On 6 October 2016, EMN National Contact Point for Italy organised the EMN National Conference entitled Reception and integration: the role of small and medium sized towns. The conference was held in Rome and the speakers discussed good practices and challenges in relation to the integration of refugees in Europe with focus on the experience from Italy.
Conference commenced with the introductory words of Domenico Manzione, the Undersecretary of State from Italian Ministry of the Interior, who focused on the economic, political as well as social impact of the topic. The current migration situation is a systemic issue and structural phenomenon that cannot be dealt with only at the EU level. Mario Morcone from the Ministry of Interior introduced the Italian state of play mentioning that the real issue of the integration is the labour market access and social inclusion of migrants. There is an urge to stop using this topic for political purposes. He also pointed out that the situation of unaccompanied minors (UAMs) is especially sensitive topic in Italy as until October 2016 there were more than 25 000 arrivals of UAMs to Italy. Matteo Biffoni, the mayor of Prato underpinned the necessity of a dialogue. Italy is ready to assist the local communities as well as the refugees on the sea, therefore it takes responsibility already in that stage.
First panel dedicated to the best practices of Italy was opened by the speech of Tullio Gregory from Accademia dei Lincei. He highlighted the need for thorough analyses of the cultural elements of migration and impact of the migrant’s cultures on the Italian society in order to better understand the positive connotations of migration and improve cooperation. Rosetta Scotto Lavina from the Ministry of Interior sees the problem in an absent European as well as national visions for solutions. Italy is focusing on the revision of migration and integration policy based on the recent situation. Italians should respect the diverse society but migrants should demonstrate efforts to integrate. She touched upon the National Integration Plan consisting of three pillars: access to employment, education and healthcare, aiming at the redistribution on the local levels. Carmine Valente from the Ministry of Interior praised the plan on redistribution and added that mayors should understand that migrants do not pose a problem but an opportunity. He also expressed discontent with long asylum procedures and need for better cooperation with countries of return, as even though 60% of applications are rejected, these people often remain in the country. The panel was concluded by Riccardo Pozzo from the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche - National Research Council (CNR) who urged for better cooperation among Member States, more investment in research and use of a holistic approach.
In the second panel about reception and integration measures for migrants in Italy Corrado Bonifazi from CNR expressed the need to lower the migration flows as the numbers of irregular migrants are too high. EU should also focus on economic migrants due to large numbers of these people coming to EU and the aging population of the EU. Tatiana Espozito from the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs in Italy mentioned the Action Plan on Integration of TCNs adopted by the EU as a good idea that Member States should follow and implement. Italy implements several other programmes for integration such as “Pathways” or “Insides” aiming at integrating youngster via sport and focusing on second generation of migrants. Daniela Parisi from the Ministry of Interior, followed on current initiatives in Italy, such as the new legislation and transfer of competence on the cities and municipalities or the initiative SPRAR – the system of support on local levels. The last speaker of the panel, Luca Pacini, the head of Welfare and Immigration Division (ANCI) highlighted the need for mayors to cooperate, and need to create networks and centres and not only focus at urgent solutions.
The first day of conference was concluded with the third panel on comparison of experience in Europe regarding the reception and integration. First Martina Belmonte from ICF International introduced the EMN study on Integration of beneficiaries of international/humanitarian protection into the labour market. She was followed by Michael Kosmidis from Greek EMN NCP sharing the experience of 50 000 application for asylum and best practice Greece have developed so far. Adolfo Sommaribas from EMN NCP of Luxembourg followed up with the situation in Luxembourg, being a country with long history of immigration where 47% of population has different origin.
The topics that resonated on the second day of the conference were closely connected to the integration on the local level and roles of stakeholders in Italy. In first panel Martha Matscher from the Ministry of Interior explained the steps Italy is taking with regards to effective integration and inter-institutional cooperation. Integration to labour market, social assistance and language skills are the most important aspects of Italian support to refugees. Stefania Congia from the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs mentioned, above other issues, that Italy is facing a multidimensional problem that needs to be understood also from the point of social cohesion and inclusion. In this process policy of municipalities are crucial. The follow up monitoring of the projects is also very important. Raffaele Ciambrone from Uni Ricerca stated that already 85 000 young refugees and migrants are enrolled in schools and universities. Schools and universities need to be ready and thus systematic preparation and organisation is necessary. She introduced the project “Europe starts in Lampedusa”.
Second panel commenced with the presentation of Rosa Anna Maria mayor of Sant Angelo dei Lombardi who included the human dimension into the topic. Real integration needs to be thought through and well organised. Maria Eleonora Corsaro from the Ministry of Interior stressed the role of volunteer sector and its cooperation with municipalities. Carmen Cosentino from Ministry of Interior explained more details about the SPRAR project that offers help to refugees who are beneficiaries of international protection in Italy. Daniela di Capua from project SPRAR added some more information about project’s capacities, primary focus which is the access to local administration, services and education of minors and stressed the need for horizontal coordination and tighter connection on welfare system. The following speakers from Bergamo and Belluno municipalities, mayors Giorgio Gori and Jacopo Massaro supported the idea of the project SPRAR and shared their personal experience. The panel’s last speaker, Giancarlo Perero from the Migrant’s Foundation elaborated on the need to encompass all actors in order to reach successful integration. Counselling services have to be personalised and the topic needs to be handled from a variety of aspect including social, cultural, religious or even artistic.
This article was elaborated based on the available conference agenda and SK EMN NCP minutes.