This article deals with the social exclusion of Romanies/ ‘Gypsies’ in Italy and the recent implementation of a state of emergency, the so-called Emergenza Nomadi (Nomad Emergency). It provides an investigation of the interactions between local institutions, civil society organisations and Romani people inside the so called campi nomadi (nomad camps) in Rome. The major contribution of this study is that it reveals the existence of a deeply rooted mechanism of marginalisation – the ‘camps system’ – in which corruption, lack of transparency and accountability, inefficiencies and antagonisms between a variety of competing actors have contributed to reify and crystallise the Romani condition.