Chapter 14
Italy
Ankica Kosic and Anna Triandafyllidou
Like other countries in Southern Europe, Italy has, in the course of less than two decades, rapidly
and unexpectedly changed from a country of emigration to one of immigration. The immigrant
population is approximately three million people out of a total of58 million inhabitants.1
While the
immigrant population amounts to just under 5 per cent, among them, asylum seekers (successful
and rejected ones) are only a tiny fraction.
Immigrants come to Italy mainly in search of employment and of a better life. They come from
many different countries and continents of origin,2
profess different religions, and carry with them
a mosaic of cultures and habits.
Italy has developed a piecemeal approachto immigration, lacking until recently a comprehensive
and consistent policy framework. Because of its geographical position, this country is highly
exposed to penetration by illegal immigrants from the south and from the east. Moreover, like other
southern EU countries, Italy has a widespread informal economy, thereby providing fertile ground
for illegal migration to operate in. Combating undocumented immigration and the trafficking of
human beings is a priority for both security and foreign policy. It is also an issue to which public
opinion is extremely sensitive.
Despite several regularization programmes enacted since the late 1980s,3
allowing the
legalization ofmore than two million immigrants, immigrant integration is still at an early stage in
Italy. Significant steps toward integration were taken in the period 1998-2001, when a centre-left
government was in power. The Berlusconi government on the other hand put more emphasis on
tight management of flows, limited the scope of integration to legal migrants only, and made the
procedures involved in obtaining or renewing legal status even more bureaucratic and cumbersome.
Nonetheless, in 2002, this centre-right government enacted the largest regularization programme
ever, involving 700,000 immigrants. At the same time, public opinion remains concerned about
immigrants 'invading' their national territory, as well as endangering their national welfare and
identity.
Major developments in Italy's immigration policy
Although the history of immigration into Italy is a relatively recent phenomenon, it can be divided
into different phases or periods in relation to the numbers and socioeconomic features of the
This includes an estimate of undocumented migrants present in Italian territory.
2 The main three groups, Romanians, Moroccans and Albanians, account for only 30 per cent of
the immigrant population, while the first ten nationalities account for just over 50 per cent of the total
immigrant population.
3 1986, 1990, 1996, 1998 and 2002.
186 European Immigration
immigrants, their absorption into the labour market and the immigration policies adopted by the
Italian state.
In contrast to other EU countries, immigration to Italy did not begin in a period ofreconstruction
and economic development. Rather, it took offduring a period ofeconomic recession characterized,
among other things, by an increase in the rate ofunemployment.
The first flow of immigrants into Italy started in the mid-1970s and included relatively limited
numbers of students and refugees from different countries. The significant increase in the number
of immigrants in Italy was witnessed after 1984, in the period when Britain, Germany and France
closed their borders to immigrants, and when flows were, therefore, partially diverted towards
Southern Europe. The first comprehensive immigration law was introduced into Italian legislation
in 1986 (Law 94311986). It regulated the entry of immigrants seeking employment and provided
amnesty for undocumented immigrants who could prove such employment. Since the idea behind
that law was that the immigration phenomenon was limited and transitory, it contained no rules
aimed at encouraging integration (Campani and De Bonis, 2003).
The period between 1990 and 1996 was characterized by migratory flows mainly from the
Balkan region and Eastern Europe. This was a period of transition for the Italian political system
(D'Alimonte and Bartolini, 1997), political crisis and corruption scandals,4
and the emergence
of new parties being hostile towards immigration (for example Lega Nord). Italian immigration
policy also had to adjust to emerging European migration policy (Butt, 1994; Stetter, 2000) and
the attention paid by northern EU member states to the weak borders of the southern European
countries. Through Law 39/1990, most commonly known as the 'Martelli Law,S immigration began
to be considered as a long-term phenomenon in Italy. This law defined special provisions regarding
immigration, including the annual planning of migratory flows, and certain norms regarding the
rights and obligations offoreigners in Italy. These involved their stay and work conditions as well
as other matters concerning family reunification and social integration.
The second half of the 1990s saw a major settlement of immigrants in Italy and a higher
number of requests for family reunification. The centre-left government in power between 1997
and 2001 tried to implement a new immigration policy (Law 40/1998). This was the so-called
Turco-Napolitano law or the Single Text- Testa Unico -which set annual quotas for immigration
flows and established a set of measures and consultative bodies aimed at immigrant integration.
Annual flows were to be based on triennial plans to be prepared by the government. Workers could
enter and stay in Italy under the following conditions: a) for seasonal employment (within the
annually defined quotas); b) ifthey had an offer of employment in Italy (again within the annual
quotas predefined by the government; stay permits for work purposes were initially issued for one
year); and c) ifthey were 'sponsored' by an Italian or a foreign citizen legally residing in Italy. Law
40/1998 stated that integration policies should ensure parity of access to public services (see also
Zincone and Ponzo, 2006).
The immigration policy landscape has changed again since 2002, when the centre-right
government coalition at the time adopted a new, more restrictive law 189/2002 (known as the BossiFini
law). This law specifies that all 'social integration measures' are limited to legal immigrants,
and introduces a more repressive policy toward undocumented immigrants through the use of
compulsory repatriation. Conditions for issuing or renewing a permit vary in line with the reasons
for entering Italy (for example dependent employment, self-employment, family reunification,
4 The Mani pulite ('Clean hands') investigation that started as a local scandal in Milan soon took on
huge dimensions as it revealed widespread corruption among the political and economic elites. Two-thirds
of the members ofParliament ended up under investigation by the Public Prosecutor.
5 Claudio Martelli was the deputy prime minister who promoted this legislation.
Italy 187
study and so on). The residence permit cannot last more than the work contract and a maximum
period of nine months has been defined for seasonal workers, one year for temporary workers, and
no more than two years for other workers (that is for work on a self-employed basis, work as an
employee for an indefinite period and family reunification). Non-EU workers can enter Italy on
a 'residence contract' (contralto di soggiorno only). This is a contract of dependent employment
signed by the employee and the employer. Upon expiration of the contract, the immigrant worker
is allowed to stay in Italy for another six months in search of employment. It also establishes a
needs-test for foreign workers, similar to the one existing in other EU countries such as Germany
or Greece. The employer is obliged to advertise the job opening for at least 20 days. If s/he finds
no Italian citizen or legal resident able to take up the offer, the prefecture authorizes the entry of a
new non-EU worker.
The centre-left coalition that has been in government since April 2006 has prepared a new
immigration bill that is currently (spring 2007) under discussion in Parliament and will become
effective in January 2008. This bill includes an important innovation, notably the introduction of
a points-based entry system whose aim is to manage more efficiently incoming flows ofeconomic
migrants. The new government is also processing proposals regarding the concession of the right
to vote in local elections to non-EU citizens who reside in Italy, and changes in the citizenship law
that would ease naturalization requirements for non-EU citizens.
Annual quotasfor immigration
The management of foreign labour flows in Italy essentially centres on the quota system. There is
a three-year programme which spells out the quotas for each period. Nonetheless, on 30 November
of each year, the Ministry of Labour publishes the positions (jlussi di ingresso) available for the
following year. These quotas are decided on the basis of the estimated need for foreign labour as
provided by local and regional labour offices of the Ministry, and employers' associations in each
region or province. The quotas have always fallen short ofnational estimates ofdemand for foreign
labour (as estimated by the Excelsior Unioncamere, 2004) and applications to provincial labour
offices almost always exceed the available quotas (Zanfrini, 2003). The national quotas are divided
in relation to four parameters (Chaloff, 2003):
Regional, with the overall quota divided into sub-quotas for the 20 regions, which then
allocate the quotas to the country's 104 provinces.
Type oflabour, withthe usual divisions being seasonal, dependent work and self-employment.
In 2006, seasonal work permits were issued only to citizens of Serbia-Montenegro, Croatia,
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, BulgariaandRomania, to the citizens ofthose countries
with which seasonal labour agreements have been signed (Tunisia, Albania, Morocco,
Moldavia and Egypt), and to those individuals who had seasonal work permits issued in
the previous three years (thus allowing past workers to return, regardless of nationality).
The remaining 170,000 pennits had to be distributed between dependent work and self-
employment.
Job category. In 2006, 45,000 permits were reserved for housekeepers and private carers
and 4,000 for highly skilled professionals (some special categories are exempted from the
quota).
Nationality, with some sub-quotas reserved for citizens of specific nationalities. One part
of the preferential quotas is reserved to workers of Italian origin (whose parents were
Italian in ascendant line within the third degree) who wish to enrol in the list. In 2006, the
188 European Immigration
decree established a quota of500 immigrants of Italian origin from Argentina, Uruguay and
Venezuela, for seasonal, dependent or self-employed work.
Legal entry for work was set at 58,000 persons in 1998, increasing to 83,000 in 2000 and
to 170,000 in 2006. Of these, 50,000 permits were assigned to seasonal work and 78,500 to
dependent non-seasonal work. Students and other foreigners with non-work permits have the
option ofconverting to work permits within the limits of the quota (3,500 in 2006 of whom 2,000
in dependent work and 1,500 in self-employment). It is worth noting that family reunification in
Italy is exempt from the quotas, and that those with a family permit are allowed, but not required,
to work.
Although annual quotas are to be used for immigrants entering Italy through the legal procedure
for employment purposes, they have often been used by undocumented immigrants who already
reside and work in Italy in order to legalize their status. Indeed, the initial legal provision was
adapted to reflect reality by allowing undocumented immigrant workers to apply for a residence
permit from within Italy, provided their employer is willing to undertake the procedure of
regularization (Triandafyllidou and Veikou, 200 I).
The gap between the planned legal quotas, the demand for foreign labour and the immigration
pressure from non-EU countries continuously produce large numbers ofundocumented immigrants.
Italy's geographical location in the centre ofthe Mediterranean and its extensive coastline make it
a relatively accessible country to illegal immigrants. It is also common practice for immigrants to
enter Italy on a tourist visa and overstay and/or abuse their visa. Furthennore, the existence of a
considerable informal economy, the rapid growth ofthe domestic and personal services sector and
the predominance of small businesses where unregistered labour can be hidden with greater ease,
provide work for undocumented migrants.
The systematic inflow of undocumented immigrants has led to periodic regularization
programmes. Five such programmes have taken place in the last 20 years: 1986, 1990, 1995, 1998
and 2002, involving more than two million immigrants. These programmes provide an indication
of the number of undocumented immigrants residing in Italy in each period. It should be noted,
however, that some were repeat regularizations ofimmigrants who had fallen back into an irregular
status after failing to meet the criteria for a permit renewal.
The latest regularization, in September 2002 (approved by Law 189/2002), aimed to regularize
two types of irregular immigrant workers: maids and private carers, on one hand, and workers
in factories and industry (mainly in the north of Italy) on the other. Previously, documented
immigrants whose residence permits had expired were also eligible to apply, provided they had
been hired before 10 June 2002, and had never received an expulsion order. There were 704,113
such applications - indeed, a record number compared to all other regularization programmes in
Southern Europe (Caritas, 2004). The impact of this regularization was to increase the legally
resident population offoreigners by about 50 per cent in some areas of northern Italy.
The Italian immigrant population: main demographic and social features
As can be seen in Table 14.1, between 1986 and 2005, the legally resident foreign population in
Italy rose from under 300,000 to an estimated 3.0 million (including EU Member State nationals,
and minors), thereby accounting for 5.2 per cent of the total resident population (Caritas, 2005,
p. 97). The legally resident foreign population rose by 4 per cent from 1991 (see Table 14.2), also
because of workers regularized under the 2002 Law. Among immigrants with legal stay status,