Anyone in Europe with a sense of history should feel a shudder of apprehension at the news that the Italian Government is to begin fingerprinting all Roma in the country, including children under 14.

It is only two generations ago that such a coldly administrative measure was the prelude to mass deportations, imprisonment, torture and death. Gypsies were among the first victims of the Nazis, and Italy's apparent amnesia of its own dark wartime history is obtuse.

Those proposing this step, which could begin as early as tomorrow, vigorously deny any racist intent. They point to the help of the Italian Red Cross in this new census of the Roma population, which they say is intended to give those identified access to social and health services while ensuring that children are sent to school. Too many Gypsy children, they argue, are being sent out to beg or steal by parents who have arrived illegally in the country. Only by identifying children under 14 - by fingerprints or preferably by photographs - can such an abuse be halted and the wave of juvenile crime be reduced.

Few people would argue that the recent arrival of large numbers of Roma, mostly from Romania and the Balkans, has not caused huge social and economic problems. Most of the arrivals, who have few skills or qualifications, live in 700 temporary camps, set up to cope with the influx but with poor sanitation and facilities.

The high levels of street crime associated with the Gypsies have angered many Italians, and the mood has been exploited by the anti-immigrant Northern League party to campaign for a harsh crackdown on all immigration. Extremists, skinheads and thugs have seized the opportunity to give free rein to their prejudices, and the disgraceful firebombing of one camp near Naples was followed by the eviction by the right-wing Mayor of Rome of a Gypsy camp near the capital.

There are an estimated 152,000 Roma in Italy, and their presence has inflamed an already ugly debate about immigration. Italy's previously lax border controls and long coastline have made it a magnet for thousands of illegal migrants from Africa and the Balkans. Within a few years, a previously relaxed attitude to foreigners has been replaced by a sharp new xenophobia, especially in the larger cities. The mood has been reflected in electoral support for parties promising a much tougher attitude to all immigration, even to the extent of trying to make legal migrants feel unwelcome. Italy will be one of the most enthusiastic supporters of the French EU presidency proposals to tighten up immigration controls across the Continent and close loopholes that have enabled too many migrants to slip through loose controls in the Schengen states.

None of this, however, excuses blanket sanctions that target groups of people by race and ethnicity, especially when the sanctions are underpinned by popular prejudice. Ten years ago two cities in the Czech Republic planned to build a wall around two apartment buildings housing Gypsies, accusing them of antisocial behaviour. There was a swift outcry - as there was against Britain's proposals to set up a visa regime in response to a sudden influx of Gypsies. Both measures were dropped. Italy's fingerprinting plans should also be abandoned. People must never be branded as groups. That way danger lies.