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Rome: Italians have belatedly realised that Silvio Berlusconi's crackdown on illegal immigrants could deprive them of hundreds of thousands of foreigners who clean their homes and look after their children and elderly relatives.
Having elected the conservative media mogul to a third term as prime minister in April, thanks partly to his vows to crack down on illegal immigrants, they are now pleading for foreign cleaners, nannies and care-workers to be exempted.
Their pleas may be falling on deaf ears.
"Why should a housekeeper have rights but not a bricklayer?" asked Interior Minister Roberto Maroni, architect of draft laws to be rushed through parliament, which have caused concern in Europe that the right-wing government may be fomenting racism.
Italy saw a record rise in immigration last year, new data shows, with 454,000 newcomers making a total 3.5 million out of a country of 58 million people.
Blamed for crime
Of these, the biggest groups were Romanians whom many locals blame for crime, especially Roma people.
Amnesty International warned politicians and media against "racist language", saying: "Italy risks becoming a dangerous country not just for Roma and Romanians but for all of us."
The number of foreign domestic workers is impossible to verify because so many are illegal. But consumer groups estimate they total 1.7 million, of whom only 745,000 are registered with tax authorities and many do not even have residence permits.
In Rome, about 100,000 foreigners looking after the old and disabled are illegal, says consumer body ADOC, which gets calls from worried families "who don't want to live outside the law".
Some live in grim conditions, forced to sleep in the kitchen and be on call 24 hours a day, for 600-800 euros a month.
Most are women from countries such as Peru, Ecuador, the Philippines and Romania.
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