Feature: Revision of Immigrants Laws in Italy

The decision by the Italian Government to revise some of its laws on immigrants is a laudable step which would remove some of the hardships on documentation faced by foreign nationals resident in the country.

The Government’s new application methods, among them, less complications in renewal of immigrants’ staying permit and less bureaucratic tendencies under family reunification which would allow them to bring in their spouse and children to join them in Italy has come as a big relief for the legally resident immigrant.

Over the years the Italian Government appeared insensitive to the plight of legal foreign nationals in the country throwing at them meaningless, absurd and sometimes ambiguous laws to which the road in applying for needed documents was ‘bumpy’ and tough, sometimes giving an indication the government is ONLY interested in the man-power of the foreign worker in the country and not his welfare.

Indeed the Government has a problem on its hands with the influx of illegal immigrants who arrive on its shores seeking for greener pastures – but I thought by now the white-man have realized and understood they are reaping the fruits of their inhuman slave trade and colonization where the main interest was to exploit the people, excavate their mineral resources and leave them in abject poverty. When one is deprived of a meaningful living the chances are he/she would strive to find a place to provide that and as much as the Italian Government has tried to curb the influx by putting in place stringent measures, sometimes with inhuman treatments, people are not deterred, ‘man must eat’ and they continue to take the risk through dangerous journeys to arrive on the coast.

The influx certainly is weighing on the Italian Government but on the other side of the coin the population of illegal immigrants in most cases become legal immigrants and they are great resource of revenue and development of the national economy. They are those who buy telephone cards calling their families back home and remitting money, among others, keeping some businesses running which the government admits is a great source of revenue. They are those mostly found on the tomatoes and grapes plantations, a large number of immigrants are keeping many Italian factories running - at the end of the day they are those involved in the less skillful, difficult and sometimes dangerous aspect of the job, some have lost their limbs and life in fatal accidents on the job without proper compensation.

They take up domestic jobs looking after pensioners, the men and women whose toil and sweat has helped Italy to become what it is today and they have no one to shower any shred of love on them being dumped in old peoples’ homes or kept within the confines of their home whilst their sons and daughters have no care in the world about them. They are the ones that cleaning companies have easy access cheating and paying them scanty wages, ‘hiring and firing’ them when and how they wish. They are the ones landlords make a meal out of, renting their apartments to them at exorbitant rate and issuing receipt (or sometimes not at all) for far less the amount paid in an effort to under declare their income and pay less tax with Government appearing oblivious. On the worse side of it all, they are the ones who die under mysterious circumstances when admitted to hospital, with suspicion of body parts being removed for the affluent people in the society, and there is no one to speak for them.

The Government itself is going to make more money on the back of the immigrant working in the country as the new method of renewing the staying permit does not come cheap costing four times more with postage stamps and processing fees.

Italian laws on immigrants in most cases seems to treat the immigrant worker as a second class being, the respect and recognition you get would depend on which part of the world you come from and the color of your skin – the darker, the less recognition and respect you get. The new relaxed law on family reunification and renewal of the staying permit has paved a more human approach to some of the problems confronting the immigrant resident in Italy.

The decision to allow the local postal offices to deal with application of renewing staying permits against previous system at the police offices where people including pregnant women, families and children had to join very long queues passing almost a whole night outside an office that opens in the morning has taken a lot out on the ‘headache’ of the immigrant worker. The police offices where these applications were previously received were in most areas a scene of inhuman treatment by the police with shouting and abuse to the poor immigrant worker. His only crime is leaving his country to come in search of a better condition for living. People are made to go back and forth with documents making things difficult with new requirements that has no meaning but to wear down the applicant after having shown ample proofs of all needed documents.

The law in Italy depends on who is at the counter as people interpret the law on their own whims and understanding. A legal resident worker who has just relocated to another city went to the work office in search of a job. Here is how he recounted his story. “I went to the work office in search of a job, as usual there was a queue so I joined and on my turn I was asked to go to the city I relocated from for an additional document from their work office. I challenged the request insisting since these offices are inter related through their communication they can get the required document than me making a 300-km round trip to get that document. After a length of time arguing my case out I realized not until I turn in the document on request nothing is going to be done to help me. The next day I took the train to my previous city of residence, got to the work office and was given the required document. I decided to make the return journey the same day and the following day was back to the work office again where I’ve been two days earlier. I joined the queue again as usual and on my turn there was a different gentleman at the counter, the same counter I have been two days ago. I explained my situation saying I was asked to go and bring the document (showing the document to him) from my previous city of residence before I could be considered for work. He looked at it in a glance and gave it back to me replying the document is not necessary. I was surprised, I have spent my time and money traveling all the way and back to go and get a document on request and here I’m being told it’s not needed”. This is an example of some of the difficulties that the immigrant encounters in Italy on documentation, even as a legal resident for many years you hardly walk into an office applying or looking for a document and come out with it, there’s always an additional requirement even if you requested for all the necessary documents to apply for the needed document and submitted them.

The changes in the laws on immigrants would break new grounds for the integration of foreign nationals into the Italian society, at the end of the day they are making a contribution to the Italian economy, every nation has its fair share of foreign nationals and problems and Italy must come to live with it and respect them.