Stefano Pilotto is a doctor in the history of international relations, a specialist in European and Balkan issues, and a professor at the MIB School of Management in Trieste.
FIGAROVOX. - While irregular arrivals on Italian shores have quadrupled since January 2023, the Meloni government has declared a "state of migratory emergency" for the next six months. What is it about ? Is this a simple communication stunt or the sign of a turning point in Italian migration policy?
Stefano PILOTTO. -
The state of migratory emergency is an indicator of a deep malaise at the national level in Italy.
Immigration statistics, combined with the humanitarian disasters in the Mediterranean, of which the Cutro tragedy is the most recent symbol, quickly underlined the priority nature of this problem.
After the period of moderate immigration during the pandemic, the number of emigrants to Italy has skyrocketed.
This phenomenon, in my opinion, is due to two major aspects.
The first is linked to the recovery after the pandemic: the multiplication of sources of vitality at the economic and social level, associated with the financial resources associated with the European Union (the Next Generation EU, which is represented in Italy by the PNRR, it
i.e. the National Plan for Recovery and Resilience) has undoubtedly caught the attention of millions of non-European citizens.
Italy is supposed to receive nearly 200 billion euros from the European Union between 2022 and 2025. Projects coordinated by the Italian state and financed by the European Union are abounding in the peninsula and creating growing expectations not only in Italy, but also among all those who live abroad and who dream of being able to move to find a job.
The second major aspect is related to the favorable prospects created by Italian standards regarding immigration.
Projects coordinated by the Italian State and financed by the European Union are abounding on the peninsula and are creating growing expectations not only in Italy, but also among all those who live abroad and who dream of being able to travel to find a job.
The second major aspect is related to the favorable prospects created by Italian standards regarding immigration.
Projects coordinated by the Italian State and financed by the European Union are abounding on the peninsula and are creating growing expectations not only in Italy, but also among all those who live abroad and who dream of being able to travel to find a job.
The second major aspect is related to the favorable prospects created by Italian standards regarding immigration.
Read alsoItaly: the Meloni government denies any change in its management of the sensitive immigration file
If, on the one hand, economic emigration is regulated by quotas established each year by the Italian State according to the absorption capacity on the part of the Italian economic system and, therefore, according to the contracts of hiring signed by Italian companies, humanitarian emigration, on the other hand, is managed by standards that are subject to both international agreements and the specificity of Italian laws.
The big problem today is linked to illegal immigration which tries to exploit humanitarian standards.
Italy is an open and democratic country that respects human rights and fundamental freedoms.
But it is still necessary to establish limits to generosity to avoid disasters and unjust attitudes.
Italian laws incorporate all the norms concerning the rights of refugees: the right to political asylum (provided by the Geneva Convention of 1951) and subsidiary protection (provided by the European Union in 2011).
To these two normative sources, in 1998, in Italy, humanitarian protection was added, which was replaced in 2018 by stricter “special protection”.
This "special protection" was extended in 2020. It is a further protection, which is not only addressed to human beings who are persecuted in their countries (for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or belonging to a social group) or who are subject to a serious risk (sentenced to death in their country, obvious risks of being subjected to torture, obvious risks of
The state of emergency indicates the priority character of the government's efforts to adapt the rules to the demands of the current situation and to offer the means that meet the needs of immigrants, the Italian national community and the European Union.
Stefano Pilotto
The “special protection”, moreover, allows those who obtain it to be entitled to a two-year work residence permit in Italy.
These normative regulations, certainly humanitarian and very generous, undoubtedly explained the 736.1% increase in those who benefited from "special protection" between 2020 and 2021. And this also explains the quadrupling of irregular arrivals since January 2023 and the will of the Italian government to remove or reduce the "special protection".
In fact, the Cutro decree of March 2023 was amended two days ago and it was approved by the Senate and it must now pass to the Chamber of Deputies before next May 10.
The new text, likely to become law in May 2023, confirms “special protection”, but radically reduces its scope.
The “special protection” will be granted in exceptional circumstances and will not allow obtaining the residence permit for work reasons for two years.
The amended text, moreover, provides for all the derogations required either by respect for international treaties signed by Italy or by Italian constitutional norms.
The text, above all, increases the severe measures to neutralize smugglers and organizations that allow the illegal trafficking of human beings.
Italy or by Italian constitutional norms.
The text, above all, increases the severe measures to neutralize smugglers and organizations that allow the illegal trafficking of human beings.
Italy or by Italian constitutional norms.
The text, above all, increases the severe measures to neutralize smugglers and organizations that allow the illegal trafficking of human beings.
What are the government's objectives through this measure? What does the state of emergency actually allow?
The government's objectives are obvious: we must reduce illegal immigration, which benefits from overly generous rules that allow people to settle in Europe without really having the right to do so.
To do this, it is necessary to be able to tighten the meshes of the system without threatening either respect for human rights or that of international agreements.
The state of emergency declared by the Italian government is not comparable to article 16 of the French constitution.
We should not expect an authoritarian drift likely to allow Giorgia Meloni to manage the problem without anyone's control.
The state of
I believe that the explosion in the number of immigrants by boat is due to the favorable conditions indicated: the job prospects linked to the post-Covid recovery and the generous character of the current standards on immigration in Italy.
Stefano Pilotto
Italy, moreover, is sending a new indirect message to Europe: the situation is very serious and we need to take on Community responsibility.
This message, however, hides a much deeper objective, which opposes two great conceptions of the world: that of the right and that of the left.
In a context of democracy, respect for human rights and a capitalist market economy, the right and the left have two different objectives.
The left wants to encourage social development based on globalization, on the expansion of all freedoms and on the redistribution of wealth, within a framework of planetary solidarity.
The right wants to support social development that is more aware of traditional and conservative values, where the sense of
Since the beginning of the year, more than 33,000 exiled people have arrived on the Italian coasts. How can this explosion in the number of immigrants arriving by boat be explained? Does France have a share of responsibility?
I believe that the explosion in the number of immigrants by boat is due to the favorable conditions indicated: the job prospects linked to the post-Covid recovery and the generous character of the current standards on immigration in Italy.
The text of the amended Curto Executive Order, which is expected to become law in May 2023, is intended to increase deterrence against criminals who illegally organize human trafficking.
France has a share of the responsibility, in relation to the current situation, like all the other member countries of the European Union.
France's responsibility, in my opinion, is twofold.
If, on the one hand, all the member countries - including France - must show solidarity in the event that a problem affects the whole of the Community organization, France, on the other hand,
should react even more quickly and effectively, because of its leading and leading role in the process of European integration.
The country of Jean Monnet and Robert Schuman cannot deny its historical responsibility for the future of Europe.
Could these measures taken by the Meloni government be followed by other European countries?
I do not believe that the measures taken by the Italian government will be followed by other countries, except, perhaps, by certain countries of central and eastern Europe.
No country in Europe is as geographically exposed as Italy to the phenomenon of migration.
Nor should the word “authoritarianism” be used when a democratic government makes decisions that are sometimes unpopular.
The administration of a people requires that one take decisions.
The current example of pension reform in France is an example of this.
What must be checked is compliance with the decision-making process provided for by democracy.
A subject as important as that of immigration is combined with that of the demographic recession, which in Italy has reached a very worrying level.