to meet up with a powerful
leader of the gypsy underworld.

591
00:52:26,400 --> 00:52:30,920
The neighbourhood where he lives
is a home to over 10,000 gypsies,

592
00:52:30,920 --> 00:52:35,000
most of them belong up to one clan,
the thieves.

593
00:52:37,960 --> 00:52:43,280
TRANSLATION: So we're going into this
room which is specially made
like a museum of photos.

594
00:52:43,280 --> 00:52:45,720
Here are all my relatives.

595
00:52:45,720 --> 00:52:51,160
That's my father, one of the greatest
gypsy leaders of Craiova.

596
00:52:51,160 --> 00:52:55,120
And he was part of the clan
of the best thieves.

597
00:52:57,640 --> 00:53:00,960
I am part of this family that
occupies itself with stealing.

598
00:53:03,960 --> 00:53:07,440
His nickname is Brilliant
and for him stealing is a profession

599
00:53:07,440 --> 00:53:12,080
that has been passed on from
generation to generation.

600
00:53:20,760 --> 00:53:23,760
Having come from a long
that line of a thieves,

601
00:53:23,760 --> 00:53:27,760
Brilliant has a special insight into
the history of gypsy crime.

602
00:53:27,760 --> 00:53:31,280
When did their Romanian gypsies
from Romania start going west?

603
00:53:31,280 --> 00:53:37,000
TRANSLATION: I can't remember
exactly but in any case
between 1980 and 1989.

604
00:53:37,000 --> 00:53:42,760
They earned quickly because having
escaped a communist country
they had the right to asylum

605
00:53:42,760 --> 00:53:49,080
and residency in those countries
and they came back with special cars
and built outstanding houses.

606
00:53:49,080 --> 00:53:53,000
And they came back to use the power
that they had and they said,

607
00:53:53,000 --> 00:53:55,880
"Whoever goes to these countries
gets rich".

608
00:54:08,080 --> 00:54:10,000
I grew up on this street.

609
00:54:11,520 --> 00:54:16,720
At the age of 12 or 14 I started
pick-pocketing to contribute

610
00:54:16,720 --> 00:54:22,320
to help my grandparents
because my parents
and my uncles had been arrested.

611
00:54:26,000 --> 00:54:30,640
When Brilliant was a child,
this district was dirt poor.

612
00:54:30,640 --> 00:54:36,520
But at the beginning of the 90s,
when the gypsies from here
went to the West to steal and beg,

613
00:54:36,520 --> 00:54:39,400
the neighbourhood
started to pick up.

614
00:54:39,400 --> 00:54:45,040
When they saw this possibility
of making money, at a certain point

615
00:54:45,040 --> 00:54:49,240
they no longer wanted to go begging
themselves because the truth is

616
00:54:49,240 --> 00:54:56,520
when someone has a lot of money they
begin having character, dignity and
they are ashamed to steal and to beg.

617
00:54:56,520 --> 00:54:59,480
And then in order
to keep making money

618
00:54:59,480 --> 00:55:04,800
and under the pretence that they
want to help others, they try
to persuade them to go and beg.

619
00:55:06,880 --> 00:55:11,560
Look there, what a house,
what a courtyard!

620
00:55:11,560 --> 00:55:17,600
This guy is called Philip. He
initiated many departures, he opened
the roads, as they say,

621
00:55:17,600 --> 00:55:25,200
in a few countries, England, Ireland,
France, Germany, Canada,
Australia, America.

622
00:55:27,680 --> 00:55:33,560
He got to Australia, yes, and that
house, this house
and this house are all his.

623
00:55:33,560 --> 00:55:39,920
There is no need for him to go
abroad any more because he makes
his money as a loan shark.

624
00:55:41,760 --> 00:55:45,200
In the last 20 years the
neighbourhood has flourished

625
00:55:45,200 --> 00:55:49,680
and nowadays every street here has
dozens of imposing villas

626
00:55:49,680 --> 00:55:53,520
that Brilliant says are built from
the proceeds of crime abroad.

627
00:55:53,520 --> 00:56:00,880
Look at this house. Now there
is a guy who stayed for a long time
in Italy, probably for 15 years.

628
00:56:00,880 --> 00:56:08,080
He begged, he stole, he made a lot
of money and he sent it home
and started lending it with interest.

629
00:56:10,520 --> 00:56:16,640
These two houses belong to Marousi
and Calistrada. Calistrada
is my first cousin.

630
00:56:16,640 --> 00:56:19,760
They sorted themselves out
financially in England

631
00:56:19,760 --> 00:56:22,880
and a large part of this fortune
was made from stealing.

632
00:56:22,880 --> 00:56:25,000
In England, yes.

633
00:56:25,000 --> 00:56:29,840
Many of Brilliant's neighbours have
been lifted out of poverty,

634
00:56:29,840 --> 00:56:34,600
but he thinks that the level of
criminal greed has gone too far.

635
00:56:34,600 --> 00:56:38,400
He advocates a return
to the old days.

636
00:56:38,400 --> 00:56:41,320
They stole because it
was a necessity.

637
00:56:41,320 --> 00:56:46,920
They didn't steal to make fortunes
or turn it into a business
as they do nowadays.

638
00:56:46,920 --> 00:56:52,000
This is something that I disapprove
of, that is why I recommend
they should set a limit.

639
00:56:52,000 --> 00:56:58,720
They should calm down. Because the
thieving, what they are doing now,
is no longer a national problem,

640
00:56:58,720 --> 00:57:01,480
it's happening
on an international scale.

641
00:57:01,480 --> 00:57:06,240
Now the whole of Europe, the whole of
the world talk about the gypsies.

642
00:57:17,280 --> 00:57:21,480
Our children need to study because if
they carry on like this, if the new

643
00:57:21,480 --> 00:57:26,280
generations growing up now continue
in the same way no one will have us.

644
00:57:26,280 --> 00:57:31,440
Our only country won't understand
us any more, the Western countries
will chase us a way,

645
00:57:31,440 --> 00:57:34,280
and then I ask myself and I ask you,
brother gypsies,

646
00:57:34,280 --> 00:57:38,360
"Where are we going to go? Where?
Where will we live?"

647
00:57:40,720 --> 00:57:45,600
As I leave Brilliant behind, I think
about the backlash he anticipates

648
00:57:45,600 --> 00:57:47,840
if the thieving carries on.

649
00:57:47,840 --> 00:57:53,600
Over the last 20 years,
I've seen the anti-gypsy feeling
getting stronger,

650
00:57:53,600 --> 00:57:56,920
not only in Romania
but across Europe.

651
00:57:56,920 --> 00:58:04,040
I have also seen gypsy petty crime
turn to serious crime and to
international organised crime.

652
00:58:04,040 --> 00:58:11,880
Most gypsies in Romania still
live in shacks but there are also
many who now live in palaces.

653
00:58:13,480 --> 00:58:18,040
My fear is that without immediate
help the gypsy child thieves
that I've encountered

654
00:58:18,040 --> 00:58:21,320
in my journey, will grow up
into hardened criminals

655
00:58:21,320 --> 00:58:25,760
and the cycle of abuse
and exploitation will
spiral out of control.

656
00:58:25,760 --> 00:58:29,880
Where that help would come
from remains to be seen.