Easy Scapegoats: Sans Papiers Immigrants in Italy

Excerpts from the country report's presentation: "Illegal immigration to Italy, with respect to other European countries, presents itself as a mass phenomenon, which has its origins in the very design of Italian migratory policies, characterised by a restrictive orientation towards legal entries, weak or poor control of the labour market and growing emphasis on border controls compared to internal controls in the territory. The informal economy, seasonal work and services for the family, all sectors where the possibilities of public control are limited, play a main role in attracting migratory flows to Italy. Even if the absence of a residence permit completely excludes the foreigner from access to the official labour market, this is almost always the “final” and not immediate objective of the illegal immigrant on arrival. In the presence of a structural production and reproduction of illegal immigration, the policy-makers have essentially always reacted in the same way: by trying to counteract the arrival of new foreigners through greater control at the borders and increased efficiency in deportations and, at the same time, by trying to "reabsorb" the illegal immigrants already present in the countries through amnesties. (...) The report cast light on the role played by associations in the so-called “private social” sector in the field of assistance and aid given to immigrants, both before any laws had been passed on immigration and after the three laws passed respectively in 1986, 1990 and 1998. It stresses the main problems encountered by immigrants in Italy and the related NGOs intervention areas: the access to, and maintenance of, the legality of their presence in the country and therefore the need for legal aid and help, the housing problem, the health care and the search for an employment. (...) Then a section of the report is devoted to a wide excursus on the NGOs, of “non religious” or “religious” inspiration, that work with immigrants in Milan and their areas of action, characteristics of users, characteristics of the service and relations with local authorities and media. In detail, this section stresses the role played by some of these organisations in drawing up the most relevant articles of law no. 40 of March 1998, like the residence permits for motives of social protection or the free health care to irregular immigrants who ask for it. The last part of our work points out, also through interviews, the perverse system of illegal work, illegal immigration, xenophobia and sub-contracting that has given rise to the story of Ion Cazacu, the Romanian illegal worker burnt by his building contractor in one of the richest areas of Italy."