Italian president Giorgio Napolitano has signed a government decree empowering city prefects to expel European Union citizens considered to pose a threat to public safety. The decree comes in the wake of a spree of immigrant-related violence, culminating in the 30 October murder of Giovanna Reggiani, attacked on her way home from the Tor di Quinto train station in the North of Rome. The only current suspect is a Romanian immigrant living in a nomad camp nearby.

According to government projections, nearly 5,000 foreign residents in Italy risk expulsion, the first orders for which are expected to be issued as early as 2 November. In the meantime, police have launched a campaign disbanding many of the estimated 66 nomad camps around the city, home to between 5,000 and 10,000 people.