The Immigrants in Italy

1. The Immigrants in Italy

2. Reasonswhich urge so manypeople to leavetheircountry • Population explosion in many Southern countries and scarce resources • Conflicts between different ethnic groups • Dictatorships • Attraction to Western models of life • Natural disasters

3. Migrationflowstowards Italy • Italy has been affected by immigration much later than other EU nations (France, Germany, England). Today the foreigners legally present constitute 2.8% of the Italian population, to these ones the so-called "illegal" should be added, ie those who do not have a residence permit

4. Places of Origin The majority of immigrants today come from Eastern Europe. Then there are Africans, Asians and, to a lesser extent, Americans of South America. With regard to Latin America, the majority of emigrants come from Brazil, Argentina and Peru . With regard to Africa, the states affected by the phenomenon are: Morocco, Egypt, Senegal, Ghana, Ethiopia and Somalia. Instead the immigrants coming from Asia are of Philippine, Chinese and Indian nationality.

5. Mainactivitiescarried out byimmigrants The great majority of them live from their work. The regular ones are employed in restaurants, in hotel services, businesses cleaning, construction, as porters, such as street vendors and laborers. A lot of them also provide crucial support in fishing. Women, in particular, devote themselves to caring for the elderly, they are domestic workers or nurses. In some cases the communities have their own specialization: the healthcare workers are from Eastern Europe, the fishermen are Tunisians, Maghreb are the fruit pickers and most of the maids are Philippines.

6. The JourneytoHope Italy with its nine thousand kilometers of coastline, is one of the favorite destinations for immigrants. The ports of Lampedusa, Puglia and Sicily are the privileged places for landings of illegal immigrants. In fact, almost always it takes place in the underground. The immigrants travel on crumbling boats, the so called “floating wrecks” running very often the risk of being shipwrecked Sometimes it's the patrol boat of the Finance or the Navy or the Carabinieri who save them from certain death because the illegal smugglers, not to be arrested, abandon them as soon as they are in the Italian territorial waters. They are then rescued, restored, cared for if they need it, then housed in reception centers. After evaluating each case, the authorities decide on their fate: they are usually deported, only those who prove to be war refugees are accepted.

7. The troubles The problems that immigrants have to face, after arriving at their destination, often have to do with the actual exploitation. They are obliged to accept the most hazardous and tiring jobs, sometimes without having the same wage of Italian citizens and live in overcrowded homes rented at very high prices. Sometimes the girls are forced into prostitution.

8. The imigrant communities Sometimes the new immigrant can contact a relative or even a villager as often happens among the Chinese. In this case he has some more chance to find a temporary job while waiting for a job as a worker in some Northern industry, since this is the final goal most of them aspire. To these problems we must add those of a social nature: hostility, loneliness and emargination, not to mention the difficulty in understanding the language and the impossibility to attend places of worship

9. The italian communities’ aid The Italian state found itself unprepared for this phenomenon that has doubled in the last four years.Therefore the immigrants who arrived in Italy have also received help and assistance from volunteers and some Catholic organizations, including the Caritas. According to the Caritas’survey, within the next ten years, the foreign population will double. If so, we must ask the question: “Will our country be equipped to cope successfully with it?" It doesn’t seem so. Yet immigration is structural to our economy as shown by the millions of foreigners who work and pay taxes and contributions.

10. A way of integration As regards integration, families and schools have a decisive role, they must develop in the young people the respect for different racial groups, educating them to live with civic engagement in an increasingly multiracial and multicultural society. • School is the most willing institution to accept foreigners. It is important for foreign children to attend school because it means : • Establishing equal relationships with their peers • Educating themselves. • Meet the children's need to feel equal to others • Overcome the distrust of the "other. • The goal is not to eliminate differences but to stimulate "a flexible and open identity able to see the stranger as an opportunity and not as an obstacle."

11. The immigration Centers CDA These structures are designed to ensure first aid to irregular foreigners tracked throughout the country. The welcome center is limited to the time necessary to establish the identity and the legality of their stay on the territory or to require their expulsion. CEI These centers are intended to prevent the dispersion of irregular migrants on the territory and allow the execution, by the police, of expulsion issued against irregular immigrants. The foreigners can stay in these centers for a maximum of 18 months.

12. Italians in The World The Italians living abroad are 4.208.977 and affect the resident population in Italy to the extent of 6,9%. The people of Italian extraction in the 5 continents are at least 60 million The number of Italians abroad has increased by more than 200 thousands units since last year

13. The Migration Flows: directions The majority of Italians emigrates to the European countries (56,7 %) and the USA (36,9 %) Europe USA Oceania Africa Asia

14. Regions of provenience Themajority of Italians emigrates from the South (36,2 %) and the islands (19,4 %)‏

15. Age of Italians abroad More than half of the Italians living abroad are young people under the age of 35,it is the so called “brain drain” because it concerns mainly graduates in science and technology.

16. Objectives& Reasons Italian researchers are absorbed mostly by the U.S., Great Britain , Germany France, Canada In 2010, 40% of the Italian scholars were in the 10 most famous British universities • European countries and U.S. , in particular , offer : • higher wages, • positions of responsability despite the young age, • transparent and merit-based selections, • clear and well defined career opportunities, • welfare state closer to young people, especially if unemployed (thanks to minimum wage)

17. The 80’s: The Discovery • A specific legislation is lacking. Immigration is governed by the Police Act of 1931, which simply imposes a control on foreigners. Access to employment is governed by circulars from the Ministry of Labour. • In 1986 the law 943 was issued – “Rules on placement and treatment of the immigrant foreign workers and against illegal immigration ": it is the first normative regulation on the working activity of foreigners. • The law has some important rules on placement, treatment of foreign workers, family reunification and penalties for illegal immigration.

18. Law Bossi-Fini • Law 189/2002. Main points: • greater border control - strengthening of the police powers; • aids to States cooperating in the fight against illegal immigration and trafficking in human beings, reduction of quotas for states that do not cooperate; • immediate expulsion of illegal immigrants; • extension to 60 days of the period of detention in the Cpt; • Increase in penalty for trafficking in illegal immigrants; • fingerprinting of foreigners; • regular admission only after nominative or numerical call and closely related to: residence contract, suitable accommodation and commitment to pay the costs for the return by the employer; • reduction from one year to six months of the "awaiting employment“ permit; • issue of the residence permit after six years of legal stay, and not five..

19. Immigrant groups before and after regularization

20. Nowdays • According to the latest data released by the Caritas, the migrants in our country at the end of 2005 were 3,035,000, representing 5.2% of the Italian population. • 70% are below 40 years of age. • The majority of the residence permits is stable: 62.6% for work and 29.3% for family reasons.. • In the labor market foreigners represent 10% of the employed. • 130.969 business owners. • 424,683 students in the Italian schools are children of immigrants. Only 38,298 enrolled at the university are foreigners.

21. Minors • The total number of children in Italy is hardly detectable. Caritas estimated, at the end of 2005, a presence of 586,483 foreign citizens aged from 0 to 18, equal to 19.3%. • They were 128.000 in 2001. • The unaccompanied foreign minors are, according to the Committee for foreign children, 7,583, mostly from Romania, Morocco and Albania.