Annual Policy Report (July 2004 December 2005) ITALY

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1 Annual Policy Report (July 2004 December 2005) ITALY 1. Introductory Summary During the period of reference for the Annual Policy Report 2005 (July 2004-December 2005) Italy increasingly became one of the leading immigration countries in Europe with more than 3 million migrants. The recent changes in this important social phenomenon have led to the formation of ad hoc policies and measures to cope with and manage its structural nature. At the legislative level immigration and asylum is regulated by Legislative Decree 40/1998 by the text modified with law 189/2002, which, during the period of reference, was the subject of various debates that centred around recruitment policies, the entry and control of borders, integration and employment, citizenship and naturalisation and political participation. Moreover, at the institutional level numerous, important changes were introduced during this period, starting with Presidential Decree 334/2004, which was drafted to implement law 189/2002, and continuing with the adoption of various European regulations. 2. Immigration Situation: Overview of General Trends in Migration and Asylum 2.1 Main groups of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers A) Immigration in Italy At the end of 2004 there were 2,800,000 regularly residing foreigners in Italy according to an estimate by the Caritas/Migrantes Dossier Statistico Immigrazione team based on data from the Ministry of Interior (residence permits), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (entry visas) and the National Statistic Institute - ISTAT (birth of children in Italy from two foreign parents). The average incidence of foreigners on the resident population is 4.8%. Immigrants are more concentrated in the North (59% of total immigrants), and are found to a lesser extent in the Centre (27%) and the South (14%). Throughout the country the reasons for residing in Italy indicate a clear desire to remain in a stable manner (9 immigrants out of 10 have come to Italy for work or to reunite with a family member). According to 2003 data, the top three national groups are Romania, Albania and Morocco, which have 230/240,000 resident immigrants each. After the 2002 regularisation, the Ukraine jumped surprisingly into fourth place with 113,000 resident immigrants, and China is in fifth place at 100,000 immigrants. Philippines, Poland, and Tunisia each have between 70 and 60,000 immigrants, whereas the group of countries with 40,000 immigrants each is more sizeable (the United States, Senegal, India, Peru, Ecuador, Serbia, Egypt, and Sri Lanka). In terms of continents, European numbers make up almost half of the total (47.9% of which 7% are EU citizens), followed by Africa with almost a quarter (23.5%). These figures confirm the trend of the Italian migration policy to cultivate a Euro-Mediterranean dimension. Asia is also well represented (16.8%) while the Americas are less significant (11.5%). ITALY. Immigrants: top 30 nationalities (2003) Countries Resident immigrants % of total Countries Resident immigrants % of total 1 Romania 239, Germany 37, Albania 233, Moldova 36, Morocco 227, Macedonia 33, Ukraine 112, Bangladesh 32, Pop. China 100, Pakistan 30, Philippines 73, Brazil 26, Poland 65, France 26, Tunisia 60, United Kingdom 25, United States 48, Nigeria 24, Senegal 47, Ghana 23, India 47, Spain 21, Peru 46, Croatia 21, Ecuador 45, Russia 18, Egypt 44, Switzerland 17, Sri Lanka 41, TOTAL 2,193, Serbia-Montenegro 38, SOURCE: Calculations by Caritas/Migrantes Dossier Statistico Immigrazione using Ministry of Interior data 1

2 Flows in the year 2004 were fairly contained with the stable entry of 131,000 immigrants: 32,000 for work (in addition to the 45,000 non-eu seasonal workers and 32,000 new-eu workers), 87,000 for family reasons, 6,000 for religious reasons, 5,000 for university study and less than 1,000 for elective residence. The leading groups in terms of work were immigrants from Romania (40% of work visas) followed at a distance by Albania, Morocco and Poland, each with rates between 15% and 10%. In terms of immigration for family reasons, Morocco and Albania held the clear lead (each with 13,000 visas), followed by Romania (8,000), China (7,000) and India, Ukraine, Serbia-Montenegro, Bangladesh and Macedonia with 3,000 each. Persons coming for religious reasons were primarily from Africa and Asia, with each continent sending a little more than 2,000 persons. Visas for university study increased slightly (4,747), although Italy with respect to other countries is behind in the international right to study. The year 2005 was, on the other hand, characterised by great movement: for the 99,500 entries reserved for non-eu citizens, there were 240,000 applications by employers and families. For new Community members, the quota was set at 79,500 persons, but this figure was not surpassed. Various indexes indicate that the future of Italy will be similar to the current situation in Canada, where one-sixth of the population has been born abroad, although it is not known how much time will be needed for this change. The Dossier estimated that there were 491,000 minor foreigners in Italy in 2004, including those born in that year (48,384). Not included in this calculation are the 5,573 unaccompanied minors, who were primarily males from Romania (37.2%), Morocco (20.1%) and Albania (16.8%) (statistic provided by the Council for Foreign Minors at the Ministry of Labour as of April 15, 2005). The foreign population was once composed of unmarried, single men primarily. Now the situation has radically changed. There were 361,000 immigrant women in 1991, whereas in 2002 this figure had more than doubled (726,000). Currently, according to the estimates of the Dossier, there are 1,350,000 women who make up 48.4% of the total immigrant population. It has been calculated that at least one out of ten female foreigners was born in Italy, whereas many of them became Italian citizens through marriage. The number of females is higher amongst Europeans and Americans, contrary to the situation of Asians and Africans. For the latter group there is one woman for every three men on average, and amongst people from Senegal the number is one in ten. Half of the women have come to work (for men 80% have come to work) and 39% have come for family reasons. Foreign women, especially Europeans and Americans, are the protagonists of 85% of mixed marriages (7,000 per year) involving Italian citizens. According to the estimate of the Dossier, in 2004 foreign workers made up approximately 9% of the labour force (2,160,000). The division by employment sector as indicated in the 2001 Census (agriculture 5.9%, industry 44.8% and services 49.1%) has changed with the service sector gaining a few percentage points from industry. The work sectors that stand out most are construction, the hotel and restaurant industry, agriculture, business services, trade, domestic work and personal assistance. The leading role of small companies is significant. The division of recruited employees by sector in 2004 was as follows: agriculture 13.0%, industry 39.5% and services 47.5%. One out of every 10 recruitments occurs within the construction, hotel and restaurant and agricultural sectors. Family assistance is the sector with the highest number of immigrants due to a process that began at the end of the 1960 s. Following the regularisation of 2002 there were half a million foreign workers compared to 100,000 Italians, who still remain in the sector. The most important groups (54.2%) are women from Eastern Europe (Ukraine, Romania, Poland), but women from Asia and the Americas (16.4% and 14.9%) also work in this area although in lesser numbers, with African workers making up the smallest share (9.9%). The presence of these women is widespread throughout Italy, with large concentrations (approximately 100,000 units) in the two large urban centres of Rome and Milan and an average of 8.5 family assistants per thousand inhabitants. Amongst foreign residents 12.1% have university degrees whereas amongst Italians the figure is only 7.5%. A total of 27.8% of immigrants have a secondary school diploma whereas only 25.9% of Italians do. With regard to junior secondary school the figures are 32.9% and 30.1% respectively. Analysis of personal data registrations and cancellations indicates that immigrants are more mobile in the country: according to the National Statistic Institute (ISTAT), 23 out of every 1,000 residents moved within their region or outside of it in 2003, whereas amongst just foreigners, 75 out every 1,000 persons moved, primarily towards the North, a figure that is approximately three times greater. To complete the current picture of the situation for foreigners, we present some estimates calculated by Caritas/Migrantes Dossier Statistico Immigrazione team, which indicate that at the 2

3 end of 2005 the immigrant population in Italy was just above 3 million units, taking into consideration the 180,000 non-eu immigrants who came to find employment in Italy and infants born to parents who were both foreigners. In 2005 three flow decrees were issued: the first provided for the entry of 79,500 new EU Member States citizens, the second for the entry of 79,500 non-eu citizens (of whom 25,000 were seasonal) and the third completed the contingent of non-eu citizens with another 20,000 seasonal workers. For new EU citizens from Eastern Europe the established quota of 79,500 entries was utilised by 44,096 people as of June 2005, 60% of whom were men. This group was primarily made up of Polish citizens (24,149), followed by Slovaks (12,735), Czechs (3,719) and Hungarians (1,968). Amongst these there were 11,737 non-seasonal workers, one-third of whom were employed in the domestic help sector whereas fourth-fifths of the 32,359 seasonal workers were employed in agriculture with the rest finding work in the tourism industry. A more detailed discussion needs to be provided for the entry of non-eu workers, for whom 2005 quotas were set at 45,000 entries for seasonal work and 54,500 entries for non-seasonal work. The latter was divided as follows: 20,800 units of subordinate work reserved for predetermined nationalities, 15,000 for domestic assistants and 15,000 for other sectors, 2,500 for autonomous workers, 1,000 for directors and highly qualified personnel and 200 for workers of Italian origin. To reconstruct 2005 flows we used the visa archive of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is not only timely but also provides satisfactory data. The granting of visas is regulated by the application convention of the Schengen Agreement, which provides for three basic categories: -Uniform Schengen Visas (Visti Schengen Uniformi - VSU), which are valid for a maximum of 90 days; -Limited Territorial Validity Visas (Visti a Validità Territoriale Limitata - VTL), which are subject to territorial and time restrictions; -National Visas (Visti Nazionali - VN), provided by article 18 of the Convention, which are valid for more than 90 days. The historic series of visas, granted for entry purposes, surpassed one million units during the Jubilee year, which was bypassed in 2005: 741,077 in 1998, 834,776 in 1999, 1,008,999 in 2000, 947,085 in 2001, 855,535 in 2002, 879,328 in 2003, 983,499 in 2004 and 1,076,680 in The most numerous type of non-employment visa granted in 2005 was for tourism (554,000) and business (139,000, with a clear prevalence of Russians). Also significant were the number of visas for transit purposes (64,000), for invitation (24,000) and for transportation (16,000). Of greatest interest, however, were national visas, which due to their extended duration allow for true employment in the country, although for varying lengths of time. In 2005 Italian diplomatic agencies and consulates granted 224,080 visas for settlement (one-fifth of those granted overall), not just for work (78,989 for subordinate work and 775 for autonomous work) and family reunification (89,931) but for various other reasons: study (26,619), mission work (7,019), study at Italian universities (5,072), re-entry (3,446), religious reasons (2.795), diplomatic reasons (1,234), elective residence (968), work holidays (358), and other reasons (2,910). Therefore, with regard to the type of visa, family reunification is the most important (40.1%), followed by subordinate work (35.2%) and study (14.2%), followed by other types with lower percentages. The 224,080 visas granted for settlement in 2005 were divided by continent as follows: Europe 44.5%, Asia 21.0%, the Americas 18.1% and Africa 15.9%. With respect to the beginning of the 1990 s, the situation has changed considerably: Europe has consolidated its pre-eminence (with an increase of four percentage points and 100,000 new entries, a figure that is even higher if we take new EU Member States citizens into consideration) and Asia has clearly placed itself in second place (47,000 entries), followed by the Americas (41,000) and Africa (36,000), which throughout the 1980 s was the most important group for incoming flows. With respect to the average annual increase in visas (13.8%) the greatest rhythms have been demonstrated by Latin America (+21.1%), Eastern Europe (+23.1%) and especially Eastern Asia (+36.7%). However, in absolute values the numbers vary greatly (18,000 more visas more Eastern Europe compared to 3,000 for Latin America and 7,000 for Eastern Asia). Analysis of visas by arrival countries indicates, therefore, that almost half of the flows for 2005 regarded European citizens, with another one-fifth coming from the Americas. The ranking of countries by number of obtained visas is characterised by the absolute preeminence of Romania with 42,322 visas, or 18.9% of the total. In second place is Albania (25,530 visas), followed by the United States (20,231), Morocco (17,343) and China (13,621). These five countries make up almost half of the visas. If we remove from the 224,080 national visas granted in 2005 those types that do not foresee stable residence and take into consideration those seasonal workers included in the 3

4 total number of workers, the Dossier hypothesises that there were approximately 180,000 immigrants for employment reasons in If we look at 2006 and take into consideration that entries for work have increased (170,000 including stable and seasonal workers), that babies born to two foreign parents (48,384 in 2005) may have reached 55-60,000 units, and that there are approximately 15,000 new EU Member States citizens settled in Italy, the Dossier estimates that the annual growth rhythm for foreigners in Italy is currently approximately 325,000 units, which leads us to suggest that in 10 years the immigrant population will have more than doubled. B) Refugees and asylum applications in Italy At the end of 2004, there were approximately 15,000 refugees in Italy, 9,000 of whom were recognised on the basis of the Geneva Convention of 1951 and the rest of whom received other forms of international protection. If we compare the situation to other European Union countries, or even the total average of the Union, it is a relatively low number: 0.94% of the total number of refugees in the EU are found in Italy, whereas the Italian population constitutes percent of the EU total. There are 0.27 refugees per one thousand inhabitants in Italy, compared to an EU average of Based on the latest available information, provided by the National Commission for the Right to Asylum (Commissione Nazionale per il Diritto d Asilo), in 2004 the same Commission presented 9,722 asylum applications. Considering just the registered applications, there was a clear decrease approximately 28 percent in Italy with respect to the 13,460 applications presented in The largest number of asylum applications presented in Italy during 2004 amongst those registered by the Commission were from citizens of Serbia-Montenegro (1,989) and Romania (1,161), followed by Nigeria (930), Eritrea (831) and Sudan (486). Neither Somalians, which were the largest group of asylum seekers in 2003, nor Iraqis, who were always amongst the top three places over the past six years, were amongst the top 10 national groups of asylum seekers in ITALY. Primary countries of origin for asylum seekers ( ) Albania 21,300 Iraq 1,985 Iraq 1,944 RF Yugoslavia 12,197 Turkey 1,690 Liberia 1,660 Iraq 12,132 RF Yugoslavia 1,526 Sri Lanka 1,526 Romania 6,114 Sri Lanka 555 RF Yugoslavia 1,418 Turkey 4,250 Romania 501 Pakistan 1, Somalia 1,743 Serbia-Montenegro 1,989 Liberia 1,550 Romania 1,161 Serbia-Montenegro 1,510 Nigeria 930 Eritrea 1,230 Eritrea 831 Pakistan 787 Sudan 486 SOURCE: Central Commission for the Recognition of Refugee Status (National Commission for the Right to Asylum) Based on the data provided by the National Commission for the Right to Asylum, 9,722 asylum applications were presented in Italy in The Commission granted 780 applicants (8.96% of examined applications) the status of refugee in accordance with the Convention of 1951, whereas 7,921 applications (91.04 percent) were classified as rejected. The 7,921 rejected cases included 2,352 persons who did not have the requisites to receive the status of refugee in accordance with the Convention of 1951, but received subsidiary forms of international protection. Mostly, these were persons who were in situations that were very similar to being a refugee, including people fleeing from wars and widespread violence in their countries of origin. Overall, then, in 2004 Italy guaranteed some type of international protection to 3,132 persons, or rather 36 percent of those who presented a request for asylum. It should be specified that these are first instance decisions and, therefore, these figures do not include those who received their status during the appeal stage. It should also be mentioned that 2,627 asylum seekers percent of the total did not present themselves at the hearing of the Central Commission for various reasons. Their applications were automatically rejected without examination. It can, therefore, be suggested that amongst this group there were both refugees and people in need of other forms of protection. If this group is subtracted from the total since it is not possible to know whether they were refugees or not the number of asylum applications that were effectively examined 4

5 by the Commission in 2004 goes down to 6,074. If the recognition rate is calculated based on the number of cases that were effectively examined, then 12.8 percent of applicants were granted refugee status in accordance with the Convention of 1951, while 38.7 percent were granted a subsidiary form of international protection. Consequently, 51.5 percent of asylum seekers whose applications were effectively examined in 2004 were deemed in need of a form of international protection. 2.2 General trends of emigration and immigration : Italian emigrants in the world Amongst European Union countries, Italy has the highest number of emigrants and, at the international level of industrialised countries, it has the highest incidence of emigrants with respect to the population in the country: for every Italian who lives in the country, another 7 live abroad (2% of the total of emigrants in the world). A total of 56% of Italian emigrants are from Southern Italy and the islands, 30% are from Northern Italy and 14% are from Central Italy. A total of 53.4% of Italian emigrants abroad are male. Almost 2 million nuclear families have been registered with an average of 1.8 members. Europe, which has a little more than 2 million Italian emigrants (57%) is currently the continent most involved in Italian emigration. Of these, 42% are in the European Union. If we also consider enlargement countries, the population totals 42.2%. This is followed by the Americas with just over 1,300,000 emigrants (37%) of which 25% regard Central-Southern America. The other 3 continents are, in order, Oceania (3.8%), Africa (1.3%) and Asia (0.6%). With 569,964 Italian emigrants, Germany is the country that hosts the largest number of Italians (16%) followed by Switzerland (490,699, 14%), Argentina (454,039, 13%), France (383,547, 11%) and the United States (237,664, 7%). Countries with more than 100,000 units include Belgium (237,000), Brazil (204,000), Canada (186,000), Great Britain (163,000), and Australia (133,000). In terms of age, 15.1% are younger than 18, 30.7% are between 18 and 40 and 34.7% are between 41 and 65. A total of 19.6% are older than Political Developments in the Member State 3.1 General structure of the political and institutional system The institutional structure of immigration and asylum is regulated by Law 40/1998 with the text modified by Law 189/2002, by the implementing regulation (Presidential Decree 394/2004) and subsequent legislation that modified part of the aforementioned regulations in response to constitutional court sentences. With regard to defining the legal status of foreigners, the flows policy and the general policies on integration, the national government is responsible and carries its work out through various ministries, especially the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Labour. The regions are responsible for legislation as far as regards integration in their territories, and the provinces and municipalities are responsible for carrying out regional plans. The contribution of civil society is allowed at every level. In reality, however, a consultative committee of immigrant representatives and representatives of Italian social work organisations no longer operates at the level of government: in 2006 a council was established at the Ministry of Interior just for Muslim immigrants. However, territorial committees for immigration, presided over by the prefect, were established in every province. Moreover, regions, provinces and municipalities have established immigrant councils and, in some contexts, additional councillors. For more information on this issue, please see Immigrati e partecipazione (Immigrants and Participation) published by Caritas Italy (Idos, 2005). 3.2 General political developments In regional elections were held in almost all of the 20 Italian regions, with the victory of candidates of the central left, which created a more favourable climate for immigrants, promoting their greater participation and the attenuation of the most controversial repressions. During this period of government there were no variations in the situation or in ministers as far as regards immigration. Generally, it can stated that with respect to the heated tones of the 2001 electoral campaign, the two different political alliances did not find a common view of the situation but rather greater equilibrium, which was expressed particularly by the continual work carried out by the Minister of the Interior, a key institutional figure in terms of migration, and by the Vice Prime Minister of this period, Mr Gianfranco Fini, who raised the issue of extending the administrative vote to non-eu citizens. However, it should be added that with regard to 5

6 legislative modifications (for example, in terms of citizenship), concrete steps were not taken and that the programming document was characterised by extreme prudence, which was criticised by some with respect to the process of the increasingly evident structuralisation of immigration. 3.3 Central policy debates and political developments a) Recruitment The panorama of recruitment from abroad remained as defined in law 189/2002 and, therefore, it continued to be highly controversial even with respect to the Green Paper of the European Commission, which hypothesised the granting of a permit in order to search for employment, a tool with which Denmark and Greece experimented for the admission of workers from new Member States. To come work in Italy one must be called by name, whereas the recruitment requests presented by employers and families always pertain to workers who are already present in Italy, or those without authorisation or with a residence permit but not for work purposes. Current regulations give priority to those who have taken training courses abroad (which are only a small minority) or belong to states with agreements for to the control of irregular flows, who are pre-assigned determined quotas through the stipulation of bilateral readmission agreements. In the year 2004 there was further experimentation, which made it possible for the competent administrations to take steps in determining entry quotas and in managing them (the same applies to 2005 and 2006). Some problems are of a legislative nature and must be resolved in this manner, even in connection with the proposals made by the European Commission. b) Gates of Entry and Border Control Contrary to what is sometimes thought, Italy makes a great effort to control its borders, which is done at the internal level by border police and at the international level. Borders are also controlled by numerous agreements stipulated with countries with strong migration pressures, like the specific regulations contained in current laws made on behalf of these countries. This effort, however, is very widespread due to the particular geographic conformation of Italy and extremely costly, which has brought the situation to the limit. For every 4 euros destined in the state immigration budget, 3 are spent on the repression of irregular flows and 1 on integration (Source: State Auditor's Department), whereas five years ago the two items were the same. These figures indicate increasing migration pressure and the increasing involvement required. However, efforts must be made within a European context, supporting the bordering Member States. For further information on this subject, see Irregular Migration in Italy (December 2005), published by Idos and the Ministry of Interior within the scope of EMN activities. c) Integration and Settlement Current regulations (Law 40/1998 which was not modified by Law 189/2002 for the articles on this subject) contain very innovative articles with regard to the integration of immigrants in Italy, wherein differences, when compatible with the fundamental principles of the hosting society, should not be criminalized but valued. This concept must be considered a characteristic of the Italian situation, which overall in this period is in the midst of a great transition with a significant increase in the immigrant population. It has allowed for cohabitation with a low threshold of conflict, thanks in part to the significant intervention of local organisations. It is taken for granted that the latter must handle the new immigrants in a continual way and that there will be great involvement of social and volunteer organisations. Although there are contradictions and resistance, the prevailing understanding is that the demographic and labour needs of Italy influence migration flows and that the trend is for immigrants to make Italy their first choice country rather than an intermediate stop on the road to somewhere else. The 2001 census registered this change, stressing that for every 10 immigrants in Italy, 5 had been here for at least 5 years. d) Refugee Protection and Asylum In Italy as in other Member States, the question of asylum is prejudiced by the suspicion that a considerable number of applicants turn to this form of entry to work around established entry methods and quotas with the risk of an uncontrolled invasion. 6

7 The statistics reported above indicate that this risk does not exist, and yet the general mentality in the country is not favourable to the reception of asylum seekers. To bring and end this indisputable social lacuna, the Ministry of Interior and the National Association of Italian Municipalities (Associazione Nazionale dei Comuni Italiani) have turned to integrated state funds at the local level to create a territorial system that can host a few thousand people. This system is producing good results and is a significant change. In legislative terms law 189/2002 has been implemented in the part where it provides for an application regulation with the institution of Territorial Commissions for the examination of the applications of asylum seekers and reception centres for their identification. e) Citizenship and Naturalisation Citizenship is an issue in which Italy has shown the greatest delays. Its law on this issue is not extremely old, since it was approved in 1992, but it was conceived primarily using a mentality of the past based on the needs of emigrating Italians, who lost their citizenship and were interested in reacquiring it. For immigrants, however, the reform of 1992 worsened their situation since the requisite for receiving citizenship was increased from 5 to 10 years. Although the foreign population is becoming increasingly stable, citizenship is a goal that is increasingly more distant. In addition to the requisite mentioned above there are other conditions that must be met, including waiting a long time for the bureaucratic handling of the application (more than two years) and the burdensomeness of the appeal in cases where the application is not accepted. We are lead to believe that the unwillingness of Parliament to modify this law up to now does not depend on just the difficulty of the issue, which has been handled by many other Member States with regulations that are more advanced with respect to those in Italy, but the underlying social psychology, since there is still resistance with regard to the integration of the new arrivals at the level of equality and not just amongst politicians. It is an historic decision that will sanction the self awareness of Italy as an immigration country. Despite the understandable delays they are increasingly unjustifiable. It is calculated that there are close to half a million foreign minors in Italy. If the path is not prepared for them to identify themselves with the country in which they were born or in which they were socialised, they may reject it, as immigrants have done in other Member States. At that point the goal of integration would become truly difficult to realize. A few examples would be helpful. A child of foreigners who was born in Italy and stays in the country without interruption remains a foreigner for 18 years. Then he or she has a year to decide whether to become Italian. In reality, it not possible to force a person to be a foreigner for almost twenty years and then presume that he or she will be attached to his/her new country. As far as regards the first generations, Italian law is so rigid that the rate of naturalisation (relationship between the acquirement of citizenship and the number of resident foreign citizens) is three times lower than in Europe: a multi-cultural society is clearly impoverished by the fact that it has not provided full representation (parliamentarians, parties, public structures) to the various national groups present in the country. f) Return Immigrants come to Italy to stay and, therefore, return rates are low. The highest rate of returning immigrants is amongst European migrants and, recently, amongst migrants from the new Member States of the East. In effect, where there is an excessive distance between the immigration country and the country of origin, a positive immigration experience makes it possible to earn a desired sum and to acquire new skills, which can be well utilised in the home country. If the return home does not go well the immigrant can always leave again. Between the Member States there are informal and temporary currents, characterised by the typical expression "stagionalato" or turnover, which is practiced (by Ukrainian women, for example) who provide aid to families. Entrepreneurial-professional returns are never discussed. We should not pretend that immigrants will return to their countries where they would find a future of unemployment but should rather stimulate their entrepreneurial initiatives and professional contribution, supporting their efforts to save and orienting their sending of money back home. This obviously requires a legislative framework that does not exist. For example, in Italy an immigrant cannot be involved as an operator in a public development project carried out in his/her country of origin. However, international organisations and, to a lesser extent, 7

8 NGOs are launching projects to promote the role of immigrants as mediators of development, involving them throughout all phases of project planning and execution. Obviously, it is necessary to draw attention to this lack of a legislative framework, for which the European Union could be a support. The only form of return immigration regards programmes that are carried out on behalf of victims of the trafficking of human beings. Once they have been saved from exploitation and positively integrated into a work and training circuit, they can choose to repatriate by way of assisted repatriation programmes, which provide for the start up of an economic activity in loco. Although there are few persons involved, these initiatives are extremely positive. g) Other In 2004 and 2005 the theme of participation at the territorial level was greatly debated, both in concrete terms, providing for the institution of additional councillors or councils, and at the regulatory level, with the modification of statutes and regional laws to provide immigrants with the vote for administrative elections. 3.5 Institutional developments The national situation, as regulated by State laws, did not change with regard with ministerial responsibilities, even though experts discussed the future possibility of unifying these responsibilities into one ministry or as a part of Prime Minister's Office or as an immigration agency. Law 189/02 (Bossi-Fini) created a Council for the coordination and monitoring of the regulations contained in the Consolidation Act on Immigration (286/98). The Council is presided over by the Prime Minister or Vice Prime Minister or by a delegated Minister and is composed of the Ministries involved in the subjects that are discussed at each meeting and by President of the Region or Autonomous Province, designated by the Conference of the Presidents of the Regions and Autonomous Provinces (Conferenza dei Presidenti delle Regioni e delle Province autonome). The preliminary investigation of the subjects that are handled by the Council is carried out by a technical work group, instituted at the Ministry of Interior, which is composed of the representatives of the Department for Regional Affairs for Equal Opportunities for the Coordination of EC policies, the Department for Innovation and Technologies, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Productive Activities, the Ministry of Labour, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Agricultural Policies, the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities, and the Ministry of Communications, as well as a representative of the Ministry for Italians in the World and three experts designated by the unified conference. The secretariat of the technical group is ensured by the Department for Citizens' Freedoms and Immigration of the Ministry of Interior. At the meetings of the technical group representatives from every other involved public administration interested in the activation of the regulations contained in the Consolidation Act, of national organisations and associations, and of organisations of workers and employers that are the most representative at the national level may be invited depending on the subject under discussion. The outcome of the preliminary investigation carried out by the technical group is sent to the Prime Minister's Office through a specific structure of the latter. Support for the technical group is provided to the Prime Minister during the execution of the activities of the Council for coordination and monitoring as well as for activities that refer to the Prime Minister: - the preparation of the three-year programming document regarding the policy on immigration and foreigners in the State (issued with a Presidential Decree following the approval of the Government and the opinion of the Parliament), - the adoption of the annual decree for the entry of foreign worker into the territory of the State (on the basis of general criteria identified in the programming document), of any decrees to be issued transitorily and decrees to curtail annual entry quotas. The technical group began work in mid 2005 by determining the entry quotas of non-eu foreigners for On this occasion the social partners were invited to participate at the meetings of the technical group and were given the opportunity to present the needs of the production sectors and represented workers in light of the decisions of the Government on the programming of immigration flows for

9 For asylum seekers the biggest change was the creation of seven territorial commissions in April 2005 to assist the National Commission for the Right to Asylum (Commissione Nazionale per il Diritto d Asilo). This change had important effects on the time needed to define the recognition procedures, which went from more than one year (prior to April 2005) to the current 2-3 weeks. Another important change regarded asylum seekers who presented an application for the recognition of the status of refugee prior to April Based on a recent legislative decree that was adopted in response to European Directive 2003/9/EC on the minimum regulations on the reception of asylum seekers, immigrants who have waited for more than six months without receiving a decision on their application will have their residence permit renewed for another six months for the request for asylum, and this new permit allows them to work. At the level of legal structures a great change was made by making justices of the peace responsible with regard to the confirmation of expulsions in place of ordinary judges. 4. Legislative Developments in the Area of Migration and Asylum 4.1 General structure of the legal system The legislative framework remained the same, except for adjustments that were necessary to adapt it to the sentences of the Constitutional Court. On the subject of asylum seekers, however, there was a change made with the new regulation on the procedures used for recognising the status of refugee. Presidential Decree no. 303 of December 22, 2004 was published in the Official Gazette and went into effect in April Based on new regulations asylum applications can be presented both at border offices and at Provincial Police Headquarters. The Provincial Chief of Police has the right to hold applicants at an Identification Centre (Centro di Identificazione) or a Temporary Residence Centre (Centro di Permanenza Temporaneo). Otherwise, the Chief of Police grants a residence permit for the request of asylum, which lasts 3 months and can be renewed up until the defining of the procedure for the recognition of refugee status at the Territorial Commission. The Ministry of Interior must institute identification centres in seven provinces, entrusting their management to the respective Prefectures. These centres must have areas for the work of the Territorial Commission and for recreational, academic, and religious activities. The asylum requester has the right to the aid of an attorney and can send the Territorial Commission and the National Commission records and documentation in every phase of proceedings. Other regulations regard healthcare assistance and the activation of services to support asylum requesters as well as procedures for their hearings. Although there are some limits to the new regulations, they are a step in the right direction. However, the changes that have been introduced still do not allow us to neglect the need to approve comprehensive regulations provided by the Constitution. For this reason remarks were made by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (especially regarding insufficient guarantees in cases of appeals to the Territorial Commission and the suspensive ineffectiveness of presented appeals). 4.2 Legislative developments In 2004 the new implementing regulations (Presidential Decree no. 334/2004) of the Consolidation Act on Immigration (Legislative Decree no. 286/98), which contains the technical and operating norms needed to execute the new legal measures introduced by the Bossi-Fini law of 2002, went into effect. They specify the new procedures, the requisites, timing, and methods for requesting/renewing/converting documents that are valid for entry and stay in Italy as well as the relative procedures, with the indication of the authorities that are responsible for dispatching the paperwork and their powers (in particular those of the new Single Desk for Immigration), the type of residence permits and the clarification of the powers inherent in them. For residence permits for work purposes, they establish the procedure to be followed. They also provide technical norms so that a foreign citizen can take advantage of rights of preemption for entry into the country by participating in training/educational programmes for employment on the Italian labour market. Moreover, with regard to the residence contract for work, it introduces the obligation of stipulating a new contract every time a new work relationship is established. 9

10 The regulations also contain specifications with regard to legal requisites. One that is especially important, for example, specifies that registration with the National Healthcare Service is not forfeited during the renewal phase of the residence permit. Another grants invalids who have the right to assistance the right to submit an application for the concession of the residence card. Moreover, Presidential Decree no. 334/2004 contains the methods for recognising degrees that have been earned abroad. A very important change, which will require some time before it can be implemented, is the establishment of a Single Desk for Immigration (Sportello Unico per l Immigrazione) in every province at the Prefecture Territorial Office of the Government, which is referred to in the procedures pertaining to employment and family reunification for foreigners. * As far as regards the procedure for access to subordinate work, employers who plan to hire a foreign worker either with a fixed-term or open-ended contract, must send the request for the nulla osta for work to the Single Desk by Internet or regular mail (recorded delivery letter with advice of delivery), using a form that can be found on the Internet or at the Prefectures and Provincial Employment Offices (Direzione Provinciale del Lavoro). The Single Desk staff member will verify that applications that arrive by mail have been filled in properly and completely and will input their data into the information system. For applications that are sent by Internet, the data will be entered automatically (the system does not accept applications that are incomplete or not filled out properly) into the information system. The aforementioned data will be merged in the Data Processing Centre of the Department for Citizens' Freedoms and Immigration of the Ministry of Interior, to which the Provincial Police Headquarters, Provincial Employment Offices, Employment Centres (Centri per l'impiego) and Internal Revenue Service and the International Visa Network of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are interconnected. Thanks to the immediate availability of the data, the Provincial Employment Office will verify the observance of the requirements of the collective labour contract that is applicable to the case in hand, the congruity of the number of requests presented by the same employer in relation to economic capacity, and the quantitative and qualitative availability of entry quotas, and will transmit its opinion to the Single Desk by electronic means. Once the Provincial Police Headquarters has acquired the data and carried out public security controls both on the employer and foreigner (if there are reasons that would bar entry and residence, if the employer has been denounced for determined crimes), it will notify the Single Desk of its view on the nulla osta by electronic means. Likewise, Employment Centres will verify the availability of other Italian or foreign workers and will send the negative certification to the Single Desk by electronic means. Once the Single Desk has received the above information, it grants the nulla osta for access to subordinate work and requests the tax code by way of an electronic connection with the Internal Revenue Service. The employer will be called to the Single Desk by , telephone or regular mail to be given the nulla osta and to sign the contract. If there are reasons why it cannot be granted, he/she will be informed that it has been denied. At the express request of the employer as provided for by law the Single Desk uses the connection with the International Visa Network of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to send the nulla osta as well as the documentation (application, self-certifications, contract proposal and tax code) to the diplomatic agency or consulate. The latter notifies the foreigner of the work residence contract proposal, receives the visa request of the worker and verifies the existence of legal prerequisites and then grants the entry visa, electronically notifying the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies, the National Social Security Institute (INPS) and the Industrial Injury Compensation Board (INAIL) by way of the Data Processing Centre of the Department for Citizens' Freedoms and Immigration. The foreigner will be called to the diplomatic agency and will be informed of the obligation to go to the Single Desk within eight days from his/her entry in Italy. He/She will also be given the number of the Office's call centre to make an appointment. The foreigner goes to the Office on the indicated day, signs the contract, makes a request for the granting of the residence permit, receives the certificate that assigns the tax code, and is informed of the date to appear at the Provincial Police Headquarters to have his/her fingerprints taken. A copy of the residence contract will be sent electronically by the Single Desk to the Employment Centre, the diplomatic agency and the employer. Finally, the Single Desk calls or sends a letter to the worker asking that he/she come to receive the residence permit. * Procedure for family reunification: foreigners who plan to ask for reunification with their family members must send a request for the nulla osta for reunification to the Single Desk by 10

11 Internet or regular mail (recorded delivery letter with advice of delivery), using the specific form that can be obtained on the Internet or at one of the Prefectures. The Office staff member will check that all information on those applications that have been received by mail is correct and complete and will manually input the data into the information system. For application sent electronically the data will be input automatically and will be immediately available in the information system, which does not accept applications from persons who do not already have a residence permit. The aforementioned data will be merged in the Data Processing Centre of the Department for Citizens' Freedoms and Immigration and the Ministry of Interior, to which the Provincial Police Headquarters, Internal Revenue Service Offices and the international visa network of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will be connected. The Single Desk s, calls or sends a letter by regular mail asking the foreigner to come pick up the documentation. Two copies of the documentation are prepared with the foreigner receiving the stamped copy. The Provincial Police Headquarters receives the information and carries out public security controls on the foreigner who is already in the country and the family member who is being reunited and will inform the Single Desk of its decision with regard to the nulla osta by electronic means. Once the Single Desk receives the notification, it grants the nulla osta for family reunification and asks the Internal Revenue Service for the tax code by electronic means. The foreigner is ed, called or sent a letter by regular mail and asked to come to the Single Desk to pick up the nulla osta for family reunification or, when reasons exist, he/she is told that it has been denied. The Single Desk uses the international visa network of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to send the nulla osta to the diplomatic agency or consulate. The latter verifies the legal prerequisites and grants the entry visa for the family member of the applicant, communicating this information to the Single Desk by electronic means. The foreigner is called to the diplomatic agency to receive the visa and will be informed that he/she must go to the Single Desk within eight days from his/her entry into Italy. He/She will also be provided with the Single Desk s call centre number so that he/she can make an appointment. The foreigner goes to the Single Desk on the day of the appointment to ask for the residence permit and will receive the certificate of the attribution of the tax code. He/She will also be informed of the date that he must go to the Provincial Police Headquarters to have his/her fingerprints taken. The Single Desk will contact the reunified foreigner (by telephone or regular mail) to ask him/her to come pick up the residence permit. a) Gates of Entry The annual entry flows decree was, as always, approved in The Italian Government responded with 80,000 new entries authorised with two different decrees (the decrees of December 19, 2003 published in the Official Gazette of January 23, 2004): the first set a maximum quota of 50,000 non-eu foreigners to be admitted into the territory of the State for seasonal subordinate work. The second set a maximum quota of 29,500 non-eu foreigners who were divided into entry for non-seasonal subordinate work and for autonomous work. Therefore, the quota was a little more than one-third of the figure indicated by the study of the Chamber of Commerce/Ministry of Labour on additional manpower. At the same time that the European Union was enlarged with the 10 new Member States in May 2004 an ad hoc flow decree was emanated for 20,000 new EU subordinate workers (Prime Minister's Decree of April 20, 2004). For 2005 three flow decrees were emanated: the first provided for the entry of 79,500 new EU Member States citizens (of whom 25,000 were seasonal) and the third completed the contingent of non-eu citizens with another 20,000 seasonal workers. The 54,500 entries for non-seasonal employment, which was reserved for non-eu workers, were divided as follows: 20,800 for pre-determined nationalities, 15,000 for family care workers and 15,000 for other sectors, 2,500 for autonomous work, 1,000 for directors and highly qualified personnel and 200 for workers of Italian origin. In 2004 the automated information system of the Ministry of Labour (art. 2 of Presidential Decree 242 of 2004) was still being perfected, in order to build an information system for work and work fairs, whereas the information system for seasonal workers (SILES) was launched for 96 percent of the provinces. Authorisation procedures connected with work authorisations upon entering the Italian territory for new EU citizens were also reorganised (called national unified counter ). With the Prime Minister's decree of April 20, 2004 the flows for the entry of workers from the new Member States of the European Union for 2004 were programmed, providing for their 11