Immigration & Integration ⁄ Page 7 ⁄ Open Migration

Coronavirus in reception centres, between lack of space and fear of infection

June 5, 2020 - Romina Vinci

In Airuno, the spotlight was turned on roughly three weeks ago, when the guests in a reception centre held a peaceful protest. The straw that broke the camel’s back was the arrival of an ambulance that took one of them to the hospital and the following diagnosis: it was a case of Covid-19. Romina Vinci tells us how the pandemic is managed in dorms of 5, 6 or even 8 people.

Migrants’ detention will not stop with the pandemic

May 27, 2020 - Giacomo Zandonini

Detention of irregular migrants is still the main instrument used to track down and repatriate unwelcome people, even when - like during a pandemic - this is not allowed. Giacomo Zandonini tells us how the Coronavirus emergency in Europe is leaving migrants’ detention unchanged.

The shadows of the Portugal’s migration model

May 8, 2020 - Giacomo Zandonini

The news that Portugal has extended a series of benefits to migrants waiting for regularisation in response to the coronavirus pandemic, has travelled around the world. But even if thousands of people, amongst the most precarious and vulnerable in the country, will be better protected thanks to the new measures, in force until June 30th, “it is untrue to argue that now all irregular migrants will have access to the same rights as the citizens”. Giacomo Zandonini helps us to understand why.

Migrants in Libya, trapped between war and Covid-19

May 5, 2020 - Nancy Porsia

Since the beginning of April, thousands of men, women and children trapped in Libya have been put at sea heading towards Europe. Estimations say that around 800 migrants left the Libyan shores in the second week of April alone. While the government in Tripoli sent thirty doctors to Italy to contribute to the fight against Covid-19, Italy and Malta declared their ports “unsafe” due to the health emergency, closing their borders to migrants on the Central Mediterranean route. Meanwhile, official detention centres refuse migrants, while dungeons run by militias have their doors wide open. Reporter Nancy Porsia describes what it means to be trapped in a country at war during a pandemic.

I would like to stay home. The emergency in the emergency of the homeless

April 16, 2020 - Daniela Sala

In Italy, around 50 thousand people live on the streets. Among them, an ever growing percentage of migrants who, deprived of assistance and left without the now dismantled SPRAR network, found themselves homeless. From Rome’s most well-known shelters, Daniela Sala describes the emergency in the emergency of those having to cope with minimal services and bureaucratic troubles.

Doomsayers of the 21st Century

April 22, 2020 - Romina Vinci

Preaching about social distancing is no easy task when you live in a small and cramped space. Expecting the correct behaviours to be followed under poor hygiene conditions can be quite challenging. The foreigners who try and convey this concept to their families back in their home countries know this pretty well. Romina Vinci gives us a glimpse of a class of adults in Lombardy, Italy, in the middle of the Coronavirus emergency.

Is detention actually necessary and effective in the management of migration?

March 18, 2020 - Paola Petrucco

In Italy the practice of immigration detention was normalized in 1998, with the Turco-Napolitano law, in an attempt to manage migration flows, reduce the number of irregular foreigners and increase repatriation rates. Since then, it has been used as one of the main tools for the expulsion of those without a regular residence permit. In 2018, the adoption of the so-called Salvini Decree further exacerbated its use, allowing for an increase in the capacity of detention centres and in the maximum number of days of detention, as well as the suspension of humanitarian protection. Contrary to what has been assumed by governments, these reforms have proven ineffective both in terms of repatriation and integration. We talked about it with Jerome Phelps, former Executive Director of the International Detention Coalition and former Director of Detention Action.

Residence permits for the social integration of minors: Liz’s happy ending

March 9, 2020 - Gennaro Santoro

Liz is a Dominican girl who was arrested for the crime of international drug trafficking when she was still a minor. In prison, Liz's desire for redemption was notable, but unfortunately her reintegration process was being hindered by lengthy bureaucracy. Lawyer Gennaro Santoro tells us how - with dedication, courage and a bit of luck - Liz managed to avoid repatriation, also thanks to the application of a law that is too often ignored.

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