Ennio Codini The experience of Italy in state policies of irregular ...

Ennio CodiniThe experience of Italy in state policiesof irregular migrants treatmentProjekt „Polskie doświadczenia w kontroli nielegalnej migracji – lekcja dla Ukrainy w kontekście realizacji umowy o readmisji” jest współfinansowany w ramach polskiejpomocy Ministerstwa Spraw Zagranicznych RP w 2010 r.Projekt ”Polskie Forum Integracyjne” jest współfinansowany ze środków Europejskiego Funduszu na rzecz Integracji Obywateli Państw Trzecich oraz z budŜetu państwa.

IntroductionToday I just want to answer to three questionsFirstly: What are the main characteristics of illegalimmigration in Italy?Secondly: How does Italy try to manage the illegalimmigration?And finally: What are the main ideas about the futureof illegal immigration?

The scale of irregular migration toItalyIn the late twenty yearsevery yearmore than 100,000foreign workers entered in Italyas illegal immigrants(we are going to use “irregular migrants”, “illegal immigrants” or similarwords. No human being is irregular or illegal, of course, but this is thecommon terminology)

The types of illegal migratory runThere are two different kinds of experience[Codini, 2005]:Illegal entries - clandestine migrantsLegal entries with an inappropriate andnon-convertible title. Theupshot is the illegal stay (overstayers)

The stabilisation of irregular immigrantsAccording to the law the illegal immigrantsshould be expelled but less than 10,000expulsions are realized every year (There areplenty of organizational problems)So every year at least 100,000 new illegalimmigrants can take up residence in thecountry

A tolerant approachHow did the Italian society reacts to this situation?How did the Italian authorities react to this situation?There was a certain amount of tolerance. Why? Because theillegal immigrants are an unique opportunity for the shadoweconomy.There are three main sectors: domestic work, building industryand agriculture. The 50% of illegal immigrants are womenworking as home helps or home caregivers [Cesareo, 2007;Zanfrini, 2008]

The limit on toleranceWhen the illegal immigrants become more than500,000 the tolerance decreases sharply and a newattitude comes along: alarmWhy? First, because of the fear that crimes might rise.Second, it is difficult to accept such a big under classIn addition, this mass of illegal immigrants candramatically increase the shadow economy

The extraordinary measuresThe upshot are extraordinary measuresGoals:- first, to grant a residence permit to almost all present irregularmigrants- second, to promote the emergence of irregular labourThere have been two types of extraordinary measures:mass regularisations and decrees on migration flows

The Mass Regularizations*1990-1992 – Prime Min. Andreotti – 220,000 permits*1995-1997 – Prime Min. Dini – 250,000 permits*1998-2000 – Prime Min. Prodi – 220,000 permits*2002-2004 – Prime Min. Berlusconi– 650,000 permits*2009-2010 (only for domestic workers and care givers) –Prime Minister Berlusconi – 280,000 permitsThe grant of a residence permit is usually subordinated to thesignature of a job contract - except the case of1990 and 1998 amnesties

The decrees on migration flows asregularisation measure2006-2007 – The Prodi Government faced theproblem of the massive presence ofirregular immigrants using the decrees onmigration flows: 500,000 permits(In the same time there is the transition ofRomanians from the status of third-countrynationals to that of EU citizens soRomanians are no longer counted as illegalmigrants)

ConsequencesEvery year at least 100,000 new illegal immigrants cantake up residence in the country.Therefore extraordinary measures aiming tomaintain the illegal immigrants under thetolerance limit are adoptedThe result is the trend of the number of irregular migrantsindicated by the following slide

Estimated number of irregular migrants living in Italy. Years1990-2009 (thousands)Source: Fondazione ISMU

A necessary useThe use of extraordinary measuresof regularisation was necessaryThe number of regularised who fell againinto an illegal status has been rather limited.In 2005, for example, over 98% of foreignerswho could benefit in 2002-2004from regularisation measures were ableto keep they regular status [Cesareo, 2007]

Critical aspects of the useof extraordinary measuresMass regularisations can impair the image of theItalian law system, making it appear scarcely rigorousand, at the same time, they can produce a “call” effect[Cesareo, 2007; Zanfrini, 2008]The improper use of the decrees on migration flowsdenies the possibility to use them correctly, andconsequently the possibility to legally enter for workpurposes [Codini, 2010]

Widespread opinions about the futureAn opinion: the phenomenon of massimmigration should run out in the future due tothe economic crisis and the availability of EUworkersAnother opinion: new sanctions will still be ableto block illegal immigration

How to judge these opinionsThe building industry is in severe crisisToday in Italy there are at least a million RomaniansBut in Romania the surplus of entries in the labourmarket is destined to change into lack of workforcethe migration flow will end up [Blangiardo, 2009]Regarding the crisis in the building industry:the domestic work is more important than buildingThe Italian demographic crisis continuesThe mass immigration will continue

ContinuesDo penalties enable to effectively manageirregular migration? No, they don’tIn general sanctions and penalties have notproved suitable to bring back illegality withinacceptable levels

A reasonable strategyTo reduce the shadow economy [Zanfrini, 2008]To change the rules on the entry of workersTo provide an ordinary regularisation mechanism[Cesareo, 2007] following the model that we findin the French and in the Spanish law system

Will this strategy be adopted?Will this strategy be adopted?Not at presentItaly will continues to wrestle with the challengesposed by a mass illegal migrationIn the coming years will continue to make massiveuse of extraordinary measures of massregularisation

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