The Twenty-Sixth Italian Report on Migrations 2020
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Edited by Vincenzo Cesareo The Twenty-sixth Italian Report on Migrations 2020 30° Our annual Report contains the results of the studies carried out by the research staff and collab- orators of ISMU Foundation – Initiatives and Studies on Multi-ethnicity (Fondazione ISMU – Ini- ziative e Studi sulla Multietnicità). The Twenty-sixth Italian Report on Migrations 2020 is a shorter version of the Italian edition (Fondazione ISMU, Ventiseiesimo Rapporto sulle migrazioni 2020, FrancoAngeli, Milano). This Report was written under the direct supervision of Secretary-General Vincenzo Cesareo, with the assistance of Editorial Board members Ennio Codini, Livia Elisa Ortensi, Nicola Pasini, Mariagrazia Santagati, Giovanni Giulio Valtolina, Laura Zanfrini, and with the editorial coordina- tion of Elena Bosetti and Francesca Locatelli. ISMU Foundation (www.ismu.org) is an independent research centre founded in 1991. It is com- mitted to conducting research, as well as providing consultancy, training and education, in the area of migration and integration. To develop a better understanding of these phenomena, it provides its expertise to research projects on all aspects of migrations in contemporary society. It works with national, European and international organizations and institutions, in both the private and the public sectors. It is inserted in academic networks, it cooperates with welfare and healthcare agencies, and it exchanges with libraries and documentation centers in Italy and beyond. ISMU organizes conferences and seminars on migration and produces a wide-range of publications. It has its own Documentation Centre (Ce.Doc.) which, over the years, has built a comprehensive collection of volumes, periodicals and audio-visual material to contribute to the sharing of information on migration. This publication has been produced with the contribution of © Copyright Fondazione ISMU, 2021 ISBN 9788831443074 30° Edited by Vincenzo Cesareo The Twenty-sixth Italian Report on Migrations 2020 Table of contents 1. 2020: The challenges of the pandemic 7 Vincenzo Cesareo 2. Statistical aspects Gian Carlo Blangiardo and Livia Elisa Ortensi 21 3. The legal framework Ennio Codini 37 4. The labour market Laura Zanfrini 47 5. Education Mariagrazia Santagati 59 6. Health Nicola Pasini and Veronica Merotta 73 7. New perspectives in European migration policies: public opinion and the Union’s budget Pierre Georges Van Wolleghem 85 8. The politics of immigration in 2020: regularization and regional elections Nicola Pasini and Marta Regalia 99 9. Politics, immigration and the media: a troubled relationship Paola Barretta, Nicola Pasini and Giovanni Giulio Valtolina 115 10. Racism and discrimination in the pandemic Veronica Riniolo 135 5 The Twenty-sixth Italian Report on Migrations 2020 1. 2020: The challenges of the pandemic Vincenzo Cesareo 1. A new regularization measure for immigrants The sudden outbreak of COVID-19 worldwide has understandably drawn all attention to itself. The pandemic has affected each and every one of us, chang- ing our daily lives, spreading fear and concern, and posing objective problems in terms of public health, economic turmoil, and social cohesion. This dramatic situation – no doubt the harshest after WWII – has become the main focus of public opinion and the media. Consequently, other issues of public relevance have inevitably been put on the back burner. One such issue is immigration, which had before been at the centre of the political agenda and of the pub- lic opinion’s attention for a long time. Traditionally, two camps can be distin- guished: those against immigration – the “apocalyptic” – and those in favour of it – the “irenic” (Cesareo, 2020: 75-77). Although immigration may have lost much of its relevance, it has not lost its objective importance: its problems are still relevant and open. In fact, one may go so far as to claim that such problems have become even more relevant and open as a result of the corona-crisis, which has directly or indirectly impacted 1. A new regularization measure for immigrants immigrants in many important respects. To some extent, the pandemic has forced us to urgently rethink the issue of migration. The pandemic has 2. Flows in the Mediterranean and integration during the pandemic highlighted how vital immigrants are to our society, including irregular ones. They are highly requested in the agricultural sector (especially during the harvest season), in home care for the elderly and the disabled, 3. Migrations and the future of Europe as well as in catering and in construction. Because of the virus, however, 7 The Twenty-sixth Italian Report on Migrations 2020 1. 2020: The challenges of the pandemic many immigrants have not been able to work, partly because they were locked ly opposed it. Between these two polarised and contrasting extremes, a third down in their home country. This forced leave provided evidence of just how way emerged with the aim of limiting the opportunity for regularization only necessary their contribution is to the country’s economy. to specific classes of immigrants. Hence the need to identify the addressees These utilitarian considerations, together with others regarding the need of what could have been a generalized regularization. To this end, various to contrast irregular work and labour exploitation, reopened the debate on estimates of their number were made. The ISMU Foundation estimated that immigration in Italy. In the period between March and April 2020, the debate the total number of immigrants potentially affected by the measure would be led to the decision to issue a new regularization measure for immigrants with- 648,764, as illustrated in the following table. out a valid permit to stay. Although 2020 has certainly been characterized by other important innovations in terms of immigration law,1 for the present pur- Table 1. Number of individuals to be regularized if the restrictions introduced by poses we shall focus specifically on the “regularization decree” adopted by the 2 Italian government. We consider it to be one of the most significant decisions the requirements had not been in place made in 2020, especially in comparison to other such measures implemented ISMU estimate of irregular migrants in Italy as of January 517,000 in the past. 1st 2020 Before turning to its content, we must recall that, as the regularization pro- cess was taking place, two relevant events occurred in Italy: a significant rise Rejected asylum applications 2019 76,798 Rejected asylum applications from January 1st 2020 to July in the number of immigrants entering Italy both by land and by sea, and the 19,942 spread of the COVID-19 epidemic among some of those immigrants. The combi- 31st 2020 nation of these two events immediately led to protests and concern among the Pending asylum requests on July 31st 2020 35,024 population, which had already gone through a first wave of the pandemic and Total presences 648,764 was being hit by the consequences of the crisis. Thus, the issue of migration quickly acquired new prominence in the media and in social networks (see Source: Ministry of the Interior; ISMU Foundation Ch. 9). Sovereigntist movements immediately took advantage of the distress of the Italian population, seizing the aversion that such events generate in many Faced with this hypothetical pool of applicants, the question then arose: who people to rekindle their anti-migrant campaigning. should regularization address? Should it benefit all irregular immigrants or Regularization must be understood against this background, in which mi- only specific classes of migrants? As it had already occurred on comparable oc- gration had once again become centre stage. The ISMU Foundation devoted casions in the past, two camps emerged: supporters of a widespread measure, particular attention to this issue through a specific multi- and inter-discipli- who invoked a generalized regularization, and opponents to any form of reg- nary study on the debate, the norms adopted, and their consequences. Chap- ularization, even if it were limited only to certain classes of immigrants. The ters 3, 4, and 8 examine the measure and its effects in detail. In this chapter, latter feared that such a measure would incentivize more migrants to come to we shall reconstruct the case for regularization as made in public and political Italy, eventually leading to a migrant “invasion”. They further argued that the debates, and consider the consequences of the measure in the light of the de- economic crisis and the consequent rise in unemployment made it necessary bates that preceded its adoption. Finally, we shall contribute to evaluating the to preserve jobs for Italian citizens first. measure by comparing it with similar measures adopted by other states. On the other hand, those who supported the measure were a fairly divided group. In particular, ISMU detected a variety of criss-crossing arguments in the debate, of which three are the main cases for regularization. These reflect- 1.1 The different stances in the public debate ed different needs and therefore made the identification of the class of people to be regularized less straightforward. In Italy, attention to irregular immigrants had never truly waned and demands 1) The first argument in favour of regularization was put forth by people in for the adoption of a new regularization measure have been repeatedly made agriculture who worried that their business would be in jeopardy as the harvest over time. As soon as the government began to work on a new measure, a wide season grew closer. Restrictions on free movement as a result of the pandemic and spirited debate ensued. This confirmed the extent to which immigration might make it impossible for seasonal workers in the agri-food chain to enter continues to be a divisive issue both in the political establishment and among the Italian population. While some immediately put pressure on the govern- 2 People with expired permits have not been included in this table.