We would like to point out that the first 20 Country Reports on integration policies, multilevel dynamics and migrants’ access to public services have just been published as part of the Whole-COMM project. The 20 national reports showcase the wealth of field research and analyse data collected in 49 locations in eight EU countries (Austria, Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Sweden) and two non-EU countries (Turkey and Canada).
In particular, we would like to highlight the report on Italy, produced by FIERI researchers as part of WP3.
Abstract
The report finds that the market is the main driver of post-2014 migrants’ housing and labour inclusion as well as exclusion, with the housing market displaying higher barriers than the labour market. Although local initiatives and networks are more developed in progressive localities than in conservative ones, in both cases they appear unable to actually counteract market limitations. At the same time, traditional demand-supply dynamics appear undermined by ethnic discrimination that emerges as the main challenge for post-2014 migrants, the large majority of which come from Africa and South Asia. Against this backdrop, informal contacts play a crucial role: ethnic networks appear as the main channel to find jobs and accommodation; post-2014 migrants’ networks with natives are much smaller than those with co-nationals but particularly fruitful, since they tend to convey better housing and working conditions. Individual initiatives of support appear more systematic and interconnected in progressive localities than in conservative sites. Similarly, the engagement of NGOs in service provision and advocacy is higher in progressive localities so that NGOs, instead of compensating the conservative local authorities’ lack of initiatives, tend to reinforce the activism of pro-migrant municipalities. As a result, initiatives to facilitate post-2014 migrants’ accesso to housing and employment are distributed according to local actors’ activism rather than to migrants’ needs. This is largely explained by the weak Italian welfare policies, the local authorities’ poor competences and/or resources in the fields of housing and employment, and the local initiatives’ dependence on calls for projects issued by the central government.
