Immigration to Italy

Foreign residents as a percentage of the regional population, 2011

As of 1 January 2017, there were 5,047,028 foreign nationals resident in Italy. This amounted to 8.2% of the country's population and represented an increase of 92,352 over the previous year. These figures include children born in Italy to foreign nationals (who were 75,067 in 2014; 14.9% of total births in Italy), but exclude foreign nationals who have subsequently acquired Italian nationality; this applied to 129,887 people in 2014. Around 6,200,000 people residing in Italy have an immigration background (around the 10% of the total Italian population).[1][2] They also exclude illegal immigrants whose numbers are difficult to determine. In May 2008, The Boston Globe quoted an estimate of 670,000 for this group.[3] The distribution of foreign born population is largely uneven in Italy: 59.5% of immigrants live in the northern part of the country (the most economically developed area), 25.4% in the central one, while only 15.1% live in the southern regions. The children born in Italy to foreign mothers were 102,000 in 2012, 99,000 in 2013 and 97,000 in 2014.[4]

Since the expansion of the European Union, the most recent wave of migration has been from surrounding European states, particularly Eastern Europe, and increasingly Asia,[5] replacing North Africa as the major immigration area. About a million Romanians, around 10% of them being Roma,[6] are officially registered as living in Italy. As of 2013, the foreign born population origin was subdivided as follows: Europe (50.8%), Africa (22.1%), Asia (18.8%), America (8.3%), and Oceania (0.1%).[7]

Statistics

Senegalese workers at the Potato festival in Vimercate (Lombardy) in 2015
Total foreign resident population on 1 January[note 1]
YearPopulation
20021,341,209[8]
20031,464,663[8]
20041,854,748[8]
20052,210,478[8]
20062,419,483[8]
20072,592,950[8]
20083,023,317[8]
20093,402,435[8]
20103,648,128[8]
20113,879,224[8]
20124,052,081[9]
20134,387,721[10]
20144,922,085[11]
20155,014,437[1]
20165,026,153 [12]
20175,047,028 (8.34%)[13]
Immigration by country[note 2]
Country200820092010 [14]2011 [15]2012 [16]2013 [17]2014 [18]2015[19]20162017Regions with significant populations
 RomaniaIncrease 625,278Increase 796,477Increase 887,763Decrease 823,100Increase 834,465Increase 933,354Increase 1,081,400Increase 1,131,839Increase 1,151,395Increase 1,168,552Lazio
 AlbaniaIncrease 401,949Increase 441,396Increase 466,684Decrease 451,437Decrease 450,908Increase 464,962Increase 495,709Decrease 490,483Decrease 467,687Decrease 448,407Lombardy
 MoroccoIncrease 365,908Increase 403,592Increase 431,529Decrease 407,097Increase 408,667Increase 426,791Increase 454,773Decrease 449,058Decrease 437,485Decrease 420,651Lombardy
 ChinaIncrease 156.519Increase 170,265Increase 188,352Increase 194,510Increase 197,064Increase 223,367Increase 256,846Increase 265,820Increase 271,330Increase 281,972Lombardy
 UkraineIncrease 132,718Increase 153,998Increase 174,129Increase 178,534Increase 180,121Increase 191,725Increase 219,050Increase 226,060Increase 230,728Increase 234,354Lombardy
 Philippines103,678Decrease 82,066Increase 129,188Increase 139,835Increase 162,655Increase 168,238Decrease 165,900Increase 166,459Lombardy, Lazio
 India105,863Increase 116,797Increase 118,409Increase 128,903Increase 142,453Increase 147,815Increase 150,456Increase 151,430Lombardy
 Moldova105,600Increase 130,619Increase 132,175Increase 139,734Increase 149,434Decrease 147,388Decrease 142,266Decrease 135,661Lombardy, Lazio, Veneto
 Bangladesh73,965Increase 80,639Increase 81,683Increase 92,695Increase 111,223Increase 115,301Increase 118,790Increase 122,428Lazio
 Egypt82,064Decrease 65,985Increase 66,932Increase 76,691Increase 96,008Increase 103,713Increase 109,871Increase 112,765Lombardy
 Pakistan64,859Increase 69,877Increase 71,031Increase 80,658Increase 90,615Increase 96,207Increase 101,784Increase 108,204Lombardy
 Sri Lanka75,343Decrease 71,203Increase 71,573Increase 79,530Increase 95,007Increase 100,558Increase 102,316Increase 104,908Lombardy
 Senegal72,618Increase 72,458Increase 73,702Increase 80,325Increase 90,863Increase 94,030Increase 98,176Increase 101,207Lombardy
 Peru87,74793,90593,84199,173109,851109,66898,17699,110Lombardy
 Poland105,60884,61984,74988,83997,56698,69497,98697,062Lazio
 Tunisia123,584129,01582,99788,29197,31796,01295,64594,064Lombardy
 Nigeria48,22056,47666,83371,15877,26488,533Lombardy
 Serbia
 Kosovo
 Montenegro		53,875n.a.95,83490,50696,42192,37888,07683,579Lombardy
 Ecuador85,94080,64580,33382,79191,86191,25987,42783,120Lombardy
 Macedonia92,84773,40773,97276,60878,42477,70373,51267,969Lazio
 Bulgaria42,00047,87254,93256,57658,00158,620Lazio
 Ghana44,36448,57551,60250,41448,63748,138Lombardy
 Brazil37,56739,15743,20242,58743,78345,410Lombardy
 Germany34,93635,57638,13636,74936,66136,660Lombardy
 Russia28,60430,94834,48335,21135,79136,361Lombardy
 France23,98525,01629,07827,69628,63429,281Lombardy, Lazio
 Dominican Republic23,02025,40528,62328,80428,20228,002
 United Kingdom22,83923,74426,37725,86426,63427,208
 Ivory Coast20,87823,56325,95325,36225,05626,159
 Bosnia and Herzegovina28,01528,99629,83129,44227,19925,791
 Spain15,12917,02120,68221,28622,59323,828
 Cuba16,35017,53819,31619,99920,66220,986
 Algeria20,72521,80123,09522,67921,76520,437
Rest of Europe117,416
Rest of Sub-Saharan Africa133,272
Rest of Americas92,927
Rest of North Africa and Western/Central Asia81,147
Rest of East and South-East Asia22,895
Rest of South Asia1,516
Europe2,601,3132,588,451 (4.28%)
North Africa and Western/Central Asia741,090729,064 (1.21%)
South Asia474,736488,486 (0.81%)
East and South-East Asia459,572471,326 (0.78%)
Americas376,556369,555 (0.61%)
Sub-Saharan Africa369,567397,309 (0.66%)
Oceania2,1042,122 (<0,01%)

2000s Mediterranean Sea crossings crisis

Due to the peninsula geographical position and close proximity to the North Africa coast, the crossing of the Mediterranean Sea has historically been the most used route for undocumented migrants. This route has become gradually more prominent as people flows through other routes to the EU gradually faded and political turmoil in Libya caused a general weakening of borders and coastal control, opening opportunities to people smuggling organisations.

The principal destination for sea crossings boats and rafts are the southernmost Italian territories, the Pelagie Islands. These islands are 113 km from Tunisia, 167 from Libya and 207 from Sicily.

The close distance between these islands and the African mainland has caused people smuggling organisations to employ boats and rafts otherwise hardly seaworthy, generally vastly filled above their capacity. Official reports list boats filled up to 2 or 3 times nominal capacity, including the use of rubber dinghies. This has led to several accidents at sea, as in 2007, the 2009, the 2011, the 2013, 2015.[20] These accidents have become harder to document between 2014 and 2017, as people smuggling organisations changed their tactics: instead of aiming for a full crossing of the sea towards Lampedusa, their boats aimed just to exit Libyan territorial waters and then trigger rescue operation from passing mercantile vessels, seek and rescue organisations, Italian and Maltese coastguards and militaries. As per the United Nations Convention of the Sea, of which Italy is a subscriber, people rescued at sea have to be transported to the closest safe harbor: as Libya continues to be in political turmoil this means they are transported to Italy.

Once in Italy, the EU Dublin Regulation requires migrants to apply for legal residence, protection or asylum permits in the first EU country they cross into, effectively barring them from legally crossing internal EU borders until their case has been processed and positively concluded. As the vast majority of migrant people landing in Italy targets destinations in Central and Northern European States, there is a tendency to avoid filing permits applications in Italy and rather try a northwards land journey.[21]

Refugees and migrants arriving in Italy by sea, 1997–2015[22]

As a reaction to the gradual increase in migration flows through the Mediterranean Sea, Italian governments stepped up cooperation with Tunisian and Libyan authorities to halt activities of people smuggling organisation on land, as well as to allow boats rescued from the Italian Military in international waters to be towed back to the port where they left from. This policy, enacted in 2004 and 2005, sparked controversies related in particular to the compatibility with Italian and EU laws, as numerous reports documented acts of violence from Libyan authorities on migrant people. The policy was openly criticised by the EU Parliament.[23]

In 2008, Berlusconi’s government in Italy and Gaddafi’s government in Libya signed a treaty including cooperation between the two countries in stopping unlawful migration from Libya to Italy; this led to a policy of forcibly returning to Libya boat migrants intercepted by the Italian coast guard at sea.[24] The cooperation collapsed following the outbreak of the Libyan civil war in 2011. In 2012 the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Italy had violated the European Convention on Human Rights by returning migrants to Libya, as it exposed the migrants to the risk of being subjected to ill-treatment in Libya and violated the prohibition of collective expulsions.,[25] thus effectively ending the policy.

In 2009, as the flow of migrants picked up again, the overcrowded conditions at the Pelagie Islands' temporary immigrant reception centre came under criticism by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The unit, which was originally built for a maximum capacity of 850 people, was reported to be housing nearly 2,000 boat people. A significant number of people were sleeping outdoors under plastic sheeting.[26] A fire started as an inmate riot destroyed a large portion of the holding facility on 19 February 2009.

In 2011, as Arab Spring rebellions in Tunisia and Libya disrupted government control over borders and coasts, migrant flows increased again.[27] By May 2011, more than 35,000 immigrants had arrived on the island of Lampedusa from Tunisia and Libya.[28] By the end of August, 48,000 had arrived.[29] As migration and asylum policies are exclusive responsibilities of each member State, the increased migration pressure at the EU Southern border sparked tensions between EU States on how to differentiate between people migrating due to economic reasons, which in principle are regarded as unlawful immigrants and thus are forced to leave or deported, and people fleeing violence or persecution for religious, sexual orientation, political reasons, who can be granted asylum rights.[30] As the Libyan authoritarian governments struggled to keep control of the country, it allowed an increase in northbound migrant flows as a tactic to pressure Italy and the EU not to militarily intervene in the country, as Gaddafi feared his regime would be overthrown.[29]

Controversies regarding NGOs

After 2015, as an increased use of unseaworthy vessels by people smuggling organisations caused a marked increase in accidents at sea involving loss of lives, several European NGOs have started seek and rescue operations in close coordination with Italian Navy and coast guard units. These operations often happen close to Libyan territorial waters at the same time in order not to unlawfully enter Libyan jurisdictions and yet ensure migrants' safety. As per UNCLOS, rescued people are brought to the closer safe harbor, which is in most cases on Italian shore. This effectively means NGOs vessels are covering most of the distance between Libyan and Italian coast. Right-wing Italian newspapers and activists picked on that to make various claims, among which that NGOs active in migrants' assistance and rescue at sea would reap financial profits from their collaboration with the Italian authorities,[31] or that some NGOs are part of unlawful people smuggling operations in coordination with operatives on Libyan coast, and funded by international criminal groups and financial institutions interested in developing political turmoil in Italy.[32] The Italian Parliament investigated these claims and has found them to be unsubstantiated, with no further actions[33]. Regardless of this, right-wing newspapers have continued campaigning against Italian and foreign NGOs.

In August 2017 the ship "Iuventa" operated by the German NGO "Jugend Rettet" (youth to the rescue) was impounded on the island of Lampedusa on the order of an Italian prosecutor on suspicion of facilitating illegal immigration. Jugend Rettet is one of the six out of nine NGOs which refused to sign a new code of conduct by the Italian government covering migrant rescues in the Mediterranean. The prosecutor alleged that there were "contacts, meetings and understandings" between the boat's crew and the smugglers. No crew members from the "Iuventa" had been charged and the prosecutor admitted that their motive was likely humanitarian.[34] (Five out of eight refused to sign the new code of conduct, according to a Guardian article, the others refusing to sign being MSF, the Germany groups Sea-Watch, Sea-Eye and Jugend Rettet, and France’s SOS Mediterranée '[all of whom] abstained'. 'MSF, SOS Mediterranée and Jugend Rettet... called for clarification of the rules' while MOAS and Spanish group Proactiva Open Arms agreed to the conditions, and Save the Children 'backed the measures'.)[35]

Italian naval mission to Libyan waters

On 2 August 2017 Italy's parliament authorized a limited naval mission to Libyan waters aimed at supporting the country's coastguard in the fight against illegal migration. Italy sent two patrol boats at the request of the UN-backed government in Tripoli and insisted it had no intention of violating Libyan sovereignty. However, General Khalifa Haftar, who controls most of eastern Libya, threatened to use his own forces to repel the Italians.[34][36]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ The figures for 2002–2011 have been revised downwards as a result of the 15th General Census of Italy which offered more precise data. The figures since 2012 are calculated adding to the foreign population enumerated by the census the foreign population inflows and outflows recorded in all Italian municipalities during each calendar year.
  2. ↑ Since 2013, the European Union foreign nationals are no longer counted in the immigration statistics. This includes the Romanians, the largest minority group in Italy.

References

  1. 1 2 "Cittadini Stranieri. Popolazione residente e bilancio demografico al 31 dicembre 2014". ISTAT. 15 June 2015.
  2. ↑ "Bilancio demografico nazionale". ISTAT. 15 June 2015.
  3. ↑ Rosenthal, Elisabeth (16 May 2008). "Italy cracks down on illegal immigration". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  4. ↑ Programma, Integra (12 February 2015). "Istat: nel 2014 oltre 90mila i nuovi nati stranieri". Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  5. ↑ Willey, David (13 April 2007). "Milan police in Chinatown clash". BBC News. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  6. ↑ Ciobanu, Claudia (16 May 2008). "EUROPE: Home to Roma, And No Place for Them". Inter Press Service. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  7. ↑ IDOS (30 October 2012). "Dossier Statistico Immigrazione 2012" (PDF). Caritas. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Ricostruzione della popolazione residente per età, sesso e cittadinanza nei comuni". ISTAT. 26 September 2013. p. 9.
  9. ↑ Statistics for 2011 at istat.it Accessed 30 October 2017
  10. ↑ Statistics for 2013 at istat.it Accessed 30 October 2017
  11. ↑ Statistics for 2013 at istat.it Accessed 30 October 2017
  12. ↑ Statistics for 2015 at istat.it Accessed 30 October 2017
  13. ↑ Statistics for 2017 at istat.it Accessed 4 April 2018
  14. ↑ Albani, Mauro (22 September 2011). "La popolazione straniera residente in Italia nel 2011". ISTAT. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  15. ↑ "Gli stranieri al 15° Censimento della popolazione" (PDF). ISTAT. 23 December 2013. Retrieved 16 August 2014.
  16. ↑ "I cittadini non comunitari regolarmente soggiornanti". 30 November 2011. Accessed 30 October 2017
  17. ↑ "I cittadini non comunitari regolarmente soggiornanti". 30 November 2012. Accessed 30 October 2017
  18. ↑ I cittadini non comunitari regolarmente soggiornanti 5 August 2014 Archived 13 November 2014 at the Wayback Machine.
  19. ↑ "CITTADINI NON COMUNITARI : PRESENZA, NUOVI INGRESSI E ACQUISIZIONI DI CITTADINANZA (information for 2015-2016)" (PDF). istat.it. istat. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  20. ↑ "Italy's illegal immigrants: Tidal wave". The Economist. 5 July 2014.
  21. ↑ Grant, Harriet; Domokos, John (7 October 2011). "Dublin regulation leaves asylum seekers with their fingers burnt". The Guardian.
  22. ↑ "Sbarchi e richieste di asilo 1997–2014". Fondazione Ismu.
  23. ↑ European Parliament resolution on Lampedusa, 14 April 2005
  24. ↑ "Pushed Back, Pushed Around". Human Rights Watch. 21 September 2009.
  25. ↑ "Italy: 'Historic' European Court judgment upholds migrants' rights". Amnesty International. 23 February 2012.
  26. ↑ United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. "News".
  27. ↑ Reid, Sue (4 April 2011). "Special dispatch: Gaddafi's diaspora and the Libyans overwhelming an Italian island who are threatening to come here". Daily Mail. London.
  28. ↑ "Hundreds more migrants reach Italy from Africa". Reuters. 14 May 2011.
  29. 1 2 "Gaddafi planned to turn Italian island into migrant hell". AsiaOne. Archived from the original on 27 September 2016.
  30. ↑ https://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5jYWyqZanCi2M7i3Z_qsl0FmHlBkA?docId%3D6562488. Retrieved 2016-02-26. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  31. ↑ De Lorenzo, Giuseppe (12 July 2017). "Le 15 coop dalle "uova d'oro": 100 milioni lucrati sui profughi". ilgiornale.it.
  32. ↑ "Nomi, finanziatori e intrighi. Ecco tutti i segreti delle navi Ong". ilgiornale.it. 10 July 2017.
  33. ↑ "DOCUMENTO CONCLUSIVO APPROVATO DALLA COMMISSIONE SULL'INDAGINE CONOSCITIVA SUL CONTRIBUTO DEI MILITARI ITALIANI AL CONTROLLO DEI FLUSSI MIGRATORI NEL MEDITERRANEO E L'IMPATTO DELLE ATTIVITA' DELLE ORGANIZZAZIONI NON GOVERNATIVE (Doc. XVII, n. 9)". Senato.it. 16 May 2017.
  34. 1 2 "Italy impounds German NGO migrant rescue ship, lawmakers boost support for Libyan coastguard". DW. 2 August 2017.
  35. ↑ Reuters in Rome, 31 July 2017 "Aid groups snub Italian code of conduct on Mediterranean rescues: Five of eight groups operating migrant rescue ships refuse to agree to new measures, citing concerns over operational effectiveness and neutrality" at theguardian.com Accessed 24 October 2017
  36. ↑ "Libyan military strongman threatens Italian ships trying to stop flow of migrants". The Telegraph. 3 August 2017.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.