The figure is undoubtedly impressive — we are talking about roughly 4.3–4.5% of the population. Thus, in less than thirty years, Italy has become one of the European Union countries most saturated with immigrants — both in absolute and in relative terms (the number of foreigners residing on its territory and their share of the population).
This phenomenon is all the more striking because the country, for a long time after its unification (1861), remained one of the main sources of emigration. As official statistics show, from 1876 to 1988 almost 27 million Italians left their homeland. Currently, between three and four million Italians live abroad. If one takes into account not only the emigrants themselves but also their descendants, the figure would be several orders of magnitude higher and would certainly exceed the current population of the country (58 million).
Since the late 1970s, the situation began to change gradually: Italy turned into a host country receiving migration flows — mainly from third-world countries, and more recently also from Central and Eastern Europe. During the 1980s, the reasons for foreign immigration to Italy were considered to be almost exclusively “external factors,” especially the so-called “push factors” operating in the migrants’ countries of origin, as well as the policy of restricting the entry of foreigners pursued since 1973 by the European countries that had traditionally received emigrants. Later, however, a significant strengthening of “pull factors” was noted, caused mainly by the rise in Italy’s level of economic development, the peculiarities of the Italian production system, the growth of the shadow economy, and the dynamic expansion of the national labor market. It was these factors that to a large extent determined the influx of immigrants to Italy.
A closer analysis reveals first of all an acceleration in the rate of this influx. Indeed, at the beginning of the 1980s the total number of foreigners with residence permits was just over 300,000; ten years later it had almost doubled, and by 2004 it had reached, as already noted, 2.2 million. We do not observe similar rates in any other EU country, except possibly Spain. This exceptionally rapid growth of immigration was due primarily to the increase in the number of foreigners arriving in Italy from developing countries and the states of Central Europe. At the end of 1981 the number of immigrants from these countries did not exceed 120,000; at the beginning of 1991 it had reached 400,000, and by 2004 - 1 million 950 thousand. Correspondingly, the share of such immigrants among foreigners who received residence permits in Italy also grew: 38% in 1981, almost 70% in 1991, and just under 90% at the present time.
As for the countries from which immigrants come, the majority of foreigners with residence permits are currently citizens of Romania (239 thousand people). They are followed closely by Albanians (234 thousand) and Moroccans (228 thousand). There are significantly fewer Ukrainians (113 thousand), Chinese (100 thousand), Filipinos (74 thousand), Poles (66 thousand), and Tunisians (61 thousand). As we can see, Italy’s radius of attractiveness in the eyes of immigrants is extremely wide: this country is capable of attracting settlers from the most diverse corners of the globe.
A closer look reveals that another thirty states should be added to the list, from which between 10,000 and 50,000 people each have arrived in Italy and obtained residence permits. For example, Russian citizens among them number 19,000, or 0.9% of the total number of those who received such permits. Italy is distinguished by an especially wide diversity of immigrants’ countries of origin: half of all newcomers here are citizens of eight states, whereas in the traditional host countries (Germany, France, Switzerland, etc.) they come from two or three states.
The immigrant communities that have formed in Italy differ noticeably in the time and manner of their formation, the stages of migration development, and their socio-demographic characteristics. First of all, it should be noted that each community is characterized by a pronounced predominance of one of the sexes. Among immigrants from South Africa, Senegal, and the countries of the Indian subcontinent, men undoubtedly predominate, while among immigrants from Central Europe, Latin America, and East Asia, the balance is clearly in favor of women. We are dealing here with different migration models. In the first case, these are traditional immigration patterns in which the man is the main protagonist. Only after he has established himself in the host country and achieved a sufficiently stable material position do his family members join him.
An example is Moroccan immigration, which accelerated in the early 1980s and was characterized by a marked predominance of men. In the 1990s, however, mainly thanks to family reunification, the number of women arriving in the country increased significantly. In this way, the gender imbalance that had initially characterized this community in Italy was reduced.
In the second case, on the contrary, women are the driving force of migration processes. They are the first to go abroad and create the conditions for the subsequent movement of men. This is what Filipina women do; their relatives follow them only after conditions for integration have been established. Husbands then find work in the same sector as their wives — namely, as domestic servants. Finally, in some cases — the Chinese, for example — immigrants arrive in the country with their entire families from the very beginning, so the demographic (age-sex and marital) structure of their community remains balanced throughout the migration process.
To obtain a full picture of the changes taking place in the area of international movements, it should be borne in mind that Italy belongs to those European countries in which measures aimed at legalizing migrants are actively applied. Indeed, the most significant growth in the number of foreigners present in the country legally occurred during several legalization procedures. This proves that the presence of a considerable number of illegal migrants has become a permanent characteristic of immigration processes in Italy, as in other host countries of Southern Europe.
The reason for this situation should be seen primarily in the fact that immigration policy does not take into account the real demand for foreign labor. At the first stage, that is, during the 1980s, immigration actually developed uncontrolled, since there was no adequate legislation and effective planning. At the second stage, the states of Southern Europe, which had become host countries, began to pursue an increasingly consistent policy of strict entry restrictions, following the example of Western European states that had adopted such measures in different years. This led to a disruption of the effective dynamics of migration processes, which had maintained a balance between the growing demand for foreign labor on the national labor market and the number of foreigners. The tense migration situation was also exacerbated by the shadow economy developed in these countries.
As far as Italy is concerned, the first waves of immigrants who rushed here in the 1970s were regulated by a single normative act - public safety rules, which regulated the stay of foreign citizens within the country and their deportation. These regulatory frameworks were extremely narrow, since they were developed mainly during the period of the fascist dictatorship, accustomed to restoring order with an "iron hand." In the 1970s, such underdevelopment of immigration legislation was characteristic of all Mediterranean countries that were members of the European Union. Many observers believe that it was precisely this feature of legislation that predetermined the increased influx of immigrants to Italy.
The reaction of Italian political circles to the changed situation was clearly inadequate: they limited themselves to issuing several ministerial circulars designed to fill the most serious gaps in current legislation. Subsequently, this administrative practice was repeatedly criticized, with doubts raised about its compliance with the country's constitution. The extreme narrowing of the channels of legal immigration in fact only led to the fact that a significant part of immigrants switched to an illegal status. The constant replenishment of the army of illegal immigrants, as well as constantly renewed attempts to regularize their status, became the main factors that almost completely determined the further history of immigration in Italy.
The first act that partially solved the problems that had arisen was Law No. 943 of December 30, 1986. It granted foreign workers from non-EU countries the same rights as those held by Italian citizens, established national and regional councils on immigration issues, and established legal grounds and procedures governing family reunification, the employment of immigrants, and the entry and stay of foreigners. In addition, this law provided for the possibility of legalizing illegal immigrants. Apparently, it was precisely this last aspect of the law, adopted in parliament by an overwhelming majority, that had the most positive practical consequences.
The legalization process, which was initially expected to be completed in three months, proceeded slowly: its completion was ultimately postponed until September 30, 1988. The delay proved necessary because, in the course of the implementation of the law, its scope was clarified: initially, attention was focused exclusively on the category of foreign hired workers as the most significant for European labor migration. It was then decided that applications for legalization should be submitted both by employers who had used the illegal labor of migrants from non-EU countries, and by the migrants themselves who had been working illegally in Italy.
In 1987-88, almost 119,000 foreign workers were legalized, among whom there were just under 67,000 unemployed. The latter category included people who had jobs but registered as unemployed in order to be able to legalize their status. According to expert estimates, at that time the number of illegal and unregistered immigrants in Italy still significantly exceeded the number of foreigners from third countries who had legalized their status.
At the end of 1989, a new decree was issued, which was then transformed into Law No. 39 of 1990, known as the "Martelli Law." It increased the effectiveness of procedures relating to the regulation of immigration: it abolished, with respect to persons claiming refugee status, the restrictions previously established depending on their country of origin; streamlined the rules for entry into Italian territory, stay in the country, and deportation from it; provided for more flexible stay rules for foreign independent entrepreneurs; and ensured funding for adaptation centers for newly arrived immigrants. This second legalization extended to all foreign citizens (the first had covered only immigrants from third countries), including foreigners who were not part of the labor force. In total, about 235,000 applications for legalization were submitted, of which 220,000 were granted.
Speaking of the origin of immigrants legalized in Italy on the basis of the two mentioned laws, one can note a clear predominance of people from African countries (respectively 52% and 58% of the total number of immigrants), especially from North Africa (33% and 40%), as well as from Asia (30% and 21%). Data on the distribution of immigrants by sex are available only for the second legalization, and they show a clear predominance of men (in a ratio of 3:1). Particularly sharp disparities were observed among North Africans: the sex ratio here was 12:1.
(Conclusion see in the next issue )