Immigration to Italy

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 2020, The Times estimated them to number 600,000.[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]

Foreign residents as a percentage of the regional population, 2011

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. There are 1,131,839 ethnic-Romanians living on Italian soil, making them the largest minority group in the country.[6] As of 2013, the foreign born population origin was subdivided as follows: 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]

Year	Population
2002	1,341,209[8]
2003	1,464,663[8]
2004	1,854,748[8]
2005	2,210,478[8]
2006	2,419,483[8]
2007	2,592,950[8]
2008	3,023,317[8]
2009	3,402,435[8]
2010	3,648,128[8]
2011	3,879,224[8]
2012	4,052,081[9]
2013	4,387,721[10]
2014	4,922,085[11]
2015	5,014,437[1]
2016	5,026,153 [12]
2017	5,047,028 (8.34%)[13]
2018	5,144,440 (8.52%)[14]
2019	5,255,503 (8.7%)[15]

Immigration by country[note 2]

Country	2008	2009	2010 [16]	2011 [17]	2012 [18]	2013 [19]	2014 [20]	2015 [21]	2016	2017	2018	2019	Regions with significant populations
Romania	625,278	796,477	887,763	823,100	834,465	933,354	1,081,400	1,131,839	1,151,395	1,168,552	1,190,091	1,207,919	Lazio
Albania	401,949	441,396	466,684	451,437	450,908	464,962	495,709	490,483	467,687	448,407	440,465	440,854	Lombardy
Morocco	365,908	403,592	431,529	407,097	408,667	426,791	454,773	449,058	437,485	420,651	416,531	432,458	Lombardy
China	156.519	170,265	188,352	194,510	197,064	223,367	256,846	265,820	271,330	281,972	290,681	305,089	Lombardy, Lazio
Ukraine	132,718	153,998	174,129	178,534	180,121	191,725	219,050	226,060	230,728	234,354	237,047	240,428	Lombardy
Philippines			103,678	82,066	129,188	139,835	162,655	168,238	165,900	166,459	167,859	169,137	Lombardy, Lazio
India			105,863	116,797	118,409	128,903	142,453	147,815	150,456	151,430	151,791	161,101	Lazio, Lombardy
Bangladesh			73,965	80,639	81,683	92,695	111,223	115,301	118,790	122,428	131,967	147,872	Lazio
Egypt			82,064	65,985	66,932	76,691	96,008	103,713	109,871	112,765	119,513	136,113	Lombardy
Pakistan			64,859	69,877	71,031	80,658	90,615	96,207	101,784	108,204	114,198	127,101	Lombardy
Moldova			105,600	130,619	132,175	139,734	149,434	147,388	142,266	135,661	131,814	124,545	Lombardy Lazio Veneto
Nigeria					48,220	56,476	66,833	71,158	77,264	88,533	106,069	117,809	Lombardy
Sri Lanka			75,343	71,203	71,573	79,530	95,007	100,558	102,316	104,908	107,967	114,910	Lombardy
Senegal			72,618	72,458	73,702	80,325	90,863	94,030	98,176	101,207	105,937	111,380	Lombardy
Tunisia			123,584	129,015	82,997	88,291	97,317	96,012	95,645	94,064	93,795	98,321	Lombardy
Peru			87,747	93,905	93,841	99,173	109,851	109,668	98,176	99,110	97,379	97,738	Lombardy
Poland			105,608	84,619	84,749	88,839	97,566	98,694	97,986	97,062	95,727	91,681	Lazio
Serbia  Kosovo  Montenegro			53,875	n.a.	95,834	90,506	96,421	92,378	88,076	83,579	82,105	77,540	Lombardy
Ecuador			85,940	80,645	80,333	82,791	91,861	91,259	87,427	83,120	80,377	77,408	Lombardy
Bulgaria					42,000	47,872	54,932	56,576	58,001	58,620	59,254	59,806	Lazio
North Macedonia			92,847	73,407	73,972	76,608	78,424	77,703	73,512	67,969	65,347	58,057	Lazio
Brazil					37,567	39,157	43,202	42,587	43,783	45,410	48,022	54,556	Lombardy
Ghana					44,364	48,575	51,602	50,414	48,637	48,138	49,940	51,619	Lombardy
Russia					28,604	30,948	34,483	35,211	35,791	36,361	37,384	39,484	Lombardy
Germany					34,936	35,576	38,136	36,749	36,661	36,660	36,806	36,980	Lombardy
France					23,985	25,016	29,078	27,696	28,634	29,281	29,991	31,400	Lombardy, Lazio
United Kingdom					22,839	23,744	26,377	25,864	26,634	27,208	28,168	31,183	Tuscany
Ivory Coast					20,878	23,563	25,953	25,362	25,056	26,159	30,271	31,155	Lombardy
Dominican Republic					23,020	25,405	28,623	28,804	28,202	28,002	28,451	30,743	Lazio
Spain					15,129	17,021	20,682	21,286	22,593	23,828	24,870	27,433	Lazio
Cuba					16,350	17,538	19,316	19,999	20,662	20,986	21,418	23,476	Lombardy
Bosnia and Herzegovina					28,015	28,996	29,831	29,442	27,199	25,791	25,034	23,019	Umbria
Algeria					20,725	21,801	23,095	22,679	21,765	20,437	19,823	19,466	Lombardy
Rest of Sub-Saharan Africa										133,272	151,841	158,142
Rest of Europe										117,416	116,645	119,361
Rest of Americas										92,927	97,707
Rest of North Africa and Western/Central Asia										81,147	86,019
Rest of East and South-East Asia										22,895	19,877
Rest of South Asia										1,516	1,630
Europe									2,601,313	2,588,451 (4.28%)	2,600,748 (4.31%)	2,609,690 (4,33%)
North Africa and Western/Central Asia									741,090	729,064 (1.21%)	735,681 (1.22%)
South Asia									474,736	488,486 (0.81%)	507,553 (0.84%)
East and South-East Asia									459,572	471,326 (0.78%)	478,417 (0.79%)
Sub-Saharan Africa									369,567	397,309 (0.66%)	444,058 (0.74%)
Americas									376,556	369,555 (0.61%)	373,354 (0.62%)
Oceania									2,104	2,122 (<0,01%)	2,157 (0,01%)

Prison population

According to the ISPI, the Italian prison population in 2018 counted 59655 and of those 34% were foreigners, with the largest groups coming from Morocco (3751), Albania (2568), Romania (2561), Tunisia (2070) and Nigeria (1453).[22]

Public opinion

According to poll published by Corriere della Sera in 2019, one of two respondents (51%) approved closing Italy's ports to further boat migrants arriving via the Mediterranean, while 19% welcomed further boat migrants.[23]

In 2018, a poll by Pew Research found that a majority (71%) wanted fewer immigrants to be allowed into the country, 18% wanted to keep the current level and 5% wanted to increase immigration.[24]

A 2019 poll by Yougov showed that 53% thought authorities should not accept more refugees from conflict areas, 25% were in favour of more refugees and 19% were undecided.[25]

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 flow 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.[26] 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.[27]

Refugees and migrants arriving in Italy by sea, 1997–2015[28]

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.[29]

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.[30] 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.,[31] 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.[32] 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, by May 2011, more than 35,000 immigrants had arrived on the island of Lampedusa from Tunisia and Libya.[33] By the end of August, 48,000 had arrived.[34] 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.[35] 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.[34]

Controversies regarding NGOs

The Conte I Cabinet, influenced by hard-line Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, refused to let migrant ships dock in its waters. This map shows the journey of Aquarius Dignitus in June 2018, which was refused to dock in Malta and Italy before being granted access by the recently installed left-wing government in Spain.[36]

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,[37] 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.[38] The Italian Parliament investigated these claims and has found them to be unsubstantiated, with no further actions.[39] 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.[40] (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'.)[41]

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.[40][42]

See also

• Immigration detention in Italy
• 2015 Mediterranean migration crisis
• List of countries by foreign-born population
• Movies about immigration to Italy

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. "Cittadini Stranieri. Popolazione residente e bilancio demografico al 31 dicembre 2014". ISTAT. 15 June 2015.
2. "Bilancio demografico nazionale". ISTAT. 15 June 2015.
3. Kington, Tom (7 May 2020). "Italy to give 600,000 migrants the right to stay". The Times. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
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. "Bilancio demografico nazionale". Italian National Institute of Statistics (in Italian). 31 December 2014. Retrieved 10 June 2016.
7. IDOS (30 October 2012). "Dossier Statistico Immigrazione 2012" (PDF). Caritas. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
8. "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. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 6 August 2017. Retrieved 18 April 2019.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
15. "5.255.503 cittadini stranieri in Italia". aise.it (in Italian). 24 October 2019. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
16. Albani, Mauro (22 September 2011). "La popolazione straniera residente in Italia nel 2011". ISTAT. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
17. "Gli stranieri al 15° Censimento della popolazione" (PDF). ISTAT. 23 December 2013. Retrieved 16 August 2014.
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20. I cittadini non comunitari regolarmente soggiornanti 5 August 2014 Archived 13 November 2014 at the Wayback Machine
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22. ispisito (28 February 2019). "Jihadist Radicalization in Italian Prisons: A Primer". ISPI. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
23. Pagnoncelli, Nando (1 November 2019). "Le colpe dell'emergenza migranti? Il 60% punta il dito contro l'Europa". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). Retrieved 12 January 2019.
24. Connor, Phillip; Krogstad, Jens Manuel. "Many worldwide oppose more migration – both into and out of their countries". Pew Research Center. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
25. "Inmigración y medio ambiente centran la inquietud de los europeos". El País (in Spanish). 13 May 2019. ISSN 1134-6582. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
26. "Italy's illegal immigrants: Tidal wave". The Economist. 5 July 2014.
27. Grant, Harriet; Domokos, John (7 October 2011). "Dublin regulation leaves asylum seekers with their fingers burnt". The Guardian.
28. "Sbarchi e richieste di asilo 1997–2014". Fondazione Ismu.
29. European Parliament resolution on Lampedusa, 14 April 2005
30. "Pushed Back, Pushed Around". Human Rights Watch. 21 September 2009.
31. "Italy: 'Historic' European Court judgment upholds migrants' rights". Amnesty International. 23 February 2012.
32. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. "News".
33. "Hundreds more migrants reach Italy from Africa". Reuters. 14 May 2011.
34. "Gaddafi planned to turn Italian island into migrant hell". AsiaOne. Archived from the original on 27 September 2016.
35. https://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5jYWyqZanCi2M7i3Z_qsl0FmHlBkA?docId%3D6562488. Retrieved 2016-02-26. Missing or empty |title= (help)
36. "Aquarius in Valencia: Spain welcomes migrants from disputed ship". BBC News. 17 June 2018. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
37. De Lorenzo, Giuseppe (12 July 2017). "Le 15 coop dalle "uova d'oro": 100 milioni lucrati sui profughi". ilgiornale.it.
38. "Nomi, finanziatori e intrighi. Ecco tutti i segreti delle navi Ong". ilgiornale.it. 10 July 2017.
39. "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.
40. "Italy impounds German NGO migrant rescue ship, lawmakers boost support for Libyan coastguard". DW. 2 August 2017.
41. 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
42. "Libyan military strongman threatens Italian ships trying to stop flow of migrants". The Telegraph. 3 August 2017.