Transcript Diapositiva 1

Better than our fears? Refugees in
Italy, between rhetoric of exclusion
and local projects of inclusion
Maurizio Ambrosini, university of Milan
Flows of refugees and
Southern Europe on the frontline
• About 81% of refugees (2012) are welcomed in
countries of the so called Third World, but
public opinion and governments fear the
invasion of asylum seekers
• They were 70% ten years ago
• Less then 15% are received in the EU
• The “rhetoric of abuse” (Schuster) does not fit
with actual data
The actual reception of asylum
seekers
• The first country in the world for what concerns
reception of asylum seekers is Pakistan (1,600,000),
followed by Iran (900,000), Germany (590,000) and
Kenya (570,000).
• Related to the population: Jordan 49 out of 1,000
inhabitants; Chad 33; Lebanon 32; Democratic
Republic of Congo 24; Syria 23; Mauritania 23
• Related to the GNP per capita: Pakistan 552;
Ethiopia 303; Kenya 301; South Sudan 209; Chad 200
Europe and the role of Italy
• The provision of the Dublin convention
concerning the application for asylum in
the “first safe country” has brought the
countries of Southern Europe into the
frontline.
• Among these countries, Italy has a leading
position
• The Northern countries are pushing their
Southern partners to do more for the
reception of refugees
Refugees in Northern and
Southern Europe
• Even today, Italy hosts some 65,000 refugees
(2012) in all, compared with 594,000 in
Germany, 218,000 in France, 150,000 in the
UK and 93,000 in Sweden
• New applications (2012): 64,000 in
Germany, 14,000 in Italy
Italian asylum policies
• Italy still lacks a national law on the reception of
refugees, although it has signed international treaties
and European conventions that oblige it to recognize
the right of asylum.
• It has put itself on the margins of the routes of asylum
seekers for a long time: until 1990, it only recognized
refugees from Eastern Europe.
• Exceptions were made in the ‘70s for Chilean and
Argentinian political refugees, then for boat people
arriving from Vietnam and Cambodia
• In the ‘80s thousands of refugees arrived from
countries such as Eritrea, Somalia, Iran, the Palestinian
territories, mainly as students
The refugees of the Balkan wars
• At the time of the Balkan wars, in the ‘90s,
provisional reception measures were adopted in the
form of temporary residence permits on
humanitarian grounds.
• After a brief period of protection (three months),
supported by state funding, the refugees (in total
the official figure was 77,000) were then in fact
given the same status as economic migrants
• But they had to find the means to live
independently, negotiating their way through the
black economy and the formal economy.
The silent policy
• As a standard practice, the Italian
authorities unofficially let aspiring refugees
in transit pass through, silently helping
them on their way to other countries.
• Even today, Italy hosts some 65,000 refugees
(2012) in all, compared with 594,000 in
Germany, 218,000 in France, 150,000in the
UK and 93,000 in Sweden
• New applications (2012): 64,000 in
Germany, 14,000 in Italy
Boat Landings
• In the last few years the majority of asylum seekers
have arrived by boat, and landed on the small island of
Lampedusa
• Lampedusa has thus become the symbol of unwanted
immigration, and for many people it represents the
invasion of the country by hordes of desperate people
• The arrivals reached their peak in 2011, with 50-60,000
people landed, and on the whole reach the amount of
about 100,000 in the last three years
• But they are a small fraction of the immigrant
population in Italy (4,5-5,3 millions), and even of
irregular immigration (400-500,000 people)
The landings at Lampedusa and
on the Southern coasts
• Till the 14th October, 35,000 migrants have
landed in Italy. 9,805 come from Syria, 8,443
from Eritrea, 3,140 from Somalia, 1,058 from
Mali, 879 from Afghanistan.
• 73% on the total of landed people, about
24,000, can obtain international protection
as refugees.
Tightening the borders
• The issues related to security and the fight against
illegal immigration were among the key issues of the
election campaign of 2008 and of the action of the
government in the period 2008-2010
• In a context of restriction of immigration policies, in
2009 the Italian government drew up new and more
stringent agreements with Libya, turning away boats
carrying a total of about 800 migrants
• The applications for humanitarian protection dropped
to 17,000 in 2009 and to about 10,000 in 2010
• Italy faced a conflict with UN and was condemned by
the European Court of Human Rights
The new emergency
• In 2011, the arrival of some thousands of people
from North Africa has been labeled as an
“emergency” and even a “human tsunami”
• No reception measures were adopted in advance
• A fierce rhetoric of closure was used
• Afterwards, about 15,000 temporary humanitarian
permits were granted and some assistance measures
were adopted
• But the hope, often explicit, is to allow them to pass
through the country and to go abroad
• A political tension with France was the result
Integration without protection?
• Alongside the silent strategy of passage, the
main Italian policy for refugees can be labeled
as “integration without protection”
• They are confused with economic migrants,
and often regularized as informal workers
• Most of them have become integrated through
work, helped by ethnic networks and to some
extent by several solidarity institutions
(Catholic church, trade unions, charities…)
Protection without integration?
• The so called “North African Emergency” (ENA) was faced
distributing the asylum seekers on the national territory
• NGOs and various types of reception centres were
involved
• The local experiences were very differentiated, with
investments to integration or, on the contrary, the
protection of the “naked life”
• Huge uncertainty about the future of the refugees
• The experience was concluded at the end of March 2013,
giving 500 euros to each refugee
• On the whole, the experience was expensive and
unsatisfactory in its results
Some better practices
• In the last few years, some better practices
have been developed, based on collaboration
between organizations at national level
(SPRAR), local authorities and NGO’s.
• 3,000 refugees have been welcomed in 138
local projects for small groups of people (on
average 22), in which accommodation,
training and employment services are
provided
• Other local resources are often activated
Other independent projects
• Other independent projects (Turin,
Lombardy), involving networks of
associations and local authorities, have
achieved good results
• On average, 50% of refugees have found a
job
• Entry into the labour market at the lowest
levels remains frequent, and the economic
crisis has made it more difficult to find
better jobs
Conclusion: better than our
fears?
• Italy is perhaps the European country where the
anti-immigrant and anti-refugee public rhetoric has
reached its highest levels
• By contrast, in practice the demand for labour and
amnesties legitimate the presence of migrants
• Refugees are often confused with economic
migrants
• But local projects and the cooperation with NGOs
show us another way, with several interesting
results: we can be better than our fears