“Going Through Dante's Purgatory: Asylum Seekers in Italian
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“Going through Dante’s Purgatory: Asylum seekers in Italian bureaucracy.” Eréndira León Salvador NIA: 201236 Supervisor: Dr John Palmer BA in Global Studies Universitat Pompeu Fabra 2020 Declaration This dissertation is the result of my own work, is not copied from another person’s published or unpublished work, and includes nothing which is the outcome of work done in collaboration, except where specifically indicated. Neither the dissertation nor any part of it is substantially the same as any writing submitted for assessment at Universitat Pompeu Fabra, another university, or any similar institution. Abstract Italy has become a key actor in the global debate regarding immigration policies. Asylum seekers arriving in Italian territory face a legal limbo that is similar to Dante’s description of Purgatory. The country’s asylum regulations and procedures have rendered applicants’ lives precarious and vulnerable due to the absence of an organic legal instrument that can effectively protect them, the juxtaposition of the different level of governance, the lack of social communication between the locals with asylum seekers, institutional inefficiency, bureaucratic practice and the instrumental use of constructed narratives by politicians. This dissertation examines from a sociological perspective how the bureaucratic asylum request process in Italy has changed from 2008 to 2019 and how its changes are related to political transformations in the Italian government. My analysis reveals a system in which political actors have a primary role in criminalising immigration and, helped by the increasing media attention towards asylum seekers, creates a social aversion to immigration. Empirical evidence shows that this is not just driven by the anti-immigrant right, but that leftist parties have also played a key role in rendering more precarious asylum seekers’ lives. In conclusion, Italy has to stop instrumentalizing immigration to serve political interests, and the Italian society needs to engage in a politicisation of asylum through bottom-up social strategies of political action to achieve social cohesion, providing elaborated responses and exploit Italy’s potential to become a good example in asylum management. Keywords: Italy, asylum seekers, bureaucracy, politics, law enforcement. P a g e | I Acknowledgements I want to thank all the persons that made this work possible. To my advisor, Dr John Palmer, who walked me through every step of the process for a year and always provided me with important feedback and encouraged me to do my best. To the Venice International University (VIU) and the Italian Institute for Research on Population and Social Policies (CNR-IRPPS) that through an internship, allowed me to develop a good part of the dissertation. Especially to the IRPPS director Dr Daniele Archibugi, and the researchers Dr Mattia Vitiello and Dr Marco Cellini for their help, considerations and feedback. To Dr Teresa Segura-García, who has always responded to me with clarity, doubts about the formal aspects of the dissertation. To all the interviewees from which I learned so much as they made the most significant contribution with their knowledge and experiences to the analysis here presented. To my friends who, in different parts of the world, motivated me in many ways. Last but not least, to my family because without their support and love, the three years-journey of Global Studies would have not been possible, thank you for believing in me: Michele, Mariana, Mathias, Alejandra, José Luis, Stefano, Antonella, Ma. Elena, José, Myriam, Elizabeth, Ismael, Eunice, Ximena, Luis Antonio and Marcella. P a g e | II Table of Contents Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................................... I Table of Contents ...................................................................................................................... II List of figures ........................................................................................................................... III List of tables ............................................................................................................................. IV List of abbreviations .................................................................................................................. V Glossary ................................................................................................................................. VIII Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 1 Chapter 1. Global and regional situation with regards to immigration and asylum policy and politics ........................................................................................................................................ 3 Global situation....................................................................................................................... 3 Regional situation ................................................................................................................... 4 Chapter 2. Italy’s asylum policy background ............................................................................. 6 The 1980s-1990s: The Martelli Law and the Schengen and Dublin treaties ......................... 6 The effects of the Martelli and the Turco-Napolitano Law: 1990s-2000s ............................. 7 The developments of the new millennium ............................................................................. 7 The last decade: 2011-2019 .................................................................................................... 8 Chapter 3. Current Italian legal and institutional framework for asylum ............................... 10 Bureaucratic procedure for applying for international protection in Italy ............................ 10 The Dublin procedure ........................................................................................................... 13 Chapter 4. Between laws, procedures and institutions: how effective is the Italian asylum system? ..................................................................................................................................... 14 Are EU directives and laws effectively enforced in Italy? ................................................... 14 Is domestic law effectively enforced in Italy? ...................................................................... 17 Are Italian institutions effectively working with asylum seekers? ....................................... 18 Chapter 5. The relation between political speeches and the asylum process effectiveness ..... 20 Italian Politics and rejections of asylum applications .......................................................... 21 Italian politics and bureaucratic issues asylum seekers face in Italy .................................... 26 Conclusions .............................................................................................................................. 29 APPENDENCIES .................................................................................................................... 31 Appendix A. Figures............................................................................................................. 31 Appendix B. Treaties, Regulations and Legislative Acts ..................................................... 45 Appendix C. Italian Asylum and Migration Institutions ...................................................... 50 Appendix D. Legal Forms .................................................................................................... 58 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................. 65 P a g e | III List of figures Figure 1.Time profile of the rejection rates .............................................................................. 21 Figure 2. Rejection rate per government .................................................................................. 22 Figure 3. Share of total asylum rejections by geographical region and government ............... 24 Figure 4. Rejection rate by Governments’ political ideology 2008-2018 ................................ 24 Figure 5. Female first-time asylum applicants to Italy (2008-2019) ........................................ 28 Figure 6. Timeline of the Italian governments (2008-2019) .................................................... 31 Figure 7. Key flows of newly registered refugees and new asylum-seekers in 2018 .............. 32 Figure 8. Migrant Smuggling in the World: A Global Story (2000-2017) .............................. 32 Figure 9. Major host countries of refugees (end-2017 to end-2018) ....................................... 33 Figure 10. Number of refugees per 1,000 inhabitants (end-2018) .......................................... 33 Figure 11. Frontex Budget per year from 2010-2019 (in millions of euros) .......................... 34 Figure 12. Rejected asylum applicants on the first instance in the top five receivers of applications (2008Q1-2019Q1; quarterly data) ................................................................ 35 Figure 13. Political Map of the Mediterranean Region ............................................................ 36 Figure 14. Asylum seekers and Asylum Requests in Italy from 2008-2014 ............................ 37 Figure 15. Average Unilateral