Labor Market Integration of Forced Migrants in Italy

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ALMA MATER STUDIORUM – UNIVERSITÀ DI BOLOGNA

Scuola Di Scienze Politiche Corso di laurea triennale in Scienze politiche, sociali ed internazionali

Tesi di laurea in Teoria dell’organizzazione

Labor Market Integration of Forced Migrants in Italy A mapping of Italian socio-economic integration policies and their effectiveness

Relatrice: Dott.ssa Cristina Dallara Candidata: Gaia Salizzoni

_____________________________________________________ Sessione I Anno Accademico 2016 - 2017

Labor Market Integration of Forced Migrants in Italy

Table of contents

Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 3 1.1

General introduction to the Topic ................................................................................ 3

1.2

Focus and structure of the thesis ................................................................................. 4

1.3

Limitations of the thesis and definitions ...................................................................... 6

Chapter 1. Historical framework: the unfolding European refugee crisis....................................... 10 1.1.

Uniqueness of the current crisis compared to previous migrations .......................... 10

1.2.

Impact of forced migration on the European labor market: myths and truths ......... 16

1.3.

Importance of an effective labor market integration ................................................ 21

Chapter 2. Italy: from emigration to “new immigration” country .................................................. 25 2.1.

New immigration country: a definition ...................................................................... 25

2.2.

Italian migration history ............................................................................................. 27

2.3.

Profiles of the new migrant cohort in Italy ................................................................ 29

2.4.

Lack of a defined integration model .......................................................................... 36

Chapter 3. What has Italy done so far? ............................................................................................ 39 3.1.

Italian legal framework ............................................................................................... 39

3.2.

Influence of EU intervention on the national dimension ........................................... 42

3.3.

Ordinary integration measures: the SPRAR ............................................................... 46

3.4.

Extraordinary integration measures........................................................................... 52

Chapter 4. Good Practice: evidence from the Autonomous Province of Trento ............................ 56 4.1.

Ordinary and extraordinary integration system in Trento ......................................... 56

4.2.

Diffused reception model and community-led integration ....................................... 63

4.3.

Outcomes at the provincial level ................................................................................ 68

Evaluation and conclusions ............................................................................................................... 70 Bibliography and Official Documents ............................................................................................... 75 Appendix ............................................................................................................................................ 82

2

Labor Market Integration of Forced Migrants in Italy

Introduction 1.1

General introduction to the Topic The unfolding refugee crisis which has been affecting Europe in the last few years led to unprecedented challenges for the already stumbling European Union. The already considerable rate of asylum seekers’ arrivals from Africa exponentially increased after the exacerbation of violence in Afghanistan and the start of the Syrian conflict in 2011. Compared to many European countries, Italy proved to be even more affected by this unexpected flow of immigrants escaping violence and persecution. Due to its geographical position in the Mediterranean area, this frontline country served as a litmus test demonstrating the lack of European political and logistical cohesion. The greatly unbalanced distribution of asylum seekers among Member States led to an even wider set of difficulties for Italy. National challenges range from an equal logistic distribution to fight against irregular migration and criminality, from securing decent reception conditions and health standards to managing diversity integration. Among the number of challenges emerging at both national and European level, economic inclusion of asylum-seekers appears as the most troublesome and complex. The unexpected arrival of a great number of individuals showing different life-backgrounds, economic levels, education histories and skills – features which are not easily identifiable – worries local populations. A spillover effect of the labor market integration challenge on all the other dimensions is observable, as it surely has the greatest impact on natives’ perception of asylumseekers. Fear – especially the one originating from economic instability – generates defensive reactions. This, in turn, has major political implications. Combining with other historical, economic and social factors, the surge in migration led to the exponential increase in political radicalization Europe is currently witnessing. The rise in extremisms and right-wing parties – represented by Lega Nord, Casa 3

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Pound and other populist parties in Italy – is the clearest evidence. The biggest threat of such political twist is the fact it undermines the whole range of political values and principles which are the pillars of European identity. It remains clear that socio-economic integration of asylum seekers should be one of the earliest issues to be addressed. This from a mutually beneficial perspective of both asylum seekers and local communities. In fact, historical evidence proved that this specific category of migrants can, eventually, become “valued and valuable contributors to the economic and social health of countries” (Lehne, 2016). Converting refugees’ economic potential into a local development factor could lead to valuable gains for both stakeholders. To do this, it is necessary to look for opportunities in different contexts to turn “what is too often considered a burden into an asset” (Migration Policy Centre, 2016).

1.2

Focus and structure of the thesis In spite of the central role exerted by the socio-economic dimension within asylum seekers’ integration efforts, the issue has not been addressed as it deserves. As regards the Italian dimension, both academic literature and legislative acts almost exclusively focused their attention on two aspects: security measures and fight against illegal immigration. Most financial investments and legislative outcomes have been directed to a variety of borders checks, and the political agenda has been consistently oriented toward agencies and programs dealing with the so-called “clandestini”. The origin of this defensive attitude – characterizing most countries within “fortress Europe” (Amnesty International , 2014) – can be found in the previously mentioned instability – whether it is economic or cultural. As a result, a fruitful integration of refugees into local economies is not at forefront of the European migration policy, neither in academic literature nor in concrete political interventions. In contrast to European standards on 4

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protection, contemporary literature does not address the issue and empirical research covers the specific category of forced migrants only selectively. When it does address the economic potential of migrants, it is mostly about policies trying to attract high-skilled labor force to European industries. This manuscript goes in the direction of addressing this gap in contemporary literature. The thesis aims at investigating to what extent is Italy addressing integration of refugees and asylum seekers into the labor market through the implementation of tailored public policies. It does not certainly aspire a comprehensive macroeconomic analysis of the Italian state of play. Instead, it aims at investigating the extent to which Italian policies are addressing the challenge of such integration, their level of decentralization and their effectiveness. To do so, the manuscript is structured as follows. The first section gives a general overview on the emergence of the recent migratory phenomenon in Europe, investigating both false and real economic externalities it generated, as well as and the importance of an effective integration. The second chapter narrows down the analysis to the Italian dimension, focusing on the recent evolution of its migration identity. This is intended as a lens to understand and contextualize institutional and political initiatives that followed. The third and longest chapter identifies the current approach of the Italian government in managing the situation by mapping the various initiatives and policies that emerged. Here, two sides of the Italian reality are shown: the ordinary, national (and deficient) program on the one hand; the “extra-ordinary”, compensatory contribution of local administration and civil society on the other hand. In the fourth section, evidence of both dimensions is examined at the regional level. For this purpose, the case of the Autonomous Province of Trento is brought as an example of good practice1. In this chapter, the 1

This case study is introduced as one of many good practices that have emerged in

the last period on the Italian territory. Other, equally valuable cases are not analyzed 5

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emergence of the socio-economic integration of migrants will be considered as the trigger for a new, demanding arena for public policy within Italian multilevel-governance. Finally, the last chapter offers a critical evaluation of national and regional policies’ effectiveness, along with possible improvements.

1.3

Limitations of the thesis and definitions Several limitations of the document must be outlined to carry out well-grounded considerations on the topic. First of all, this work has clear time boundaries. Because of the quickly evolving nature of both migration crisis and institutional measures for integration, the manuscript considers early 2011 as a starting point for data research. Prior events and interventions, although relevant, are not considered in the analysis. As regards reliability of the data, exhaustive and up-todate information is not always available: the latest updated information refers to the final months of 20162. As a result, a comprehensive analysis of the economic integration of refugees in Italy falls outside the scope of this study. It focuses on the general evolution of the issue at the national level, making no claim to be exhaustive. Secondly, the manuscript only considers the regular migration flow, i.e. migrants approaching the Italian reception system via legal, institutional means. Although irregular migrants make up a relevant share of the total migrants entering the European Union, both statistics and public policies mostly regard legal migrants. Therefore, it makes more sense to restrict the analysis to smaller yet valid dataset. Furthermore, the sectorial scope of the manuscript has to be stressed. There is no doubt social integration and economic integration are strictly intertwined: no clear-cut dividing line can be traced

because of space restrictions. 2

An exception is the Autonomous Province of Trento, whose official data were last

released in February 2017. 6

Labor Market Integration of Forced Migrants in Italy

between these two areas, as they mutually influence each other in a potentially virtuous cycle. In fact, I will often refer to “socio-economic” integration. However, the study will especially focus on interventions fueling economic inclusion, intended as the prelude for an effective and comprehensive integration. As a result, social and legal issues contributing to the economic debate – although extremely relevant – fall outside the remit of the study. This is the case of complementary measures such as housing provision, psychological support, education support, cash allowances or intercultural skills development. Thus, such measures will be mentioned only as far as relevant. An exception is made for Italian language training, which appears as a notneglectable aspect in studying socio-economic inclusion of forced migrants.

In order to avoid misunderstandings or confusion, the target group of the analysis must be correctly defined. In the public debate, the terms “refugee”, “asylum seeker” and “migrant” are often considered synonyms. However, these concepts must not be used interchangeably, as to each category of migrants corresponds a different institutional procedure in entering the local labor-market. In addition, the term “migrant” refers to a generic term for those individuals moving to another country with the intention to stay for a minimum period of time (OECD, 2015). First and foremost, it is essential to distinguish between voluntary and forced migrants. While the former category of migrants is oriented toward economic gains or family reunification, the latter “flee, often to the nearest safe haven, to avoid bodily harm” (Dadush & Niebuhr, 2016). In terms of employability, forced migrants, unlike voluntary ones, may lose most of their assets or end up in a place where job opportunities for them are scarce. The study shows how their adjustment to new conditions may take longer and demand more effort from the host community. As I mentioned before, current 7

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literature does not address the issue of economic integration. Yet when it does, it principally regards implications of voluntary migration, whereas the economic literature on forced migration, although growing rapidly, remains quite sporadic (Dadush & Niebuhr, 2016). For the sake of simplicity, this document considers all recipients of protection – whether refugee status, subsidiary protection, humanitarian protection etc. – to be forced migrants. The study covers two different phases and subjects of international protection: it considers individuals seeking international protection and beneficiaries of such protection. Asylum-seekers must be clearly distinguished from all the other categories: they have officially submitted a request for asylum but have not completed the procedure yet, i.e. whose asylum application is pending. As soon as they are granted international protection, their status varies according to the status’ nature. In this work, the following concepts are used: •

Refugees: beneficiaries of international protection who have been granted asylum. The term refugee shall apply to any person “who has well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it” (United Nations, 1951).



Subsidiary protection beneficiaries: asylum seekers can be entitled to subsidiary protection if they do not meet the requirements to be granted the refugee status but have demonstrated plausible reasons to believe they are at risk of serious harm in their country of origin.



Humanitarian migrants: individuals who have completed the asylum procedure with a positive outcome and have been granted 8

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some sort of protection (asylum or another form of protection) or have been resettled through programmes outside the asylum procedure (OECD, 2015).

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Chapter 1. Historical framework: the unfolding European refugee crisis 1.1.

Uniqueness of the current crisis compared to previous migrations The current refugee crisis, which is challenging European institutional structures, external borders and founding pillars, is increasingly gaining attention for its present and future economic consequences. In order to reach coherent and well-founded assumptions on its macroeconomic outcomes, it is key to unfold the various dimensions constituting the crisis and analyze the impact of each. As a matter of fact, the current immigration wave presents several characteristics which are rather different than the ones emerged from previous immigration flows in the European area –last one being post-ww2 displacements. The phenomenon’s magnitude, origins and permanent nature stand out as key layers of the crisis’ complexity and the relative challenges experienced by European countries.

The first feature to consider are the proportions of the migratory phenomenon. In the last few years, migrants’ integration issues have gained the attention of European policymakers especially due to the sharp increase in the number of asylum requests shown by recent statistics. Europe has been challenged by an unprecedented surge in migration resulting from different flows of asylum-seekers and other humanitarian migrants: already in 2014, more than 630 000 asylum requests were lodged in EU member states – a number last reached during the Bosnian-Serbian conflict in 1992 (OECD, 2015). The situation became truly critical in the spring of 2015, when a record number of approximately 1,3 million asylum-seekers applied for international in European countries, constituting both the highest scale and the sharpest year-to-year increase since the beginning of EU data set in 2008 (EASO, 2016). Indeed, the arrival of 1 255 600 first10

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time asylum applicants3 in EU Member States more than doubled that of the previous year (Eurostat, 2016). The unprecedented increase in arrivals, rapidly becoming known as the largest and most complex migration flux since the Second World War (Amnesty International, 2015), deeply shacked the already precarious foundations of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS). These first data were closely followed, in 2016, by 1 204 300 first-time asylum seekers. This figure implicated a slight decrease in applications as compared with the year before. According to a Pew Research Center analysis of recently released data from Eurostat4 [see Figure 1], the EU, Norway and Switzerland received roughly 1.2 million asylum applications, only about 92,000 fewer than the record 1.3 million requests received in 20155. By early beginning of 2017, European Member States recorded 61 697 applications for international protection, marking the fifth consecutive monthly decrease in numbers of asylum requests registered in the EU+. Compared to the same period of 2016 and 2015, it presented a 38 % and 12 % decrease, respectively (EASO, 2017).

Although a slightly decreasing trend in number of first time asylum seekers is experienced at the moment, statistics claim these trends represent the largest recent refugee inflows to the EU in recent times. As a matter of fact, they exceeded all major peaks previously reached during both conflict in the former Yugoslavia (where 670,000

3

First time asylum applicants for international protection (as defined by Article 2(h)

of Qualification Directive 2011/95/EU) are persons who lodged an application for asylum for the first time in a given Member State during the reference period. The term 'first time' implies no time limitation and therefore a person can be recorded as first-time applicant only if he had never applied for international protection in the reporting country in the past, irrespective of the fact that he is found to have applied in another Member State. 4

Europe’s statistical agency European Union countries

5

The decreasing trend of asylum-applications in 2016 is claimed to be almost entirely

due to the implementation of the EU-Turkey Statement of March 18, 2016. 11

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asylum requests were lodged in 1992 and reached a total of 1.4 million in 1996) and the Kosovo crisis in 1999. Before the current surge, the number of refugees living in Europe was well below the levels of the 1990s—and it amounted to only 11 percent of refugees globally (International Monetary Fund, 2016). This unexpected increase was immediately labelled by European institutions and political actors as an emergency to face, while both institutional, managerial and legislative networks of European countries were put since then under considerable strain.

Figure 1

A further, central variable to take into consideration while investigating the recent migrant population are both country of origin and motivation in applying for international protection. As described in the introduction, forced migrants present several push factors which have forced or encouraged individuals to leave their home countries. Contrary to other categories of migrants (e.g. so-called economic migrants), push factors for refugees and asylum seekers are mainly of a political nature and are primarily related to a lack of basic security. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (2016), displacement from wars, conflict, and persecution worldwide reached its highest levels and it keeps accelerating, having reached 12

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more than 67 million people last year. The origins of asylum seekers in Europe are more diverse than in previous refugee crises, with the majority of them coming from far away and crossing a few consolidated routes6. According to Eurostat, the top five nationalities of Mediterranean Sea arrivals7 in the first quarter of 2017 were Syria (21.2% of total arrivals); Afghanistan (10.6%); Nigeria (10.3%); Iraq (7.1%); and Eritrea (5.4%) (Eurostat, 2017). This mirrors the trend of the previous year, when arrivals from Syria, Afghanistan and Iran show similar rates. Compared to 2016, arrivals significantly increased from Nigeria, which has now become the third-ranked country of origin [see Figure 2].

Source: Eurostat, 2016

Source: Eurostat, 2016

Figure 2

6

The three primary routes are deemed to be (1) the Central Mediterranean Route

(Italy and Malta as arrival countries); (2) the Eastern Mediterranean Route (Greece/Aegean Sea as arrival country); and (3) the Western Balkans Route (Hungary as arrival country). It is important to note these European countries had been affected only scarcely by previous crisis. 7

Registered number of sea arrivals is different from the number of asylum requests

or recognized refugees. However, due to the high recognition rate of those countries, it is mostly certain they will be given international protection. Therefore, these statistical figures can be used to identify top countries of origin. 13

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Proof of the political nature of migration from specific countries is the highest recognition rate8 they show: all these nationalities possess a rate of over 50% in EU States, meaning that respective asylum-seekers obtain protection over half the time they apply (European Commision, 2016). Civil war in Syria, now in its seventh year, continues to be by far the biggest driver of the current crisis. Since the eruption of conflicts in March 2011, the number of Syrians seeking protection in Europe increased steadily. In addition, ongoing violence in Iraq and Afghanistan, corruption and dictatorships in African countries, as well as poverty in Kosovo, are also determining the size of migration. This situation was intensified by the breakdown of authority in Libya and by the indefinite military conscription and forced labor in Eritrea, one of the most repressive states in the world. Contemporary studies considering the general category of migrants without focusing on the entry channel hence ignore an essential tile of the analysis. As a matter of fact, there is strong empirical evidence that the entrance channel determines the integration path of asylum seekers in European countries (Zimmermann, 2016). A direct consequence of forced migration is indeed the lack of any previous planning in the local labor market: those demanding international protection do not have the opportunity to invest specific human capital in advance. Moreover, and compared to other migration categories, asylum seekers often aim at entering countries who will accept them rather than those which they share economic links with. This collides with the improved perception of natives on migrants when those are selected according to the needs of the labor markets (Bauer, et al., 2000). As a result, forced migrants may face additional disadvantages

8

(Asylum) recognition rate is defined as the share of positive decisions in the total

number of asylum decisions for each stage of the asylum procedure. The total number of decisions consists of the sum of positive and negative decisions (Eurostat, 2016) 14

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compared to other migrants due to the forced and unexpected nature of their migration. This includes, for instance, inexistent preparation in terms of language and other pre-departure activities, severe trauma, having lost their documents attesting academic or professional qualifications and so on (European Commission, 2016). This, for instance, may bring refugees to work below their qualification level. Moreover, newly arrived migrants show an extremely diverse composition in terms of qualification, education level, skills and cultural adaptation potential. It is evident that asylum seekers reaching European shores represent a mixed group of people, whose need and potentials cannot certainly be addressed with one-size-fits-all solutions (European Commission, 2016).

Future forecasts on the duration of the crisis are also to be considered carefully. Uncertainty regarding the ending of the contemporary endemic conflicts creates a unique challenge compared to previous scenarios where Europe had to deal with inflows of refugees. Despite renewed diplomatic efforts, there is little hope for an early end to the fighting in Syria. In the same way, instability in Afghanistan and Iraq appears likely to persist in the near future. Similarly, it remains hard to see how the factors that prompt people to flee from Eritrea will soon vanish. Last but not least, instability and discrimination in Sub-Saharan African countries could give rise to further violence and generate a push for asylum applications (OECD, 2015). Other push factors could emerge in a number of other Middle Eastern countries facing serious security challenges that could fuel to new refugee flows (Lehne, 2016). As it is well understood that the inflow of refugees and migrants is likely to continue for years – and probably decades – a coherent, progressive integration of these individuals into the international community will be key, if not necessary, to avoid irreversible, negative externalities within the European Union labor market. 15

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1.2.

Impact of forced migration on the European labor market: myths and truths The size and particularity of the crisis described in the previous paragraphs must be taken in mind while speculating on the impact of the migration stream on European labor markets. Yet this analysis is a necessary but not sufficient condition to address correctly the challenge. As a matter of fact, the refugee crisis represents an even bigger threat considered the particularly critical economic moment European markets are experiencing in this decade. It could be argued that the international community is now facing two different, simultaneous challenges: an unfolding refugee crisis and a protracted economic impasse, which overlap and influence each other. Forced migrants started arriving in a situation of widespread and unprecedented disparity across Europe. Among other variables, the relentless rise unemployment in many Eurozone countries was the most evident and daunting effect of the credit crunch and the global, financial recession started late 2007. The upward trend taken by youth unemployment rates in many European states over the last few years has dramatically characterized the crisis in the euro area. At the time of the highest number of arriving asylum-requests, a quarter of young Europeans had no job and was confronted with alarming prospects as regards the possibility of finding employment. Specifically, youth unemployment rate has risen sharply from the second quarter of 2008 peaking in 23.9 % mid-2013, before falling back to 19.7 % at the end of 2015 (Eurostat, 2017). However, in spite of the daunting statistics, it is key to keep in mind that such unemployment rates are a larger problem that existed apart from the refugees’ wave. It represented (and still represents) a pre-existing condition which is not caused by the refugee crisis and nor does it have to be associated positively with the phenomenon.

16

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The refugees’ emergency in times of financial crisis helped creating untruthful myths in reference to its effects. The leading argument having a say in the public debate is probably the displacement effects on native workers. In fact, the most common worry from local residents is that asylum-seekers will “take over jobs”, especially unskilled ones. Since this kind of migrants often lack the language competencies necessary to do higher-paid or moredemanding tasks, a big irruption of refugees into a job market is deemed to cause wages at the lower-end of the job spectrum to fall (Swanson, 2015). Yet evidence-based research does not support the claim, showing that forced migrants — of any skill level — do not significantly affect native employment in the short term and boost employment in the long term (European Parliament, 2016). Natural experiments analyzing the effects of increased immigration in the past found no harmful effects on native workers. In northern Italy in the mid-1990s, for instance, refugees filled many manual labor-intensive jobs that had been abandoned. This enabled industry to expand, rather than shrink and recede, something that would have created even greater unemployment for any domestic workers (Constant, 2014). Other pieces of historical evidence corroborated the idea that lowskilled immigrants and low-skilled native workers often complement each other instead of displacing each other (Swanson, 2015). Furthermore, even if low-skilled immigrants may compete in the short term, the effect seems to be small and not statistically significant (Constant, 2014). A further, deeply-rooted perception is that refugees are mostly low-educated and for this reason unlikely to contribute positively to local economies. Contrary to public belief, refugees are generally not the poorest of the poor in their home country and tend to show higher skill-levels than the general population in their countries of origin. There are however remarkable differences across countries of origin and destination as well as across migration fluxes. As regards the 17

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current refugee crisis, the share of Syrian and Iraqis nationals owning a post-secondary diploma appears to be rather high. According to Statistics Sweden, more than 40% of Syrians in the country in 2014 have at least upper secondary education (European Parliament, 2016). Rising concerns by the public opinion about the consequences of the refugee crisis on welfare institutions and labor markets have been extremely politicized. The undoubtedly critical moment was immediately translated – and often magnified – by populist parties, xenophobic movements and a considerable share of the media into an image of refugees draining national economic resources and weighting on already unstable economies. Even those in favor of taking moral responsibility of helping refugees, such as the Human Rights Watch executive director Sarah Leah Whitson, have referred to sharing the financial "burden" of refugees (Swanson, 2015). Overall, the sensitivity of public opinion to migration issues, exiting a major economic crisis with high unemployment rates in several European countries, affects negatively the attempts to find a coordinated and unified solution to integration. (OECD, 2015). It could be argued that integration issues are acting like a catalyst in the midst of European Union’s biggest instability, being largely misused in the face of weak political structures.

Some concrete, short-term challenges do exist and have to be correctly addressed to avoid future, negative developments. According to Äslund and Rooth (2007), conditions of the labor market at the time of arrival greatly affect the speed of socio-economic integration. If immigrants enter the market in a period of high local unemployment, their employment rates and wage assimilation have been deemed to suffer for the upcoming years. This is especially relevant given the slow recovery of many European countries from today’s financial impasse. Considering the sovereign debt crises as a not manageable precondition, I will illustrate a few variables we do have the possibility to 18

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alter. First and foremost, in the first period after arrival the employment rate of refugees is at far lower levels compared to those of other migrants, before they catch up over time (OECD, 2014). Labor market integration needs considerable time: on EU average, it took between five and six years to reach a 50% employment rate and as much as 15 years to assimilate 70% of asylum-seekers into the workplace and converge towards the outcomes for the native born and labor migrants [see Figure 3] (European Parliament, 2016). As a result, short-term fiscal benefits on aggregate GDP at the European level are positive but small, whereas short-term fiscal costs of caring for forced migrants could be sizable in some countries. According to the IMF (2016), mean budgetary expenses9 for asylum seekers in EU countries increased by 0.05 and 0.1 percent of GDP in 2015 and 2016, respectively, compared to 201410. This situation is often due to bureaucratic and legal barriers that prevent migrants to get access to job-related services and employment while their asylum applications are being considered (Hatton 2013). As it is evident that labor-market outcomes crucially depend on how quickly and how well refugees are integrated (European Parliament, 2016), a quick entrance to local markets must be a political priority. Not addressing these needs would mean bearing even higher expenses: costs for public institutions of working refugees are much lower than non-active ones receiving some type of welfare benefits (Migration Policy Centre, 2016).

9

On a GDP-weighted basis

10

Austria, Finland, Sweden and Germany are expected to shoulder the largest

spending increases in 2016. 19

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Figure 3 Secondly, refugees’ payoffs are generally far diminished compared to both natives and other migrant groups. Studies suggest that economic performances of refugees may be less favorable than that of other migrants, not only in the short run (Ott 2013). This is mostly linked to the fact that – contrary to economic migrants – asylum seekers’ primary goal is to secure personal safety11 and not to maximize their employment outcomes. Consequently, country of destination is often chosen for humanitarian and welfare-related reasons (Lehne, 2016). At this regard, appropriate integration policies should assess and develop migrants’ skills while improving their matching with employers’ demands. According the LFS Module on the Labor Market Situation of Migrants and their Immediate Descendants (2008), involvement and coordination among refugees and stakeholders at the local level is key to obtain rewarding results for both actors. It also suggests taking stock of their qualifications and skills, elevate them to the standard required in the receiving country (“bridging” process) or lift them up to what is deemed the minimum level to succeed (“upskilling” process) (European Union Labour Force Survey, 2008).

11

It should be noted, however, that the current asylum seekers have a strong

preference for destinations with low unemployment rates, such as Germany, Austria, and Sweden. 20

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A further challenge could be – depending on the level of market flexibility – the eventuality of substitute labor12. Potential competition between domestic and foreign workers presenting the same skills could definitely alter the integration outcomes of the newly arrived workers. The complementarity13 of natives’ skills with those of the immigrants, in addition to the conditions of the economy and the magnitude of the immigration flow, emerges as a central variable for policy-makers to consider (Constant, 2014).

1.3.

Importance of an effective labor market integration Refugees’ socio-economic integration is a costly approach which clearly does not pay off immediately. Yet the public debate too often focuses on pitfalls of integration rather than on the development potential arising from migration. Although the short-term impact of these events on national growth is characterized by a fiscal spending shock, in the medium-term growth is normally driven by a labor supply shock that steadily raises outputs (European Commission, 2016). There is a widely-shared consensus among experts that, considered the permanent nature of the immigration wave, additional public spending on asylum-seekers absorption must be seen as an investment for the nearest future. Whether this investment will pay off in the longer run greatly depends on the efforts made in terms of labor-market participation and integration. Although there are many pieces of historical evidence and empirical studies proving several economic benefits of immigration, conclusions drawn by earlier research on migration need to be extrapolated with care in analyzing today’s

12

Substitute of replacement labor: workers who can serve in place of other workers

because they have similar skills and thus compete for positions; employers consider these workers to be identical. 13

Complementary or supplemental labor: workers who need to work together in

certain proportions to accomplish a task and thus who do not compete for positions. Employers need both substitutable and complementary workers. 21

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complex scenario. However, it is possible to identify two European points of weakness that would benefit from a long-term perspective on integration: an increasingly ageing society and an economy presenting massive sectorial gaps.

First and foremost, the recent immigration wave could reverse the alarming speed to which European populations are aging and shrinking. Issues related to the demographic dividend will inevitably gain momentum in the coming decades, considered its capacity of threatening the strength of European economies and the sustainability of welfare systems. According to Eurostat figures, between 2015 and 2035 the EU-28 population with 20–34 years of age will decline by almost 32 million (from 166.3 to 134.3 million), whereas the population with 65 years of age or more will increase by 37.7 million (to 133.6 million) (Migration Policy Centre, 2016). Over the same period, the average age of the European population would increase from 42.8 to 47 years, statistics say. As the large majority of them are below 35 years of age, forced migrants may provide a boost to the working age population, preserving in turn the potential for economic growth for years to come (Swanson, 2015). Already in 2015 almost 70 % of refugees were of working age14, which mirrors the inflows of asylum seekers observed in the following years. This age distribution appears more youthful compared to the native EU population, which presented a 62% share of working-age population in 2014 (European Commission, 2016). This consistent demographic resource is deemed to contribute to reduce national dependency rates (non-active/active population ratio) at least over the next 25 years. The estimated 5% increase in the EU population between 2015 and 2017 is correlated to an impressive, positive medium-term impact on labor workforce – levels equivalent to the

14

i.e. between 18 and 64 years old 22

Labor Market Integration of Forced Migrants in Italy

ones reached by Spanish growth rate thanks to EU Structural Funds in the 1990s (Migration Policy Centre, 2016). Asylum seekers are already, and will increasingly be, required to replace missing natives. In this sense, migrants reached our continent at an opportune moment (Migration Policy Centre, 2016). Clearly, the condition for the newly arrived at counter some of the adverse fiscal effects of population shrinking is for them to be cleverly absorbed into the labor market. On the one hand, creative policy frameworks have to be designed for integrating refugees in a way that benefits rather than damages locals. On the other hand, European policy-makers must be aware of the fact that overly rapid and uncontrolled influxes can overwhelm and strain nations’ absorbing capacities (Lehne, 2016).

Secondly, a successful and timely integration of migrants into the labor market could reduce unemployment levels. Asylum-seekers could successfully complement the local labor force rather than competing with it by providing skills at all levels that are needed, studies argue (Swanson, 2015). The low-skill profile of recent refugees and asylum seekers would not be an obstacle to growth, to the extent that, according to most analyses of current and forecast labor shortages in European labor markets, the vast majority of identified gaps are indeed related to low-qualified occupations (Migration Policy Centre, 2016). Migrants can improve the labor markets’ adjustment capacity to regional differences by applying for jobs in sectors where natives may be unwilling to work and by being more responsive than natives to regional differences in employment opportunities. According to the OECD the feature presented by migration and labor mobility to adapt to changes in the labor market conditions are key for European markets’ sustainability (European Commission, 2016). By doing so, they could even help creating more high-skilled jobs for natives – which 23

Labor Market Integration of Forced Migrants in Italy

are now more demanded. This is not the only way refugees could positively contribute to European growth. A consistent percentage of refugees shows higher skills and professional qualifications which can be seen as valuable human capital. In fact, the recent wave of asylum seekers seems better educated than past immigrants from the same countries of origin – a generation that was described by Germany’s President Joachim Gauck as “highly mobile, flexible, multilingual, motivated and willing to take risks” (Zimmermann, 2014). Last but not least, the long-term perspective characterizing the current migration wave supports the benefits of an effective integration. Forced migrants intend to settle in the hosting country and thus they should be more prone to enter in the socio-economic fabric of the community – with beneficial results for the domestic economy. Contrarily, if employers perceived migrants as temporary, they would be reluctant to invest in their human capital (Dustman, 2000). At this regard, this manuscript attempts to show in which ways is Italy trying to integrate migrants from a permanent view.

24

Labor Market Integration of Forced Migrants in Italy

Chapter 2. Italy: from emigration to “new immigration” country The widespread refugee crisis increasingly characterizing the European Community leaves no Member State excluded. However, the degree to which the flow harms or benefits European economies greatly varies among nations. This holds true for the different distribution of asylum-requests, for the contrasting financial status exhibited by national economies, but mostly for the extent of responsiveness showed by the countries in facing the crisis. In fact, European States appear unequally prepared and equipped in managing the migration flow. Among other factors, this predisposition can be attributed also to national migration histories. As opposed to long-dated and experienced immigration countries, the emergence of the so called new immigration countries in the last few decades clearly show the strain of forced migration on still untouched governments.

2.1.

New immigration country: a definition According to the most recent literature on migration, contemporary Europe is witnessing a “conceptual and geo-political widening of the migration issue” (Geddes & Scholten, 2003). In conceptual terms, there are not only new categories of migration but also new models of political response to this activity by national governments. In geo-political terms, the effects of migration have expanded from the sole Western Europe to incorporate more recent immigration countries in the Southern, Central and Eastern part of the continent (Geddes & Scholten, 2003). Within the European framework, Bauer et al. (2000) distinguish among three different categories of immigration countries, depending on the country-specific history of migration:

1) Traditional, post-colonial immigration countries (predominantly the United Kingdom, France and the Netherlands), who have delivered 25

Labor Market Integration of Forced Migrants in Italy

explicit immigration policies already since early 1920s. These Nations are characterized by restricted native minorities but present long histories of immigration from various source countries. As a result, they can boast a long experience of social integration and either officially

recognized

or

de

facto

multicultural

communities

(Triandafyllidou, 2013);

2) Active recruitment immigration countries (Austria, Germany and Sweden), who were induced to open their doors for foreign immigration by the intense economic growth and the resulting labor shortages starting from the second half of the 1950s. In this view, immigrants were considered as a temporary occurrence. The selective immigration policy for Gastarbeiter (guest workers) in postwar Germany is a clear example: under the so-called rotation principle, industry-specialized migrants entered Germany for a stipulated period and were then required to return home to be replaced by other guest workers.

3) New immigration countries (Italy, Portugal and Spain), a recent generation of countries characterized by a sudden inflow of immigrants starting from the late 1970s. Difefrently from the previous categories, these Nations are hit almost exclusively by severe and unexpected forced migrations. This group also encompasses Greece and Hungary, which are not included in Bauer’s classification because of the very recent migratory phenomenon marking their territories.

By definition, the concept of new immigration country logically implies a previous, contrasting emigration history and negative net migration rates. The turning point for these emigration countries to undergo such a demographic transformation was the 1970s: in this decade, the divide separating the receiving societies of Europe from the sending nations visibly shifted south, running through the 26

Labor Market Integration of Forced Migrants in Italy

Mediterranean Sea. In fact, Southern countries like Portugal, Spain, Italy, and Greece were the main protagonists of such phenomenon. Their first experience of a (limited) positive net immigration followed the cease in labor recruitment by Northern European countries in the first half of the 1970s, and thus the return of natives to their home countries. Return migration first exceeded emigration in Italy in 1972, in Spain and Greece in 1975, and in Portugal in 1981 (King, 1993). A second transformation phase took place in 1990s, when the largest share of immigrants were non-nationals and, particularly in Italy, part of them came from outside the European Community. In 1994, for instance, Italy experienced an inflow of 99,105 individuals, of which 46.8% were natives, 6.8% EU-citizens, and 46.4% from non-EUcountries (Bauer, et al., 2000). Greece and Spain were also marked by massive migration inflows in the early 1990s.

2.2.

Italian migration history The transition of Italy from sending to “new” receiving country is very representative of the common historical path presented by Southern European countries. Even before National Unity in 1861, Italy was a junction of departures to foreign countries, including numerous inner migrations: for almost a century, Italy represented one of the leading emigration countries in Europe. The sizeable amount of Italian emigration from 1876 to the early 1980s was beyond 26 million, with a relative flow of returnees of only 9 million (Bonifazi, et al., 2009). Considering its evolution from 1876 to the second half of the 1970s, when net migration became positive, we can identify four main stages of Italian emigration: the departure for other European destinations up until 1885; the so called Italian diaspora to the Americas until the start of the first world war – when figures increased the most; migration to nearby European countries from the end of the First World War until 1930; and a renewed attractiveness exerted by emigration at the end of the Second World War (OECD, 2014). 27

Labor Market Integration of Forced Migrants in Italy

Italy must be considered a country of emigration until this second half of 1970s, when demographic situation dramatically changed due to a massive net migration that transformed Italy into a proper immigration country. As a matter of fact, the general increase and diversification of global migration of the 1980s led vast flows of asylum-seekers to reach the peninsula. The political turbulence of the 1990s – especially the large East-West diaspora after the fall of the Iron Curtain and the war in former Yugoslavia – gave rise to important new migration episodes. Yet the true, exponential increase in arrivals was caused by relevant international conflicts and persecutions taking place in both African, Southern- and Western Asiatic areas during the first decade of the 2000s [Figure 4]. The location of the Italian region at the “soft underbelly” of the EU (Triandafyllidou, 2013), sitting at the crossroads of several Mediterranean migration pathways to Europe (particularly via Libya or Tunisia), determined ultimately the magnitude and the composition of its migrants’ population.

Figure 4

Although Italian status with respect to forced immigration only changed in the last two decades, part of the underlying forces leading to it have been in progress for some time (Bauer, et al., 2000). Factors 28

Labor Market Integration of Forced Migrants in Italy

contributing to these changes include lenient to inexistent immigration control mechanisms and relevant migration pressures from neighboring states (Freeman, 1995). Most important, the rapid economic growth in the period precedent to immigration15 and a high degree of informal economy created by segmented labor markets provided attractive employment opportunities for immigrants during the 1990s and 2000s (Triandafyllidou, 2013) – creating space for irregular migrants16.

2.3.

Profiles of the new migrant17 cohort in Italy In order to pursue a well-founded analysis on the effectiveness of Italian policies in the labor-market integration dimension, the sociodemographic characteristics of the recent cohort of asylum seekers have to be taken into consideration. Only by considering migrants’ specifics it is possible to understand how these could eventually contribute to the country’s social and economic development in the long-term. As mentioned in the previous chapters, Italian most recent forced migrations are not totally representative other Member States situation. Up-to-date figures on the magnitude and composition of the new asylum-seekers population in Italy will be displayed and compared to the European dimension. Variables such as the number of asylum requests, rate of approval on the total asylumrequests, gender distribution, age distribution, and – to some extent – the educational and skills’ level of refugees are considered.

Statistical data on the national rate of newcomers confirms the

15

Largely financed through public projects and EU subsidies.

16

According to Maria Baganha (2000:170), “economic informality is a distinctive

feature in southern Europe migratory process”. 17

In this chapter, the concept of “new migrants” is identified with asylum-seekers

and beneficiaries of humanitarian or international protection, not with general migrants. 29

Labor Market Integration of Forced Migrants in Italy

emergence of Italy as a new immigration country. According to the most recent statistical evidence provided by Eurostat (2016), during the second semester of 2016 Italy has been the country from OCSE showing the highest number of arrivals (in both absolute and population-relative terms) and the second country – after Germany – receiving the most asylum-applications [See Table 1]. In the first semester of 2016 53.729 requests were lodged in Italy – representing a 64% increase compared to the same period of 2015 – whereas they more than doubled at the end of the year. This figure exponentially increased this year, with 24,209 asylum seekers applying only in the first two months of 2017 (Eurostat, 2017).

30

Labor Market Integration of Forced Migrants in Italy

TABLE 1 - FIRST TIME APPLICANTS IN EU MEMBER STATES, NORWAY AND SWITZERLAND 2015

2016

EU

1,257,030

1,204,280

AUSTRIA

85,505

39,875

BELGIUM

38,990

14,250

BULGARIA

20,165

18,990

SWITZERLAND

38,060

25,820

CYPRUS

2,105

2,840

CZECH REPUBLIC

1,235

1,200

GREECE

441,800

49,875

GERMANY

20,825

722,265

DENMARK

225

6,055

ESTONIA

11,370

150

SPAIN

14,600

15,570

FINLAND

32,150

5,275

FRANCE

70,570

76,790

CROATIA

140

2,150

HUNGARY

174,435

28,215

IRELAND

3270

2,235

ICELAND

:

1,100

ITALY

83,245

121,185

LIECHTENSTEIN

:

75

LITHUANIA

275

415

LUXEMBOURG

2,360

2,065

LATVIA

330

345

MALTA

1,695

1,735

NETHERLANDS

43,035

19,285

NORWAY

30,470

3,240

POLAND

10,255

9,780

PORTUGAL

870

710

ROMANIA

1,225

1,855

SWEDEN

156,110

22,330

SLOVENIA

260

1,265

SLOVAKIA

270

100

UNITED KINGDOM

39,720

38,290

Source: Eurostat Number of first time applicants is rounded to the nearest 5. Calculations are based on exact data. : Data not available

- Not applicable

31

Labor Market Integration of Forced Migrants in Italy

In a comparative view with the European Union, asylumapplicants seem to considerably increase in Italy while decreasing at the overall EU level the same year [See Figure 5].

Figure 5

Not all of these applicants will eventually enter the Italian labormarket. The increasing trend in applications’ number – meaning 1.998 asylum applicants per million inhabitants18 (Eurostat, 2017) – is still a gross number to be evaluated by the competent authority according to the RSD (Refugee Status Determination) parameters. RSD is the legal or administrative process by which governments or UNHCR19 determine whether a person seeking international protection is considered a refugee under international, regional or national law (European Parliament and the Council, 2013). In the Italian case, recent data on asylum recognition rates show a markedly high percentage of rejection. In 2016, only 40% asylum-applicants were granted asylum: a total of 36 660 individuals received protection, whereas more than 54 000 asylum-seekers saw that protection denied [Figure 6]. The situation remained unaltered this year. Although RSD trends should be

18

Inhabitants refer to the resident population at 1 January 2016

19

When states are unable or unwilling to do it 32

Labor Market Integration of Forced Migrants in Italy

assessed over time – only 13,813 asylum claims have been considered up to now – 2017 statistics so far show an overall international protection rate of 18% (10% refugee status; 8% subsidiary protection), and a 23% humanitarian protection rate. This means that only 41% of individuals have been granted asylum (Ministry of Interior, 2017).

Figure 6

Applicants for international or humanitarian protection in Italy are a very exceptional entity within the Italian immigration dimension. Differently from other migrant categories or from the Italian native population itself, asylum-seekers appear disproportionally young and male. Generally speaking, in the last few years almost 90% of individuals seeking protection were men, whereas the female proportion has been very restricted. According to Eurostat (2017), among all applications lodged in the first three months of this year 20,479 (85%) were men, while 3,730 (15%) were women. The majority of them are very young: individuals in working age (from 18 to 34 years old) reach 80% of the total applicants, distancing themselves from all the other age groups [see Figure 7].

33

Labor Market Integration of Forced Migrants in Italy

Figure 7

The potential (and probable) impact of these specifics of the newly arrived on Italian demographics is clearly visible. According to Confindustria (2016), Italian population from the 2000s until the present moment20 would have drastically decreased without the contribution of newly arrived migrants. Due to the sharp increase in arrivals and the higher fecundity of the new applicants compared to natives, the national population has risen from 3,7% to 9,7%. Foreign immigration should even increase in order to stop the current demographic recession, experts say (Confindustria, 2016). The positive consequence of this increase, along with granting a younger and more prosperous society, is the creation of a longer-lived, promising workforce. Moreover, as most refugees are very young, they represent – at least in the short term – a derisory cost for the national welfare system. Contrary to public perception, individuals granted asylum do not weight consistently on Italian financial resources, since they do not access social security services as pensions and health assistance. The main source countries of asylum-seekers since the beginning of 2017 have greatly changed compared to statistics of the 20

Data collected by the Confindustria Studies Center stop in June 2016. 34

Labor Market Integration of Forced Migrants in Italy

year before, or even more to those of 2015. Nigeria appears to be the first country of origin, reaching alone the 23% of the total asylumrequests; it is followed by The Gambia (8%); Bangladesh (7%); Senegal (7%); Côte d’Ivoire (7%) (Istat, 2017). Applicants with these five nationalities represent more than half of the total requests. Pakistan, Guinea, Mali and Eritrea come next. Requests by Somali, Iraqi and Syrian nationals are very limited in number compared to previous years. This trend mostly mirrors 2016 ranks, with the exception of the decrease in number of Pakistan applications, substituted by a remarkable increase in requests from Bangladesh [Figure 8].

Figure 8

Although up-to-date and reliable data regarding skills and educational qualifications of asylum seekers in italy are lacking, it is possible to identify some major trends in their labor market potential. Compared to refugees’ composition of other Member States, and due to the country they come from, refugees in Italy do not show an elevate degree of education and/or skills. Contrary to other European

35

Labor Market Integration of Forced Migrants in Italy

countries characterized by an high influx of Syirians21, Italy cannot boast a high-skilled immigrant population due to the massive entity of Subsaharian nationals (Istat, 2017). This situation has two different prospects. On the one hand, Italian refugees are more vulnerable in view of the unstable economic flow and thus more exposed to underpaid and underqualified jobs. Also, this situation could raise work informality in sectors like labor intensive cultivation, family owned businesses and other traditional sectors where new and affordable labor force could be easily exploited (Triandafyllidou, 2013). On the other hand, the benefits of a young, low-skilled workforce are considerable and at least two-fold. First of all, this kind of human capital could be channeled into specific economic sectors suffering the most from a lack of manual workforce: historically speaking, refugees have been often involved in basic jobs natives have abandoned (Bauer, et al., 2000). Secondly, low qualification degrees rarely harm natives’ employment rates. As claimed by several studies, less trained individuals fuel local economies by pushing natives to perform in high-level jobs (Confindustria, 2016). Therefore, an exhaustive identification of national market demand trends is required to achieve foreign and local job complementarity. An interesting initiative at this regard was promoted by the Italian UnionCamere: its Excelsior investigation aims at mapping labor demand from 100 000 businesses and producing an estimate of the required workforce – also from asylum-seekers – at the national level (Confindustria, 2016).

2.4.

Lack of a defined integration model The rapid evolution of the migration crisis and the unexpected scale of the migration wave left Italy unprepared. As a recently emerged receiving country, the Italian government and its institutional 21

Germany emerges as the top host country for Syrian nationals, granting asylum

status to 166,520 Syrians in 2016 (Eurostat, 2017). 36

Labor Market Integration of Forced Migrants in Italy

structures were strained by the challenging task of absorbing and integrating the new – and mostly unskilled – arrivals into the Italian labor market. The result was an institutional and administrative impasse that still lasts today. Even before developing economicspecific measures, what Italy lacks is a national guideline that can pave the way for future integration developments. Although the concept of “integration model” is normally used to measure the general, social impact of integration (which is not the focus of the study), it is here considered to analyze its potential economic implications. Generally speaking, European societies have elaborated a wide range of integration models, of both ethnocentric and universalist nature. These vary from the French assimilationism to the British and Dutch multiculturalism, from the Scandinavian welfarism to the Belgian identity-regulatory model (Guolo, 2009). Because of the very young nature of the Italian migratory phenomenon, a consistent integration model has not been identified yet – let alone its implementation. However, this factor has been too often presented by political

authorities

as

the

only

reason

for

the

national

unresponsiveness to the crisis. Although it is an important variable to keep in mind while identifying the problems of Italian reception and integration, it is not the only intervening factor. Proof of that is the fact that other European countries, also for the first time challenged by such a crisis, have shown more responsiveness to the issue. Instead, a key factor was (and is) the obstinate understanding of the increasing immigration as a temporary emergency. Although it originally emerged as such, recent statistics and forecasts have proved the long-term future of this forced migration flow. Nevertheless, this misconception has not changed until now, hindering the potential creation of a national integration model. It is no coincidence that the only legal standard on which the Italian immigration policy rests is the

37

Labor Market Integration of Forced Migrants in Italy

Ius Sanguinis22: determining citizenship by having one or both parents who are citizens of the state (and not by place of birth), this principle considers forced migrants as a transitory phenomenon. The lack of a national guideline also influences the representation of the asylum-seeker itself. National authorities and public policies play a key role in producing and shaping understandings of international migration. According to Geddes & Scholten (2003), political institutions greatly shape the understanding of forced migration and generate inclusion or exclusion. Welfare state ideologies have had important effects on the categorization of migrants: they can be either portrayed as “diversity-bearer migrants that could help improve the welfare state” or as “asylum seekers that drain national resources”. Therefore, migration is a dependent variable of national policies and, as such, the latter should be carefully developed to avoid real challenges at the social and political level (Geddes & Scholten, 2003). This shall not be translated into a centralized, one-size-fits-all system, but into a coherent foundation that is shareable among the different actors. Forced migration has become a central issue in Italy – especially due to the advent of political parties which manipulate facts in their favor, acting like “political entrepreneurs of xenophobia” (Guolo, 2009). Political contrasts on immigration do happen also in other European countries, but in those cases contrasts take place on a clearly marked ground that is defined by a symbolic dimension which is given by a national integration model. In Italy, this missing institutional framework has been substituted by a fragile infrastructure of improvised authorities: the judiciary, the police, third sector and voluntary organizations, education bodies and local initiatives (Guolo, 2009). This led to the creation of a “non-model” full of contradictions, which is not able to formulate and implement adequate and specific public policies in this field.

22

Act No. 91 of 5 February 1992, Article 1 38

Labor Market Integration of Forced Migrants in Italy

Chapter 3. What has Italy done so far? 3.1.

Italian legal framework The lack of a defined, national model of integration and related policy actions have some visible consequences. First of all, the Italian “non-model” stands out within the European order for its rather fragmented allocation of legal responsibility in the development of integration policies among national, regional and local authorities. Secondly, Italian immigration policy never particularly addressed specific socioeconomic issues. Instead, it was mainly directed towards the legal terms of the crisis, such as the organization of legal entry, the prevention of further illegal immigration and the legalization of illegal workers (Freeman, 1995). Moreover, the lack of a coherent model led to the emergence of a universalistic approach: the Italian legal system does not reject nor assimilate, it equally considers all individuals in need of assistance to avoid competition between the large Italian unemployed population and the newly arrived foreign nationals (OECD, 2014). In more recent times, there has been a closer look at the situation of forced migrants. Given the lack of explicit political position on socio-economic integration and the lack of tailored measures addressing forced migrants, the legal support during the phase preceding the access to the labor market has become even more crucial. At the present moment, the few existing labor market integration policies are built on the legal possibilities of forced migrants to work. As it is the legal status that determines his/her actual entrance into the labor market, it is important to understand that access to the Italian job market changes according to the subject at issue. Do international protection applicants have, in general, access to the labour market? According to the 2013 recast of the Reception Conditions Directive, “Member States shall ensure that applicants have access to the labour market no later than 9 months from the date when 39

Labor Market Integration of Forced Migrants in Italy

the application for international protection was lodged (European Parliament and the Council, 2013). Individuals seeking international protection represent the most critical case among all legal profiles. The decision on their working possibilities implies a trade-off. On the one hand, the right to access the Italian labor market at an earlier stage might be crucial for speeding up the integration process, as inactivity usually deteriorates integration prospects (European Parliament, 2016). On the other hand, granting asylum seekers the unconditional right to work may leave the asylum channel prone to abuse by those seeking a job rather than international protection (OECD, 2016). In response to this risk, most countries have moved to restrict access to the labour market either to asylum seekers from groups with a high chance of recognition, or only after an initial waiting period (OECD, 2016). Germany, for instance, limits the access through skills tests after 15 months from the arrival, whilst France applies restrictions in terms of access to some public sectors or some legal professions (Confindustria, 2016). As far as concerns the Italian case, none of the abovedescripted restrictions has been established, whereas entrance to the labour market is allowed after only two months from the presentation of the demand for international protection23. This permit is given in the form of a “residence permit for asylum application” issued by the police authorities, which allows access to the labour market without any other document being required (OECD, 2014). This provision was introduced on 18 August 2015, amending the previous Reception Decree24 which envisaged a waiting period of 6 months from the moment they filled the asylum application. The current stay permit can be renewed until a decision on the status is taken, but it cannot be converted in a work stay permit25 (AIDA, 2016). 23

Article 22(1) LD 142/2015, implementing Directive 2013/33/EU

24

Article 11(1) and (3) LD 140/2005

25

Article 22(2) LD 142/2015 40

Labor Market Integration of Forced Migrants in Italy

When

talking

about

asylum-seekers,

an

important

consideration that is often made is the time of access into national labor markets (Confindustria, 2016). In the Italian case, however, initial inactivity has little impact on integration prospects. Compared to other Member States, Italy presents a very swift entrance to labor market for individuals seeking refuge: among the countries most affected in terms of number of first-time applications26, Italy shows the shortest waiting period. It is followed by Germany (3 months), Spain (6 months), France (9 months) (European Parliament, 2016). The situation seems rather different – and even faster – for those who are already given some kind of international protection. As a matter of fact, full labour market access is usually granted to all recognized refugees (European Parliament, 2016). Foreign nationals who receive refugee status or subsidiary protection are provided with a five-year renewable residency permit, which can be transformed into a working permit. The holder of a permit for humanitarian protection receives a permit for only two years, but they otherwise have the same rights as holders of subsidiary protection. Finally, there is also the possibility of granting temporary protection to individuals coming from crisis-ridden areas for six months. This allows holders to work, and can be, at a later date, transformed into a permit for humanitarian protection (OECD, 2014). The residence permit issued to international and humanitarian protection beneficiaries allows access to work and even to public employment. It allows refugees to be treated as natives in terms of paid employment, self-employment and inclusion on professional registers, vocational training and on-the-job training27. They receive native citizen access to the economic welfare state which implies the possibility of receiving income support for old age, invalidity, maternity

26

Mainly Spain, Greece and Hungary.

27

Law No. 154 of 7 October 2014 41

Labor Market Integration of Forced Migrants in Italy

and large families28. Differently from other European neighbors, the Italian government does not issue labour market tests for access to employment, nor limits working time or entrance into specific working sectors. The nearly full equivalence between natives and migrants in terms of legal possibilities appear as an optimal starting basis, but do not actually translate into equal access to the working world: due to other contextual factors, refugees do not have the same resources to access the market. Despite repeated suggestions, a tailored program for the labour-market integration of this vulnerable working category has not been designed yet - nor does the Ministry of labour report on “Migrants in the Italian Labour market” (2015) present any information on the assimilation of asylum or internationally protected individuals.

3.2.

Influence of EU intervention on the national dimension There are two significant circumstances within which national political reaction to the refugee crisis is being fashioned: one domestic and the other external. The domestic factor is the near complete absence, as it was mentioned, of any institutional mechanisms able to manage the flux or administrative experience as to planning or regulating immigration. This is completely true for all states experiencing their first mass immigration, because the shift there from sender to receiver has been so fast and unanticipated. The external factor is the role of the European Union in influencing (or not) immigration decisions as it moves toward further integration and deals with the asylum crisis (Freeman, 1995). Recent literature highlights the remarkable influence exerted by the EU on past Italian integration measures of foreign immigrants. According to Bauer (2000), the Italian national immigration policy prior to the 2013 emergency was mainly driven from outside, i.e. by the

28

Three minors or more. 42

Labor Market Integration of Forced Migrants in Italy

influence of other EU countries in managing the inflow of refugees. Freeman (1995) also supports this point of view and describes past links between Italian and EU policy as “systematic and profound”, while Martiniello (1992) states that "Italian migration policy is largely inspired by the European policies (…) and by the orientation proposed by the European Community in terms of 1985 migration policy". However, in the light of the very recent increase in asylumseekers approaching the continent, the support and influence of the European Union was hugely reduced. In fact, scarce effort was made by the Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs of the European Commission – the highest authority in the field – to promote an effective refugee-specific economic integration in the various Member States. This institutional gap is visible in every single dimension of European integration policy-making: the lack regards soft law instruments, knowledge-exchange mechanisms and financial investments (Migration Policy Institute, 2017).

All EU soft law instruments in this field rest upon the Common Basic Principles for Immigrant Integration Policy in the EU (2004), which represent the almost unique legal guideline that can be used by Member States in designing and implementing labor-market integration policies. Article 3 of the Common Basic Principles declares: “Employment is a key part of the integration process and is central to the participation of immigrants, to the contributions immigrants make to the host society, and to making such contributions visible” (Justice and Home Affairs Council, 2004). Although this principle constitutes the foundation of all EU initiatives in the field of integration, it clearly does not address asylum-specific issues. As a matter of fact, at the center of the debate stands the general “labor immigration”, presented “as a key role to play in driving economic development in the long term and aims at addressing current and future demographic challenges in the EU” (European Parliament, 2016). 43

Labor Market Integration of Forced Migrants in Italy

The scarce attention shown towards more vulnerable forced migrants has remained unchanged until now. On 16 March 2016, the Joint Statement on the Refugee Crisis presented by several crossindustry social partners at the Tripartite Social Summit stressed the importance of “refugees' integration in training, employment and society in general and pleading for a comprehensive solution towards skills analysis and validation, taking into account economic needs” (European Commission , 2016); again, these measures cover the conditions for integration of third-country nationals in general, including highly qualified workers, seasonal workers and intracorporate transferees. The same happens within initiatives such as the European Agenda on Migration (2015) and the New Skills Agenda for Europe (2016), or regulations like the EU Blue Card Directive (2009) and the Single Permit Directive (2011). These measures surely foster European economy’s potential by attracting high-skilled workers from outside Europe, but do not address refugees’ specific needs.

As regards knowledge-exchange dynamics, a few Directives tried to lay down general standards for the reception of applicants for international protection in Member States. The Qualification Directive (2011/95/EU), for instance, envisages equal treatment of refugees and nationals. Article 26, Paragraph 2 explicitly refers to the need for labour market support measures for beneficiaries of international protection: Member States shall ensure that activities such as employment-related education opportunities for adults, vocational training, practical workplace experience and counselling

services afforded by

employment offices are offered to beneficiaries of international protection, under equivalent conditions as nationals. This statement makes it clear that all available services should be offered to refugees in a broader sense, including beneficiaries of subsidiary protection. More recently, some basic guidelines have been given to Member States as result of recent comparative studies in different European 44

Labor Market Integration of Forced Migrants in Italy

countries. Starting from nation-specific best practices, a list of key elements for effective economic integration have been identified to serve as templates for Member States integration policies. However, these are very general measures addressing a likewise general category of migrants. An example of this reality is visible in the Action Plan for Third Country Nationals (European Commission, 2016), which highlights the following standard requirements: •

Fast track insertion into the labour market through activities such as early assessment of skills and qualifications, combined language and on-the-job training, job-guidance and mentoring.



Removal of legal obstacles to ensure effective access to vocational training and later to the national labour market for both refugees and asylum seekers with high recognition rate.



National support to third country nationals’ entrepreneurship through tailored business training and an access to mainstream entrepreneurship support structures.

A more relevant impact on the national ground is exerted by EU financial support. Among other scattered contributions, a major role is covered by the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF), set up for the period 2014-202029 with a total of EUR 3.1 billion for the seven years. The EU program aims at supporting legal migration to EU States in line with the labour market needs and promoting an effective integration of non-EU nationals. It gathers various financial instruments such as the European Fund for the Integration of ThirdCountry Nationals (EIF), the Refugee European Fund (ERF) and the European Return Fund (RF), and substitutes the previous “Solidarity and Management of Migration Flows” Program (SOLID), which allocated almost 4 billion euros in the period going from 2007 to 2013. Italy surely benefitted from this financial support, receiving an overall

29

UE Regulation No. 516/2014 45

Labor Market Integration of Forced Migrants in Italy

€ 315 million contribute from the European side30. For instance, AMIF sponsors a number of Italian language courses that are carried out by the Regional Directorate for Education (European Parliament, 2016). In spite of the quite consistent investment, no notice is made relevant to refugee-specific measures in the program. Also, no detailed explanation is given regarding the exact allocation of funds among the projects aiming at a general “socioeconomic inclusion process of foreign nationals” (Ministry of Interior, 2017).

The marginal support given to Italy – in both financial and administrative terms – by the European Union for the promotion of an effective integration is evident. On both formal and informal level, “integration is primarily a national competence” (European Parliament, 2016). Paradoxically, it could be argued that the European Union still influences Italy in a massive way: this time not through a pervasive, supranational action but by a non-action. The fact that Europe does not address the issue, in spite of the economic implications of the refugee crisis, leaves an institutional gap that the Italian government needs to fill. This can imply either a negative or a positive turn.

3.3.

Ordinary integration measures: the SPRAR The European community showed obstinacy in promoting political measures which only addressed emergency, short-term measures instead of providing durable solutions for integration. Dimensions such as emergency borders’ security and limitation of illegal immigration dominated still dominate the international political agenda (UNHCR, et al., 2016). This institutional gap had to be complemented – or even entirely covered – by the emergence of national guidelines setting conditions for long-term (labor market) 30

A further financial contribute of € 315.355.777,00 is given by the Italian Ministry

of Economics and Finance 46

Labor Market Integration of Forced Migrants in Italy

integration of migrants. In the Italian case, no uniform system is to be found: the national strategy is characterized by an evolving network of actors, funding institution and decisional levels which make impossible to draw a homogeneous strategy. Even though there is no model, the country did witness a progressive stabilization of national integration measures, from both financial and administrative point of view. These are entirely dependent on the national reception system, which is articulated in three different phases: •

First aid and assistance, emergency operations that take place in centers located in the principal places of disembarkation;



First-line reception, which aims at supporting migrants with basic services in prevision of a future integration in the host country’s social framework. This phase must be implemented either in existing collective centers31 or, in case of unavailability of places, in “temporary” structures; and



Second-line reception, which aims at facilitating and fully achieving migrants’ integration in the host country, also by promoting standard measures for their labor market assimilation. This stage is carried out by the System for the Protection of Asylum Seekers and Refugees (SPRAR)

According to the Legislative Decree 142/2015, it is within the socalled “second-line reception” that the challenging task of effectively incorporate the new arrivals into Italian local realities takes place. At first, this had to be carried out exclusively by the SPRAR: established in 2002 by L 189/2002 (so-called Bossi-Fini Law), it should have constituted the first – and only – national system intended to manage

31

First reception system in Italy involves four different type of structures: First Aid

and Reception Centers (CPSA); Reception Centers (CDA); Identification and Expulsion Centers (CIE); and Asylum Seekers Reception Centers (CARA), the only centers specifically designed for forced migrants. 47

Labor Market Integration of Forced Migrants in Italy

asylum seekers and refugees’ assistance. However, the 2015 unexpected surge in migration completely mismatched the forecasts of the ordinary reception scheme, which resulted highly inadequate for its original purpose. As a result, a great amount of first-line reception centers were converted into “temporary” substitutes of the SPRAR centers and authorized to offer similar services to these (a system which was later called extraordinary reception). In both procedures, however, national authority is limited to monitoring the interventions, whereas their implementation and development is an exclusive competence of regional and local governments (Eurocities, 2016). The creation of the SPRAR – originally known as the Asylum National

Program

(PNA)32,

an

experimental

project

later

institutionalized – represented a turning point in the Italian integration policy. First of all, reception and integration were considered for the first time as a proper, coordinated system to be designed; secondly, reception procedures abandoned the private dimension to enter the public sector. Indeed, the SPRAR was presented as the first publicly funded network of local authorities and NGOs accommodating beneficiaries of international protection ad asylum seekers who have already formalized their applications (AIDA, 2016). The result is a highly-decentralized, nation-wide system involving both national and local institutions. Admission to the SPRAR centers is often enabled by the Central System after signals of third parties (judicial bodies, prefectures, associations) and by their synergy with third sectors subjects (NGOs, cooperatives, associations) that massively contribute to the realization of these projects. In fact, the system is composed, on the one hand, by local authorities responsible for the projects and, on the other hand, by third sector organizations that carry out their implementation. At 32

Programma Nazionale Asilo, launched in 2001 (Memorandum of Understanding

ANCI-UNHCR) 48

Labor Market Integration of Forced Migrants in Italy

the moment, 640 projects are active and they include different type of reception structures: beneficiaries can be hosted in apartments, collective centers or small to medium dimension centers. A peculiarity of this system is the voluntary nature of the participation in the various reception projects. For instance, local institutions can choose the type of reception to implement and the profile of “guests” to include33 (Di Capua & Giovannetti, 2016). The ultimate objective of the SPRAR – which mirrors the national approach to integration – is the so-called “integrated reception”. According to the most recent national guidelines, reception should not only provide the implementation of basic, material services (i.e. room and board), but also offer the instruments needed to achieve selfempowerment (SPRAR, 2016). SPRAR’s main goal is to enable refuges and asylum seekers to win back their lost individual autonomy and emancipate them from initial assistance. As a result, asylum seekers and refugees are placed in the middle of the debate while designing local measures for integration. These individuals are not considered passive beneficiaries of Italian assistance, but active protagonists of their own inclusion path. Following this premise, integration becomes an individual and structured itinerary that allows vulnerable individuals to re-gain decisional and planning capacities. This integrated method is visible in all the nine categories that compose the SPRAR standard program: health assistance, social assistance, multicultural activities, educational integration of minors, linguistic and cultural mediation, legal orientation, housing placement, job placement and general education services. Within its holistic approach, the SPRAR places a great emphasis on the labor market integration interventions (SPRAR, 2016). In the national view, the importance of work is central to the re-creation of migrants’ perceptions and to their effective social inclusion (Justice and Home 33

The SPRAR Manual (2016) sets standard levels for the services offered and general

restrictions for local authorities to be respected. 49

Labor Market Integration of Forced Migrants in Italy

Affairs Council, 2004). For this reason, asylum seekers or beneficiaries of international protection accommodated in the SPRAR system are supported in their process by means of individualized and tailored projects. To do this, facilitating service as the Job Placing offices (Centri per l’Impiego) are made available in all SPRAR centers. These offices, open to both natives and foreign workers, provide information on the job market, skill mapping for the candidate, counselling and advice on the most appropriate courses organized by regional governments. In large cities, there are also additional services called “Sportelli di orientamento al lavoro” to help to find jobs organized by the local municipality (European Parliament, 2016). As regards instruments specifically addressing labor market integration, the SPRAR Manual envisages the following activities34:

34



IDA (Adults’ Education)



Competences’ evaluation



Competences certification



Study and/or professional qualification recognition



Curriculum Vitae



Professional training courses



Permanent training courses



Educational and illustrative internships



Employment bursary



Employment vouchers



Apprenticeship



Job search process



Job interview preparation



Self-employment opportunities35

Note that these are standard measures which are not always made available at the

regional/local level. 35

Self-employment is work or service performed directly, without the constraints of

subordinated

employment.

The

universe

of

self-employment

includes:

entrepreneurship, hand-crafting, trade and commerce, the professions both 50

Labor Market Integration of Forced Migrants in Italy

Two major inefficiencies have been detected at the content level. First of all, SPRAR procedures do not include a post-integration phase: the support provided ends as soon as the jobseeker finds a job, although there could be measures ensuring this at local level. Secondly, the teaching of Italian language is not consistent enough. Considering the minimum level required to access the employment dimension in Italy (equivalent to A2 level within the CEFR36), the level provided by the majority of local SPRAR desks is not sufficient to satisfy this requirement (SPRAR, 2016). By evaluating the general results of the SPRAR, the system definitely appears as the most consistent and organic approach to labor-market integration on the whole Italian ground, as well as a flagship experiment for the national government. However, recent evidence highlights a major, structural problem. As it was mentioned before, this ordinary procedure is not adequate to cover the numbers of Italian immigration and its needs. According to recent statistical reports, the SPRAR network was accommodating by end 2015 not even 25% of the 78 thousand asylum seekers living on Italian ground (Peri, 2015). More than 10.000 people were then hosted in government centers, whereas 73% of forced migrants were living in “temporary” reception structures (Fondazione Leone Moressa, 2016). Moreover, the overall distribution of asylum seekers and refugees on the national area was and is greatly unbalanced. In fact, almost 70% of SPRAR structures are gathered in just five regions: Lazio (23,2%), Sicilia (22,6%), Calabria (9,1%), Puglia (8,8%) and Campania (5,3%). On the contrary, regions like Friuli Venezia Giulia, Veneto e Trentino Alto

regulated and non-regulated. Italian law makes it possible for foreign nationals to “work in an industrial, professional, artisan or trade capacity, set up profit-making companies or partnerships, or become a company bearer” (Art 26 (2) Legislative Decree 286/1998). 36

Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching,

Assessment. 51

Labor Market Integration of Forced Migrants in Italy

Adige reach 1% on the total [See Figure 9].

Figure 9

3.4.

Extraordinary integration measures The scarce subscription to SPRAR projects in several regions and the overall inadequacy of its capacity inevitably led to the emergence of complementary procedures. After the exponential increase in arrivals in 2015, the recourse to alternative, “temporary” structures – originally designed for first-line reception procedures – marked the beginning of what is now called the “extraordinary” reception system. Its main purpose, in addition to migrants’ physical reception, is to compensate the lack of integration services for those many individuals excluded from the SPRAR network upon the consistent and uninterrupted influx of refugees. The protagonists of this new integration scenario currently are the Extraordinary Reception Centers (CAS)37, as well as a variety of structures made available by third sector organizations (AIDA, 2016). Article 8 of DL 142/15 established the multilevel nature of both extraordinary mechanisms by conferring to the Prefectures and 37

Centri di Accoglienza Straordinaria 52

Labor Market Integration of Forced Migrants in Italy

equivalent bodies the responsibility of allocating asylum seekers and identifying new reception structures suitable for this purpose (Ministry of Interior, 2017). These actors represent the joining links between the central government and local authorities, granting a relatively homogeneous management of integration policies (Ministry of Interior, 2017). As a result, this rather spontaneous framework is now considered the ordinary procedure for reception and integration. According to Italian Doctors for Human Rights’ general coordinator Alberto Barbieri “the Italian reception system appears upside-down: what should have been just temporary suddenly became the real loadbearing axes of the national reception procedure” (Barbieri, 2016). Decentralization and multilevel governance, which already characterized the SPRAR, are even more marked in this context. Because of the multi-layered responsibilities and the involvement of non-governmental bodies, there are a number of actors and funding institutions intervening in the implementation of extraordinary integration measures. On the national level, the main PA responsible for integration are the Ministry of Interior – managing the European Fund for Integration of Third Country Nationals – and the Ministry of Employment and Social Affairs – which is responsible for both European Social Fund and National Fund for Migration Policies. Due to the decreasing national financial contributions, community funds became an increasingly important resource for the development of labor integration policies (OECD, 2014). All in all, however, a derisory investment has been made for this purpose: in total, 1,16 billion euros (0,14% of the total national public spending) have been allocated within both first and second reception of migrants – let alone the percentage addressing socioeconomic integration needs38 (Biella, 2016). 38

Fiorella Rathaus, director of the Italian Coucil for Refugees, stated: „compared to

other Member States – especially Germany, which spent 25 billion euros just in 2015 – Italian investments in integration appear rather limited” 53

Labor Market Integration of Forced Migrants in Italy

In addition to political entities, the Third Sector plays a determinant role. Generally speaking, these organizations have been a constant within the integration framework. Until 2001, measures for asylum seekers’ inclusion had been a task exclusively carried out by the no-profit, who handled reception and economic integration without any defined institutional framework. Contrary to this, the establishment of the SPRAR made this collaboration official. At this regard, Di Capua and Giovannetti (2016) detected a transfer from a substitute- to a privileged partnership function. At the present time, third sector organizations keep supporting a vast range of services and activities: among these, language courses, job-orientation and counselling services stand out. In addition, it is more accessible in terms of employment, since the public sector reduced assumptions and restricted entrance to the public labor market (OCSE, 2014). However, the variety of associations makes difficult to have structured information on their involvement and actions. For this purpose, the Ministry of Interior has created a list of accredited institutions which can participate to assistance projects (Migration Policy Centre, 2016). In spite of the same integrated perspective shown by the SPRAR and the remarkable degree of collaboration among actors, the extraordinary system cannot guarantee the same level of experience, standards, financial resources and services that characterize the ordinary mechanism. Contrary to the SPRAR, which has been tested for several years and its supported by a structured network of public institutional bodies, CAS structures completely rely on spontaneous adhesion and support. As a result, activities designed to connect forced migrants with local economies are subjugated to local financial, legal and administrative differences. There is a considerable difference of opportunities in accessing integration programmes depending on the services provided by the reception centers where asylum seekers are accommodated (AIDA, 2016). For instance, as reported by the Immigration Juridical Studies Association (ASGI), some regional 54

Labor Market Integration of Forced Migrants in Italy

Employment Centers do not allow asylum seekers to enroll in the lists of unemployed persons39. A further drawback of the extraordinary system is the inadequacy of the temporary structures. Because of the provisional nature of the CAS centers, they do not often guarantee acceptable qualitative standards while supplying their services. This situation clearly is to the detriment of every possible form of socio-economic integration into the local framework. For instance, the location of CAS structures in peripheric and isolated areas is a recurring and unsolved issue in the management of extraordinary structures.

39

This happens for examples in Veneto region and in Friuli Venezia Giulia region. 55

Labor Market Integration of Forced Migrants in Italy

Chapter 4. Good Practice: evidence from the Autonomous Province of Trento 4.1.

Ordinary and extraordinary integration system in Trento The northern region of Trentino Alto-Adige, and in particular its Autonomous Province of Trento, represents an peculiar example of good practice throughout the Italian varied range of realities40. It is true that there are several legal and numerical factors that distinguish – and to some extent facilitate – this region from other national areas in implementing labor-market integration policies. For instance, the proportion that Trentino must accommodate on the total asylumseekers that the Italian Ministry of Interior distributed on the whole national territory41 is 0,89% (Cinformi, 2017). Compared to other regions (see Chapter 4), it is a rather low percentage of individuals to manage and integrate. However, it has to be recognized that the Autonomous Province of Trento did envision a rather effective system of socio-economic integration characterized by an innovative approach. The provision of tailored mesaures for access to the regional labor market - following the national guidelines of “integrad reception” - led to remarkable rates in the inclusion of forced migrants. In 2006, the Province of Trento has entered the national SPRAR framework, taking care of reception, protection and integration services for asylum seekers and refugees that were hosted in the region. At the beginning of 2014, the Province increased the number of available reception structures due to the unexpected and steep increase in arrivals: from the 30 spots originally established in 2006, reception and integration locations were extended making available 132 spots (Provincia Autonoma di Trento, 2016). These figures have 40

Please note that only the Autonomous Province of Trento will be here considered.

No reference is made to the Autonomous Province of Bolzano or to the general Trentino region. 41

In the light of the parameters set by the Unified Conference of 10 July 2014. 56

Labor Market Integration of Forced Migrants in Italy

slightly increased in the following years. Mirroring national trends, however, the regional reception and integration system massively depends on extraordinary procedures. In Trento, as in all the other Italian provinces, DL 142/2015 directives were implemented and several temporary structures were put into use to complement the inadequate logistical response of the SPRAR. For this purpose, a Memorandum of Understanding (Protocollo d’Intesa) was signed in 2014 by the Autonomous Province of Trento and the Government Commission based in Trento, which is the State Administration representative agency at the provincial level (Italian Parliament, 1999): according to this agreement, the Province would provide extraordinary reception measures for the newly arrived international protection beneficiaries (Provincia Autonoma di Trento, 2016). A similar contract was signed, in November 2015, to extend extraordinary assistance also to the upcoming year. In addition, the total number of individuals to accommodate was increased by 20% – raising figures from 976 up to 1172 (Cinformi, 2017). At the present time, the Province of Trento regularly receives from the Ministry of Intern an official Circular updating the number of guests according to the arrival rates’ forecasts. As a result, the Province is given the task to identify new structures in Trento that can be designated to reception and integration. Overall, 1.571 asylum seekers and refugees have been hosted in 2016. Specifically, 1.267 forced migrants entered extraordinary reception centers and 735 ended and left the integration project last year. The period with the highest rate of arrivals was July with 256 persons entering the procedure, whereas October was characterized by the highest exits [See Table 2]. For the current year, Trento is entitled to receive a share of 1.781 individuals, since a sharp increase in requests for international protection (+130,5%) and humanitarian protection (+28,2%) has been registered in 2017 (Cinformi, 2017).

57

Labor Market Integration of Forced Migrants in Italy

TABLE 2 - EXTRAORDINARY RECEPTION: ARRIVALS, EXITS AND PARTICIPANTS AT THE END OF THE MONTH, TRENTO, 2015-2016 2015 Arrivals

JANUARY FEBRUARY MARCH APRIL MAY JUNE JULY AUGUST SEPTEMBER OCTOBER NOVEMBER DECEMBER TOTAL

32 0 21 77 29 179 218 239 234 1 76 51 1157

Exits

0 17 5 36 39 88 170 96 187 13 16 37 704

2016 Individuals by the end of the month

Arrivals

273 256 272 313 303 394 442 585 632 620 680 694

25 51 3 73 146 152 256 77 227 203 43 11 1267

Exits

Individuals by the end of the month

22 15 17 40 62 71 104 104 68 118 68 46 735

Source: (Provincia Autonoma di Trento, 2016)

In almost all Italian regions, the official institution entitled to manage local reception systems and appoint private structures for reception is the Territorial Commission for Integration (CTI), present in every Prefecture or equivalent body42. In Trento, instead, integration competencies are an exclusive jurisdiction of the Province, which cooperates with local, private bodies to perform reception and integration duties (Cinformi, 2017). In fact, the Province autonomously supervises integration procedures, in agreement with the Government Commission of Trento. As a result, it is not a standardized institution but the regional political core itself to identify and assign locations, as well as to design labor market integration measures. According to its promoters, such scheme should prove to be keener to local needs and 42

In the case of the Autonomous Province of Trento, the responsible authority is the Government Commission – as explained in the Summary Table. 58

697 733 719 752 836 917 1069 1042 1201 1286 1261 1226

Labor Market Integration of Forced Migrants in Italy

better in allocating migrants in the right areas of the Region (Cinformi, 2017). How does the public-private relationship exactly work as regards labor market integration? As it was mentioned before, it is the Province that identifies private entities that will carry out the various integration

projects.

The

specific

authority

responsible

for

coordination is chaired by the Director of Cinformi43 and another supervisor of the Provincial body. Within the Health and Social Solidarity Department, indeed, Cinformi supervises both SPRAR and extraordinary procedures since 2013. The agency works in cooperation with the following public institutions: Civil Protection Department (PAT)44; Employment Support Service45 – key authority influencing inclusion of forced migrants; Provincial Agency for Health Assistance46; and a number of provincial municipalities.

TABLE 3 – MAIN AUTHORITIES INVOLVED IN THE INTEGRATED RECEPTION SYSTEM PREFECTURE OR Peripheral agency of the Italian Ministry of Interior that TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT represents the national goverment at the Provicial or OFFICE (UTG)47 Metropolitan level; it is situated in the regional capital and is led by the Prefect, who manages the coordinated activity of various local administrations and excercises monitoring functions in the public security, immigration, civil protection, local authoritities relationships, social mediation and administrative sanctionsystem areas. At the present time, there are 103 Prefectures (UTG) against the existing 110 Provinces (the remaining 7 Provinces show equivalent bodies at the local level).

43

Centro informativo per l’immigrazione of the Health and Social Solidarity

Department of the Autonomous Province of Trento (Cinformi) 44

Dipartimento Protezione civile (PAT)

45

Servizio per il sostegno occupazionale

46

Azienda Provinciale per i Servizi Sanitari

47

Prefettura o Ufficio Territoriale di Governo (UTG) 59

Labor Market Integration of Forced Migrants in Italy

GOVERNMENT Administrative body which is almost equivalent to the Prefecture COMMISSION48 (UTG), to be found exclusively in the Autonomous Provinces of Trento and Bolzano. It is also led by a Prefect, accompanied by managers and officials of the civil adminstration. TERRITORIAL COMMISSION Administrative section within every Prefecture (UTG) that FOR INTEGRATION (CTI)49 regulates the provicial/metropolitan reception system by identifying and managing local structures for first- and secondreception purposes. AUTONOMOUS PROVINCE In addition to supervising autonomously all immigration-related OF TRENTO issues in cooperation with the Government Commission, it substitutes the Territorial Commission for Integration (CTI) in its functions. Source: (Cinformi, 2017)

On the private level, organizations can either be supervising authorities – providing basic reception services – or transversal authorities – Cinformi being the most complex [see Table 4]. In addition, the Province of Trento also signed a Memorandum of Understanding in 2015 with the Diocese for a better synergy in the reception effort. From the interview held on 7.06.2017 with Luca Zeni, the Provincial Council Member for Health and Social Policies, it is clear that this institution has provided a pivotal support in extending significantly the number of spots on the local territory. TABLE 4 – SUPERVISING AND TRANSVERSAL SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS MAKING UP THE INTEGRATION NETWORK ITALIAN RED CROSS

Ass. More

Ass. Infusione

ASS. ATAS ONLUS

Ass. Centro Astalli

Ass. Fili

ASS. CIF

Ass. Tra Me e Terra

Coop. Punto d'Approdo

COOP. KALEIDOSCOPIO

Coop. Samuele

Coop. Nircoop

COOP. ARCOBALENO

Fondazione Comunità Solidale Opera Famiglia Materna

Source: (Cinformi, 2017) 48

Commissariato del Governo (Italian Parliament, 1999)

49

Commissione Territoriale per l‘Integrazione (CTI) 60

Labor Market Integration of Forced Migrants in Italy

As regards the financial dimension, The Province of Trento does not receive any kind of additional budgetary incentives, neither from the regional- nor from the national level. Moreover, Trento only uses 33 Euros out of the 35 established by the Ministry of Interior as the maximum daily expenditure for migrants’ integration. This amount was raised last year from 30 to 33 Euros per person (Cinformi, 2017). Although it is not the root of all evils, the reason for “this difference is still unclear” – states the Chief of Cinformi’s Employment Department Anna Brugnolli, during an interview held on 22nd April 2017. It could be argued that, as much as justified and virtuous this decision is, a higher financial investment would definitely benefit current integration measures.

A few considerations can be made on the specifics of asylum seekers and refugees arriving in Trento, and thus on their employment potential. First of all, 70,1% of migrants arrived in 2016 are men. The female share in Trentino appears considerably higher than in other regions, a phenomenon which is possibly linked to the fact that Trento opened its structures to migrant women and families at the beginning of 2016. Statistics also report a disproportionate number of young migrants: the majority of the people involved in the integration projects are younger than 30 years, showing an average age of 27 (Cinformi, 2017). However, several individuals are older than 40, whereas 15 are minors. It could be said that both gender and age figures roughly mirror the national trends. As regards nationalities, 23 different ones were identified in 2016. Within the SPRAR, the main source country is Pakistan (50 individuals), whereas in extraordinary reception centers the majority claimed to come from Nigeria (329), closely followed by Côte d'Ivoire (116) and Mali (105) [See Table 5].

61

Labor Market Integration of Forced Migrants in Italy

TABLE 5 - EXTRAORDINARY RECEPTION: INDIVIDUALS ACCOMMODATED IN THE AUTONOMOUS PROVINCE OF TRENTO IN 2016, BY GENDER AND NATIONALITY NATIONALITY Men

Women

Total

NIGERIA

135

194

329

CÔTE D'IVOIRE

68

48

116

MALI

86

19

105

GUINEA

92

9

101

PAKISTAN

72

3

75

GAMBIA

70

2

72

ERITREA

55

14

69

SENEGAL

61

1

62

GHANA

57

4

61

SUDAN

42

6

48

OTHER NATIONALITIES

150

79

229

TOTAL

888

379

1267

Source: (Provincia Autonoma di Trento, 2016)

Generally speaking, the majority of Sub-Saharan asylumseekers show scarce education level and professional experience. More than 50% of all guests have scarce to inexistent previous education. And even when they are qualified, their qualifications’ recognition proves to be extremely challenging (Cinformi, 2017). Furthermore, there are no up-to-date statistical enquiries on the educational and occupational profile of the newly arrived migrants. The only available data regard the general migrants’ category; thus, considerations have to be careful. Studies declare that the current occupational status of migrants are precarious and scarcely qualified. The sectorial distribution registers an increase in the field of personal services, especially in hospitality and food service areas. The majority of the newly employed are part of two highly seasonal sectors: tourism and public services (Cinformi, 2017). 62

Labor Market Integration of Forced Migrants in Italy

Last but not least, Cinformi (2017) stresses the importance of a prompt entrance in the labor market for international protection seekers, in order to facilitate a longer-term integration. As reported by the responsible Anna Brugnolli during the previously mentioned interview, provincial statistics estimate an inactivity period of 18 months – on averge – for asylum seekers before they are employed for the first time.

4.2.

Diffused reception model and community-led integration The concept of “integrated reception”, promoted by the Italian government, appears a key element of refugees’ and asylum seekers’ inclusion at the local level, and seems to be widely implemented throughout the Italian territory (Cinformi, 2016). Consistent with the national view, the region of Trentino has focused on integrating this category of vulnerable migrants by providing both material interventions and tailored services that seek to allow them to “resume their individual autonomy” (Cinformi, 2017). Specifically, the Province of Trento has lately developed a specific type of reception, called the diffused reception model. This concept basically refers to a balanced distribution of refugees and asylum seekers on the provincial area – a logistic project which has already been noticed by the national government as an innovative solution to integration issues, which could eventually be implemented in other regions under an agreement with ANCI (National Association of Italian Municipalities)50 (Cinformi, 2017). Second-line reception is provided by the Autonomous Province of Trento in semi-autonomous shared apartments which are homogenously spread over the provincial territory, in order to avoid high concentrations of people in just a few localities and facilitate their integration process (Provincia Autonoma di Trento, 2016). The positive partnership among both

50

Associazione nazionale Comuni italiani (ANCI) 63

Labor Market Integration of Forced Migrants in Italy

private and public bodies is key for this reception model: the existing synergy among Province, Municipalities, Valley Comunities, third sector and private citizens proved that a collectively shared system of integration is possible and rather effective.

The extraordinary reception project led by Cinformi puts great emphasis on the so-called community work, that is the process of putting in contact the project’s integration objectives and the local community in which migrants are hosted. The ultimate goal is not only to enable a smooth socio-economic inclusion of the refugee in the community, but also to “empower him/her with real instruments of active citizenship” (Cinformi, 2016). As a result, the community is considered the leverage of the whole integration process; an endless resource that can help refugees and asylum seekers, in the long-term, to gain full autonomy and awareness of the context they live in. The community work approach has already been applied to various fields and emerged to be particularly effective in the asylum seekers’ integration dimension. On the basis of the different community work dimensions provided by Raineri (2005), the concept can be mainly described as a process leading to “a change in people’s trust, which is fostered by a change in knowledge, skills, behaviors and even by the creation of networks and organizations” (Raineri 2005, p. 423). In terms of inclusion in the local labor market, a diffused relocation of guests and the tight connection that they can establish with natives clearly lead to increased contacts and employment opportunities. Specifically, this method gives the possibility to: confer a higher autonomy on the local territory to the guests; start tailored projects for individual economic assimilation (in line with the integrated

reception

perspective);

acquire

sector-specific

competencies; obtain useful certificates and qualifications that facilitate the entrance into the labor market; and give rise to a network of people that goes far ahead of the one that normally emerges in 64

Labor Market Integration of Forced Migrants in Italy

reception-related contexts (Provincia Autonoma di Trento, 2016). In addition, this approach is vital for migrants to learn the Italian language. According to Brugnolli, the importance of community emerges as a central element in this sense: Italian language can be improved far more rapidly in a context where migrants are constatly in contact with native language and do not have frequente contacts with compatriots. An important consideration has to be made while analyzing the influence of community on migrants’ integration. The community work method does not have a unilateral perspective: it does not exclusively focus on the effective inclusion of vulnerable groups and the optimization of their well-being in local environments. Instead, it aims at a mutually beneficial collaboration between guests and hosts. On the one hand, the relation between them should lead to the activation of external resources and achieving integration. On the other hand, it should support local community initiatives – also the already existing ones. At the center of the debate is not only the asylum seeker but also the community itself: “a cohesive community is a resource for both migrants and natives” (Provincia Autonoma di Trento, 2016). Even in terms of employment opportunities, the guest is normally directed, during the integration project, toward specific sectors or jobs that are mostly needed by the community at issue. As it was mentioned in Chapter 1, the economic inclusion of migrants should analyze the starting conditions of the local employment market offering complementary, not supplementary labor (Constant, 2014). Consistent with the general integrated model of reception, Trento adopted an individual approach to integration of refugees and asylum seekers. The model aims at a tailored inclusion path of migrants, in accordance with their needs, capacities and ambitions (Cinformi, 2016). From their entrance in the integration project, individuals are included in several Italian language courses (10 hours/week minimum). After several months, as soon as the asylum 65

Labor Market Integration of Forced Migrants in Italy

seeker has acquired a satisfactory level of Italian, the responsible equipe51 designs for him/her a tailored job/training path. The orientation process usually includes information about Italian and regional labor market demands, emphasize migrants’ competencies, help the correct access and use of job-search agencies and create employment opportunities. This normally envisions the activation of internships, the evaluation of employment preconditions or the introduction into “protected work environments” – depending on the case (Cinformi, 2017). For instance, if individuals have experienced a satisfactory social path in the months previous to evaluation, a competence-specific formation will be suggested. When such preconditions do not stand, activities will first focus on work socialization (e.g. adequate behavior in work environments, cleanliness standards, roles’ identification etc.), while development of personal competencies will take place at a later stage. In the interview held on 22nd April 2017, Brugnolli affirms that “low-skilled migrants normally receive short-term formation, whereas higher-skilled workers often undergo a more complex formation”. Therefore – she continues – “the concept of tailored project also refers to a differentiation in formation, according to each migrant’s working potential”. At the truly operational level, several activities promoted by the SPRAR are implemented. Among these, initiatives that stand out are competencies

evaluation,

CV

writing,

professional

training,

internships, job-search and job-interview preparation. Also, a few Employment Offices are active, although they do not contribute significantly to the projects. A major drawback is the lack of other important services which hinder the effectiveness of the whole integration system. The greatest obstacle is skills’ certification: there are no official certificatory bodies, no certifiable skills’ register, no

51

The equipe is almost exclusively composed by Cinformi Members. 66

Labor Market Integration of Forced Migrants in Italy

professional/educational degrees’ recognition system, and finally no employment bursary of any kind (Provincia Autonoma di Trento, 2016). Labor market integration efforts are visible in both primary and secondary

structures,

which

provide

(work)orientation

and

(work)introduction respectively. In first-line reception centers, guests first participate in collective meetings where basic information are given and requirements checked, then in individual meetings where tailored routes are deigned in cooperation with a professional expert. This counselling service ranges from the identification of potential working, education or volunteering activities to the concrete activation of internships. In second-line reception structures the situation is definitely more job-oriented and less general. In fact, meetings here mainly focus on the definition, activation and monitoring of job/training/aducation paths, as well as on the active job search and contract’s counselling (Cinformi, 2017). Among the various activities, educational internships emerge as the most privileged instruments to facilitate labor market integration (Provincia Autonoma di Trento, 2016). According to Provincial Legislation 19/8352, internships are the result of interaction among the sponsoring institution (Cinformi), the hosting institution (company responsible for the internship) and the beneficiary (asylum seeker/refugee). In addition, Cinformi plays an essential role in both contacting potential companies and keeping track of all active and passive internships throughout the year. Traineeships are activated during the second reception phase and have specific retributive conditions. For each educational training being activated, a participation compensation from €300/month to €600/month is dispensed. The provincial legislation, however, does limit such compensation in case asylum seekers and refugees “already benefit from economic subsidies”. As international protection

52

Art. 4 Bis and Art. 4 Ter (Agenzia del Lavoro, 2015) 67

Labor Market Integration of Forced Migrants in Italy

beneficiaries do benefit from a national monetary contribution, the sponsoring institution of internships (i.e. the Province of Trento) is exempted from paying interns. Just after 8 weeks of internship, the compensation obligation falls on the hosting business (Cinformi, 2017). Generally speaking, they last from 4 weeks to 6 months, yet extension of the internship is clearly positive.

4.3.

Outcomes at the provincial level The overall picture shows that the reality of refugees’ and asylum seekers’ socio-economic integration in Trento is strongly rooted in the local dimension and highlights migrants’ fundamental contribution to the provincial system. In a number of specific fields, “it is difficult to imagine the local economy without the contribution of immigrant citizens”53 (Cinformi, 2017). Generally speaking, 1.267 migrants entered the integration project in 2016. Among these, a remarkable proportion resulted employed at the end of the year: on average, one third of the total end up with some kind of working contract thanks to both ordinary and extraordinary procedures – Brugnolli declares. The integrated, tailored paths designed for asylum seekers and the maximization of reception times enabled almost half of individuals to exit the project and properly integrate in the socio-economic fabric of the local realities they lived in. Last year, 115 internships were initiated – 36 of which had been activated in 2015. The main sectors involved were food service industry and tourism, closely followed by metal joinery, agriculture and farming. In the same period, 62 people were permanently employed: 43 were employed because of a previous internship in the company at issue, the others thanks to personal job search. During 2016, a number

53

Please note that this statement refers to the general category of immigrants, not

exclusively to forced migrants. However, it is possible to affirm that forced migrants greatly contribute to the economy of several realities of the Province (Anna Brugnolli, interview held on 22nd April 2017, Trento). 68

Labor Market Integration of Forced Migrants in Italy

of professional trainings were put into place. For instance, 12 people attended professional courses in the touristic and agricultural fields. All in all, it could be argued that both diffused integration and community-work models have generated a change in the previous integration

paradigm:

from

a

mere

emergency perspective

characterizing the first period, the Province of Trento succeeded to focus both public and private attention on the long-term benefits of integration (Provincia Autonoma di Trento, 2016). The preference of this system over the standard one is visible among the various local partners and in their behavior. For instance, the municipalities of Val di Sole and Bleggio offered new spots only after the Province suggested to establish alternative structures hosting from 12 to 15 people. To avoid a high concentration of migrants in one centralized structure, these made available after a short period the requested apartments dispersed throughout the territory (Zeni, 2017). This proves that not only willingness in complying is crucial, but also that locals may see much more favorably diffused reception solutions rather than the standard, collective ones. Socio-economic inclusion efforts do not pay off immediately, but certainly did already start showing promising results. Further, it could be also said that a whole new area of policy was unleashed since the beginning of the crisis, leading to a much higher attention of all provincial actors toward the socioeconomic integration of forced migrants. This sector developed and consolidated in the very last period, promoting at the local level a quite coordinated synergy.

69

Labor Market Integration of Forced Migrants in Italy

Evaluation and conclusions The just mentioned experience of the Autonomous Province of Trento clearly shows the extent to which economic inclusion into the local labor market is only a part of the multidimensional integration of forced migrants into host societies. The employment aspect cannot and should not be considered as an isolated variable within the integration framework. Instead, it is inextricably tied to the social dimension. Concepts as “integrated reception” and “community-based approach” seem to allow a more successful integration of guests in more fields simultaneously, since “relationships between asylum seekers and the local community enable them to exit segregation and invisibility that often characterize the reception process” (Provincia Autonoma di Trento, 2016). More generally, economic and social inclusion produce a self-generated, virtuous cycle that is made up by mutually beneficial solutions. This socioeconomic cycle has, however, to be complemented by specific and efficient political measures. Until the start of the crisis in 2011, there was almost no need in Italy of full-scale reception and integration policies addressing the issue. The steep increase in arrivals opened up a new and unexplored political arena for policy-makers, which were obligated to deal with a most delicate emergency. This field still has to be fully investigated and developed, and needs an effort to rationalize and institutionalize the diversified practices that emerge daily from the local dimension. At the present time, it is possible to identify both positive outcomes and relevant criticalities of national and regional policies.

On the one hand, the current reform of the Italian integration system presents several positive outcomes. First, the early legal entrance in the local labor market is surely an asset, as it is a key prerequisite for their speedy integration in the workforce. Second, the 70

Labor Market Integration of Forced Migrants in Italy

provision of Italian language courses by the Italian government demonstrates the actual capability of the central administration to bring forward national measures that can be quite homogenously implemented. A further element to be commented is the great relevance of civil-society and private actors in the system. These, contributing logistically and strategically to the integration effort, complement institutional actors and often come to be the true backbone of this complex network. The diversity of such network, which is both longitudinal (level of authority) and transversal (type of competence), often stimulates the creation of innovative solutions that combine and adjust the needs of both migrants and local community. Similarly, the involvement of local territories is a great step taken in the direction of involving all relevant stakeholders in the debate. In the SPRAR already, local administrations act as protagonists by operating in harmony with the regional economic, social and cultural context. In this sense, the diffused integration model could be identified as the preferred solution – in small-medium sized centers – to meet the needs of international protection seekers and beneficiaries (Peri, 2015).

On the other hand, in spite of the improvements that have taken place, criticalities of such a system are numerous and profound. The general overview of national and regional integration measures shows a high degree of fragmentation and an almost total lack of coordination in policy implementation. The Italian integration network presents too many actors taking initiatives autonomously and intervening at the local, regional and national level without showing any kind of common strategy or effective exchange of information (Migration Policy Centre, 2016). This regards both standard measures and good practices that already showed a certain degree of effectiveness. The predominance of extraordinary reception on the SPRAR and the great imbalances among the regional territories (often emphasized by leaking 71

Labor Market Integration of Forced Migrants in Italy

responsibilities of local administrators) confirm such fragmentation. Even at the regional level, there is no sufficient exchange of information among actors involved and no exact knowledge within civil society. This situation can be extended to other European realities: data from AIDA (2016) highlight how the complexity and gaps among second-reception and integration systems greatly limit the gathering of comparable data set in several EU countries. This has relevant implications for research and policy-making in the field. Indeed, existing studies mostly present a descriptive nature and lack the quantitative component. Turning to specific issues, the most evident pitfalls appear to be the insufficient language courses, the lacking qualifications and skills’ recognition (either educational or working) and the scarce attention toward the specific situation of refugees by employment agencies and services.

To address long-term integration issues, comprehensive and coordinated policies are therefore required. More efforts in successfully integrating individuals into the local markets are needed across sub-national levels. In practical terms, this could be difficult to implement – at least in a brief period. As a matter of fact, a decisive turn in the Italian approach to socioeconomic integration can only be brought forward on the basis of a radical change of paradigm. Sustainable policies in the field must be rooted on a long-term integration perspective, which does not treat current challenges as a temporary emergency to be roughly tackled. To do this, Italian government now has to identify a clearly defined model, which can guide subnational entities throughout the socioeconomic integration process. This implies the decision whether to adopt a strong or a reluctant socioeconomic integration model. The first option envisages a full inclusion of forced migrants through proper administrative registration and labour market access; the second expects guests meeting their 72

Labor Market Integration of Forced Migrants in Italy

needs by their own means and showing “integration readiness”, since their employment opportunities are not considered a priority by the local policy maker (Offe, 2016). The implementation of the latter strategy would however encourage the appeal of populist, xenophobic forces and political polarization in countries of settlement, as well as the rise of a “semi-integrated, post-migratory underclass” (Offe, 2016). With a view to pursuing a strong and decisive integration approach, the Italian government should focus on ameliorating the coordination of the already existing multi-stakeholder approach. In order to represent a “progressive source of post-national rights” (Geddes & Scholten, 2003), it is essential to maintain and nurture the involvement of a broad range of partners from different government ministries and departments at national, regional and local level, as well as other stakeholders including civil society organizations, the social partners and service providers (European Parliament, 2016). However, these actors need to be coordinated both at the vertical level (coordination among public entities at local, regional and national level) and at the horizontal level (coordination with stakeholders and civil society organizations at the local level). As a matter of fact, besides the coordination across public bodies, a better synergy between employment authorities is also needed. Also, it is important for iinstitutions to insist on the legal duty of integrating refugees rather than on subjective moral and ethical foundations (Zeni, 2017). The current ordinary system (SPRAR) would not be sustainable if extended to cover the totality of asylum seekers and beneficiaries. Like we started intervening in a more coherent and systematical way within first reception, a deeper consideration shall be made as regards the second reception (Peri, 2015). In this sense, a National Integration Plan should be designed, establishing a unitary strategy for socioeconomic inclusion, as well as defining the instruments to avoid territorial disparities and help subnational bodies to offer migrants accessible opportunities. Thus, national guidelines would be the 73

Labor Market Integration of Forced Migrants in Italy

common and shared basis on which local communities could build their specific, tailored approaches to integration. In the same way the Italian government is assigning a percentage of asylum-seekers to each region, regional administrations could design quotas to be equally distributed among its provinces (Zeni, 2017). In order to avoid an overlap of responsibilities among actors, it is therefore essential to define the different roles, tasks and duties of each. Ultimately, the general framework should benefit from a clearer mechanism of cooperation, which does not generate additional costs and allows an efficient share of knowledge at all levels (OCSE, 2014). At this regard, one last issue has to be pointed out. To address the lacking share of information, refugee-related data collection ought to be addressed in a more systematic, harmonized and structured manner. Only by constantly monitoring and evaluation of integration measures, the stock of data can boost academic (including quantitative) research in the field and therefore provide policymakers with relevant insights. Also, the way labor market integration measures are designed should include a later assessment on their outcomes. This would allow researchers to better understand the impact and effectiveness of given measures. Finally, more efforts should be made to develop a theoretical framework that explains the role of a given measure, the channel through which it affects the labor market integration of refugees and asylum seekers (Migration Policy Centre, 2016).

74

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Bibliography Agenzia del Lavoro, 2016. Disposizioni attuative dell'intervento 3G. [Online] Available at: http://www.agenzialavoro.tn.it/agenzia/lex/interventi/disposizioni_at tuative/dispatt_3.G [Last checked: 1.05.2017]. AIDA, 2016. Country Report: Italy, s.l.: ECRE. Amnesty International , 2014. The Human Cost of Fortress Europe, London: Amnesty International Ltd. Ballatore, R. M. et al., 2017. I rifugiati e i richiedenti asilo in Italia, nel confronto europeo. In: Questioni di Economia e Finanza - Occasional Papers N.377. s.l.: Banca d'Italia. Barbieri, A., 2016. Centri di accoglienza straordinaria, un sistema sbilanciato Bauer, T. K., Zimmermann, K. F. & Magnus, L., 2000. Immigration Policy, Assimilation of Immigrants and Natives' Sentiments towards Immigrants: Evidence from 12 OECD-Countries, Bonn: IZA Discussion Paper Series. Biella, D., 2016. In Italia manca un piano nazionale d'integrazione dei rifugiati. VIta Bookazine, 1 March . Bonifazi, C., Heins, F., Strozza, S. & Vitiello, M., 2009. The Italian transition from emigration to immigration country. In: IRPPS Working Papers, No. 24. Roma: IDEA Project. Brücker, et al., 2001. Managing Migration in the European Welfare State. Oxford, Oxford University Press. Cinformi, 2016. Accoglienza migranti forzati in Trentino, il quadro 2016, Trento: Cinformi News. Cinformi, 2017. CInformi - Centro Informativo per l'Immigrazione. [Online] Available at: www.cinformi.it [Last checked: 5.05.2017]. 75

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Cinformi, 2017. Speciale profughi. Cinformi News 2017. Confindustria, 2016. Immigrati: da emergenza a opportunità, Roma: Servizio Italiano Pubblicazioni Internazionali (SIPI). Constant, A. F., 2014. Do migrants take the jobs of native workers?, s.l.: IZA World of Labour. Dadush, U. & Niebuhr, M., 2016. The Economic Impact of Forced Migration. [Online] Available at: http://carnegieendowment.org Di Capua, D. & Giovannetti, M., 2016. www.secondowelfare.it. [Online] Available at: http://www.secondowelfare.it/primo-welfare/inclusionesociale/il-sistema-di-protezione-per-richiedenti-asilo-e-rifugiati-initalia.html [Last checked: 3.05.2017]. Dustman, C., 2000. Temporary migration and economic assimilation. In: IZA Discussion Paper, No. 186. Bonn: Institute for the Study of Labour. EASO, 2016. Annual Report on The Situation of Asylum in the European Union. [Online] Available at: https://www.easo.europa.eu/sites/default/files/public/EN_%20Annu al%20Report%202015_1.pdf EASO, 2017. www.easo.europa.eu. [Online] Available at: https://www.easo.europa.eu/sites/default/files/Latest%20Asylum%20T rends%20January_2017_final.pdf [Last checked: 1.04.2017]. EPRS, 2015 . Work and Social Welfare for Asylum-seekers and Refugees, s.l.: European Parliament Publishing . Eurocities, 2016. Refugee Reception and Integration in Cities, Brussels: Eurocities Publishing. Eurofound, 2016. Approaches to the labour market integration of refugees and asylum seekers, Luxembourg : Publications Office of the European Union. 76

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European Commission, 2016. An Economic Take on the Refugee Crisis - Institutional Paper 033, Brussels: European Economy Institutional Papers. European Parliament, 2016. Labour Market Integration of Refugees: strategies and good practices, Brussels: Policy Department: Economic and Scientific Policy. European Union Labour Force Survey, 2008. Ad Hoc Module on the Labour market situation of migrants and their immediate descendants, Brussels: European Commission Surveys. Eurostat, 2016. Eurostat Infographic. [Online] Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/news/themes-in-thespotlight/asylum2016 [Last checked: 8.05.2017]. Eurostat, 2017. Eurostat Infographic. [Online] Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/2995521/7921609/316032017-BP-EN.pdf/e5fa98bb-5d9d-4297-9168-d07c67d1c9e1 [Last checked: 8.05.2017]. Eurostat, 2017. Public Data. [Online] Available at: https://www.google.it/publicdata/explore?ds=z8o7pt6rd5uqa6_&met_ y=unemployment_rate&hl=it&dl=it#!ctype=l&strail=false&bcs=d&ns elm=h&met_y=unemployment_rate&fdim_y=age_group:y2574&fdim_y=seasonality:sa&fdim_y=sex:f&scale_y=lin&ind_y=false &rdim=country_gro [Last checked: 8.05.2017]. Fondazione Leone Moressa, 2016. La buona accoglienza: Analisi comparativa dei sistemi di accoglienza per richiedenti asilo in Europa, Venezia: Open Society Foundation.. Freeman, G. P., 1995. Modes of Immigration Politics in Liberal Democratic States. In: The International Migration Review, Vol. 29, No. 4. New York : Center for Migration Studies of New York, Inc. , pp. 881-902. Geddes, A. & Scholten, P., 2003. The politics of migration and 77

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immigration in Europe. Second Edition by Rotterdam : Sage Publishing. Guolo, R., 2009. Europa, modelli di integrazione culturale in Europa , s.l.: s.n. International Monetary Fund, 2016. The Refugee Surge in Europe, s.l.: International Monetary Fund Publishing. Istat, 2017. Il futuro demografico del paese. [Online] Available at: http://www.istat.it/it/files/2017/04/previsionidemografiche.pdf?title=Il+futuro+demografico+del+Paese++26%2Fapr%2F2017+-+Testo+integrale+e+nota+metodologica.pdf [Last checked: 23.04.2017]. Kahanec, M. & Zimmermann, K., 2010. Working Paper: High-skilled Immigration Policy in Europe. Discussion paper series // Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit no. 5399, pp. 10-16. King, R., 1993. The New Geography of European Migration, London: Belhaven Press. Lehne, S., 2016. How the Refugee Crisis Will Reshape the EU, Brussels: Carnegie Europe. Martiniello, M., 1992. Italy. The Late Discovery of Immigration. In: Europe: A New Immigration Continent. Münster: D. Thranhardt. Migration Policy Centre, 2016. From Refugees to Workers: Mapping Labour-Market Integration Support Measures for Asylum Seekers and Refugees in EU Member States. In: M. P. C. (MPC), Comparative Analysis and Policy Findings. Florence: Bertelsmann Stiftung. Migration Policy Institute , 2017. Improving the Labor Market Integration of Migrants and Refugees. In: Empowering Cities Through Better Use of EU Instruments. s.l.:Migration Policy Institute Europe. Ministry of Interior, 2017. I numeri dell’asilo. [Online] Available at: http://www.libertaciviliimmigrazione.dlci.interno.gov.it/sites/default/fi les/allegati/marzo_2017.pdf [Last checked: 2.04.2017]. Ministry of Interior, 2017. www.interno.gov.it. [Online] 78

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Available at: http://www.interno.gov.it/it/temi/immigrazione-easilo/sistema-accoglienza-sul-territorio/centri-limmigrazione [Last checked: 3.05.2017]. OCSE, 2014. L’integrazione degli immigrati e dei loro figli in Italia. In: Jobs for Immigrants (Vol. 4). s.l.:OECD Publishing. OECD, 2014. How are refugees faring on the labour market in Europe? A first evaluation based on the 2014 EU Labour Force Survey ad hoc module, Brussels: European Commission Documents. OECD, 2014. Labour Market Integration in Italy. In: Jobs for Immigrants (Vol. 4). s.l.:OECD Publishing. OECD, 2015. Is this humanitarian migration crisis different?, Paris: Migration Policy Debate. OECD, 2016. International Migration Outlook 2016, Paris: OECD Publishing. OECD, 2016. Refugees and others in need of protection. In: Making Integration Work. s.l.:OECD Publishing. Offe, C., 2016. For A Robust Policy Of Integration Of Refugees. Social Europe, 8 March 2016. Peri, C., 2015. Il sistema di accoglienza per richiedenti asilo e rifugiati in Italia: punti di forza e criticità. In: Dossier Statistico Immigrazione: flussi misti e permanenze. Trento: Fondazione Centro Astall. Pew Research Center, 2017. Europe’s monthly number of asylum applications returns to pre-surge levels, Washington, DC : Pew Research Center . Provincia Autonoma di Trento, 2016. L'immigrazione in Trentino Rapporto annuale 2016, Trento: Infosociale 49. Raineri, M. L., 2005. Community work. In: Lavoro Sociale. Trento: s.n., pp. 421-427. SPRAR, 2016. I percorsi di inserimento socio-economico nello SPRAR: metodologie, strategie, strumenti, s.l.: s.n. Swanson, A., 2015. Refugees can be an investment, rather than a 79

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burden, Washington, DC: The Washington Post . Triandafyllidou, A., 2013. Migration Policy in Southern Europe: Challenges, Constraints and Prospects. In: A Strategy for Southern Europe. London: London School of Economics, pp. 54-63. Zimmermann, K. F., 2014. Migration, jobs and integration in Europe, s.l.: MIGRATION POLICY PRACTICE. Zimmermann, K. F., 2016. Refugee and Migrant Labor Market Integration: Europe in Need of a New Policy Agenda, Princeton : Princeton University Press.

Official documents Agenzia del Lavoro, 2015. Normativa 19/83, Art. 4 bis, Trento: s.n. Commissariato del Governo per la Provincia di Trento; Provincia Autonoma di Trento, 2016. Protocollo d‘Intesa tra il Commissariato del Governo per la Provincia di Trento e la Provincia Autonoma di Trento, Trento: s.n. European Commission , 2015. A European Agenda on Migration. Brussels, European Commission European Commission , 2016. Action Plan on the integration of third country nationals, Brussels: s.n. European Commission and European Council, 2009. COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 2009/50/EC - The EU Blue Card Directive, Brussels: Official Journal of the European Union. European Commission; European Coucil , 2011. DIRECTIVE 2011/98/EU - The Single Permit, Brussels: Official Journal of the European Union . European Commission, 2016. A New Skills Agenda for Europe. Brussels, European Commission Press. European Parliament and the Council, 2013. Directive 2013/32/EU. In: Brussels: s.n. Italian Parliament, 1999. Decreto Legislativo n. 300. s.l: Gazzetta 80

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Ufficiale. Justice and Home Affairs Council, 2004. EU Common Basic Principles. Brussels, Council of the European Union Press. Ministero dell'Interno, 2016. Piano Accoglienza 2016 - Tavolo di coordinamento nazionale , Roma: s.n. UNHCR, et al., 2016. Rapporto sulla protezione internazionale in Italia, Rome: Digitalia Lab. United Nations, 1951. Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, Geneva: United Nations Publishing.

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Appendix Interview held on 22.04.2017 with Anna Brugnolli, Chief of Cinformi’s Employment Department, on the economic and social integration of forced migrants in the Autonomous Province of Trento.

The Health and Social Solidarity Department of the Autonomous Province of Trento, in cooperation with a multifaceted group of actors, has developed a rather innovative system of reception and integration. What appear to be the greatest barriers to its management? Various difficulties emerge daily, ranging from the low qualification level often showed by asylum seekers to the limited financial resources Cinformi can draw from for this specific purpose. In fact, there are no funds or agencies specifically targeting the refugees’ sub-category. Speaking of concrete difficulties, the first and most evident one is Italian language – essential for any future employment in local businesses. In order to address such issue, the Province has implemented several activities at the municipality level. Further, a more recent yet demanding point is the so called “qualification recognition”. Indeed, there is a lack of institutional and legal instruments to measure and categorize migrants’ skills and eventual qualifications – in both educational and working terms. The existent certification authorities at the national level (ENAI) proved to be insufficient for their purpose, while no registers qualifying competences and skills are to be found at any administrative level. Generally speaking, educational certificates are swiftly recognized to asylum beneficiaries, whereas asylum seekers go through a far more complex process. Also, the Province of Trento does not envisage any employment bursaries nor employment vouchers, which are normally offered by Italian regions. What it is offered is a rather remarkable support of employment agencies. Even though their measures are not “refugee82

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targeted”, these offices do contribute in creating enhancing working opportunities for migrants. For instance, the Youth Guarantee is often consulted by Cinformi in order to spot new opportunities. Last but not least, the University of Trento offers 5 scholarships especially addressed to asylum seekers or beneficiaries.

What are the main authorities involved in the creation of socioeconomic and employment-related measures at the Provincial level? As regards the institutional component, there is no Territorial Commission for Integration (CTI) nor Prefecture to manage socioeconomic

integration

measures.

Instead,

integration

competencies are an exclusive jurisdiction of the Province of Trento, which cooperates with local authorities to perform reception and integration obligations. The Province autonomously supervises integration procedures, in agreement with the Government Commission of Trento. As a result, it is the Provincial core itself that sets the quotas of migrants to be assigned to a certain location, identifies available structures through tenders and financially sponsors integration projects. These local structures or authorities make up the second component of the integration network. As a matter of fact, there is a whole range of social, private bodies that contribute to the effort. These can be mainly divided into two broad categories: on the one hand, supervising authorities and structures – providing basic reception services, pocket money etc.; on the other hand, transversal authorities – providing legal guidance, working and internship opportunities, psychological support, Italian language sessions etc. in this sense, Cinformi appears to be the most developed and complex.

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Which role has the internship in the socioeconomic integration process? Does Cinformi play an active role in assigning working opportunities to migrants? Among the various services and learning opportunities offered by Cinformi and the related organizations, educational internships proved to be the most used instruments. In fact, we consider traineeships as the most effective way for a forced migrant to be absorbed in the local economic and social environment. Also, it is extremely useful when avoiding long waiting times before the Commission decision. It usually takes 18 months for migrants to enter the labor market, months that can dramatically affect their future employability. The conditions for the traineeship to take place are provided by the Provincial Legislation 19/8354. According to this, internships are the result of interaction among the sponsoring institution (Cinformi), the hosting institution (company responsible for the internship) and the beneficiary (forced migrant). Cinformi also plays an essential role in both contacting potential companies and keeping track of all active and passive internships throughout the year. At Cinformi, we have the responsibility to take initiative and contact businesses and organizations which could be interested in having an intern. There are no already drafted lists which we can draw from. As a result, our operators must be extrememly cautious in identifying and choosing such businesses, especially those who voluntarily offer vacancies. In fact, it can soemtimes happen that these are underpayed jobs which in the long-run can brush against explotation. Cinformi does accept almost unconditionally job offers from “loyal” businesses which have already cooperated with us for a long time. The internship normally lasts from a period of four weeks to a longer one of six months. Generally speaking, the first month is not

54

Art. 4 Bis and Art. 4 Ter (Agenzia del Lavoro, 2015) 84

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remunerated, whereas from the fifth week forward migrants do receive a consistent contribution. As soon as the working agreement ends, effort is made to extend the experience as much as possible. In this way, not only interns keep being self-sufficient and perfecting the acquired competencies; they also have higher probabilities of being employed by the business with a standard contract. As a matter of fact, evidence shows rather optimistic results in terms of long-term occupation: a very high percentage of refugees are now fully employed, one third of them having a proper contract.

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Interview held on 7.06.2017 with Luca Zeni, Provincial Council Member for Health and Social Policies of the Autonomous Province of Trento.

Which is the role of the Autonomous Province of Trento in mediating between public and private bodies as regards the socioeconomic integration of migrants? The city of Trento, along with the Autonomous Province of Bolzano, is the only Italian reality that signed a Protocol with the Ministry of Interior in order to manage migrants’ integration autonomously. This decision implies on the one hand a more tightened bound and resources with and from local dimensions, on the other hand higher political drawbacks. In August 2015, when a steep increase in arrivals was registered in Southern Italy and the SPRAR system proved to be insufficient to manage the emergency, a new model was identified by the Province of Trento. After an initial moment in which the administration started looking for more capacious structures for reception, the idea of diffused model of integration emerged as a possibility. As it was developed in the following months, it could be said it is a rather unique system in the Italian dimension. As regards supporting institutions, the Province exerted involved two major entities. First and foremost, the local communities and their public administrations; secondly, the Diocese of Trento, whose support is less known but pivotal. Specifically, the Province signed a Protocol with the Diocese in order to seek new structures available for reception. This collaboration has been and still is important, since it allowed to extend significantly the number of spots on the local territory.

How were local communities informed about the Provincial Program and which reactions characterized the short- and long-term? At that time, the Province started organizing official meetings 86

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and sessions to spread information among local administrations and mayors

about

the

political

and

administrative

turn,

the

implementation process and the general implications of such new measures. In order to receive general consent by local administration toward the Program, the Province adopted an approach that exerted leverage over two main points. First of all, they highlighted the institutional duty (both national and European) of hosting, receipting and integrating refugees. This on the basis of the fact that the number of individuals assigned to each nation was equally calculated by the national government on the basis of a specific formula. Instead of insisting on the moral and ethical foundations of reception (which would have probably been only partially shared), the legal/institutional facet was stressed. Secondly, it was repeatedly highlighted that financial resources would have provided by the Italian government. Thus, no competition nor financial implications would have arisen. As regards reactions, it could be said there was from the start a general sharing of the proposed diffused model of reception. This because, compared to the standard model envisaging collective structures hosting big groups of migrants, it wouldn’t probably lead to social tensions that normally characterize it. Contrarily, the homogeneous distribution of apartments (5-10 per commune) envisioned by the new model throughout the provincial territory allows a more integrated dynamic, equally sharing the responsibilities among local communities. However, sharing a theoretical framework does not imply its straightforward and unconditional implementation. Indeed, a small percentage of the communities actively participating in the project and implementation of the model, a far lower number of communities rejected the idea but were finally obliged to stick to the policy, whereas the biggest part of them showed some kind of inertia in its implementation. As a matter of fact, the largest part of the local communities agreed to the general terms but then adopted a rather 87

Labor Market Integration of Forced Migrants in Italy

passive approach: until they were directly requested, they would remain in silence.

Which is the greatest challenge being faced by the Province at the moment? In accordance with the diffused reception model, a broad number of apartments must be identified to pursue the integration goals and cover the high number of arrivals. It is the search of these apartments within local territories which emerges as the biggest challenge. The difficulties encountered while identifying the structures and verifying their availability even increased in the last period. With the new numbers, it has been more and more difficult to trace available properties. In order to accomplish its goals, the Province action has been twofold. First, we (cautiously) asked municipalities to make apartments available for reception in exchange of a defined monthly rent. Second, we asked them to effectively be part of the integration network by promoting an effective inclusion of guests into the local community. This means municipalities have the responsibility to project and implement a set of activities in which they act as an intermediary between guests and host community, through adaptability and creativity. Examples of activities currently taking place in various municipalities are public works, voluntary projects, children entertainment sessions, even English language classes for locals – as in the case of the municipality of Stenico. In addition, a number of working and internships opportunities arose thanks to this system. A virtuous example is the community of Strigno, where all six migrants living in the area were offered intern positions and were finally employed by the relative businesses. Therefore, it could be said that this system provides much more than a receiving structure. In fact, it implies a longer-term scope: on the one hand, the migrant feels useful and realized, in addition to acquiring 88

Labor Market Integration of Forced Migrants in Italy

skills and competences. On the other side, the community faces firsthand the situation and is therefore encouraged to accept the new guests. Proof of the higher efficacy of this integration mechanism is the fact that we observed a notably higher availability of spots and natives’ involvement in those communities which had already hosted some refugees. Since it is a constant evidence, it may be argued this exchange mechanism is normally evaluated in a positive way by the local population, who generally lowers barriers and opens up to reception. As a result, in case of scarce availability of structures, it is mostly a matter of willingness by the local administration or its mayor. If they do not agree with the directives, the local population will most probably mirror the attitude. However, the opposite is also true. Thus, it is important that administrations internalize the need of complying with such directives and consequently unleash local communities’ potential.

According to the Provincial Administration, which direction should national guidelines move towards in the creation of socioeconomic integration policies? Could the model adopted in the Province of Trento pave the way for a drastic and positive change? The Italian government has recently implemented several measures which share a number of aspects with our model. Although such system requires remarkable financial, logistic and organizational efforts (the Province of Trento has raised the number of apartments from 0 to 200 during 2016), it appears as one of the most sustainable options at the moment. For this purpose, it is necessary that all actors taking part fully understand the importance of each member’s effort. Only by doing so, the previously described objectives can be reached. Yet sometimes these can only be accomplished by a sort of “inducted activism” of the municipalities: some communities – as Val di Sole and Bleggio – made available several apartments only after the 89

Labor Market Integration of Forced Migrants in Italy

Province suggested to establish bigger structures (from 12 to 15 people) because smaller ones were lacking. These communities first asked some time to decide and finally found an alternative solution by offering apartments throughout the territory. This proves that not only willingness in complying is crucial, but also that locals may see much more favorably diffused reception solutions rather than the standard, collective ones. Therefore, I would say that the Italian government should further develop the system by extending the quota system – now applied to regions – quotas to the Provincial level.

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