Immigration into Italy at this time is still a very difficult process that can take months to years to receive legal status to remain in the country. Granted that the EU has been taking steps to make this an easier process for the last 10 years or so but much of the legislation on immigration is still left up to that nation; and poor EU enforcement of their laws doesn't make the process any easier. It is easy enough for the immigrants to go to Italy, but it is the law within the country that make it difficult for them to stay here once they arrive; although there is free-movement within Schengen States, so in practice they can go to any of the other 24 other Schengen states. Within this last decade their has been much focus on protecting the rights of immigrants and those seeking asylum in EU countries. The Hague Programme adopted by the European Council on the 4 and 5 November 2004 outlines 10 goals for the next 5 years ending in 2010.
These goals are:
Strengthening fundamental rights and citizenship
Anti-terrorist measures
Defining a balance approach to migration
Developing integrated management of the Union's external boarders
Setting up a common asylum procedures
Maximizing the positive impact of immigration
Striking the right balance between privacy and security while sharing information
Developing a strategic concept on tackling organized crime
A genuine European area of justice
Sharing responsibility and solidarity
An outline and explanation of these goals can be found in the following link http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/human_rights/fundamental_rights_within_european_union/l16002_en.htm
Perhaps the most important of these 10 policy areas in terms of this class and immigration are the common asylum procedures, strengthening fundamental rights and maximizing the positive impact of immigration. Coming from the Hague Programme is one of the most important documents that the EU has adopted, last year with the Treaty of Lisbon, that has shown true progress with the growth and power of the EU was the adoption of The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. Adopted on 1 December 2009 and implemented on 19 October 2010, this document consist of 54 articles all protecting the rights of people living in the 27 EU member states. This charter is a major step forward for the EU because it not only protects the rights of citizens it also protects immigrant populations.
More information on this document can be found here:
The charter can be found here:
Italian immigration is perhaps the most strict of all the European Union countries despite the desire to create a common immigration law within the EU. Their has been expressed interest with some European countries to create a common immigrations and asylum policy for all of the EU countries since there is free-movement between all 25 Schengen states. But there are certain countries that oppose a common immigration system like Italy and other countries that are immigration “gateways” to Europe; and then there is always the problem of enforcing these laws since the punishment for disobeying these laws is negligible. But the main concern of these countries, ie Italy, is the concern over the immigration of illegals and problems that they present when they arrive in these countries; this is the main reason as to why some of these countries are so hesitant to change their laws. Here is a quote from the current Portuguese President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso:
"The Migration Package adopted today shows that we need to take a new approach to dealing with Immigration and Asylum. Immigration contributes to European economic performance. But this potential will be possible only if integration of migrants succeeds and people's concerns about illegal immigration are recognized. Europe needs a common policy vision which builds on past achievements and aims at providing a more coherent and integrated framework for future action by the Member States and the European Union. If we work together on the ten principles to better manage immigration and reinforce the standards for protection of asylum seekers we will make tangible improvements in these crucial areas".
In the above quote there is a line that really stands out and that is “Immigration contributes to European economic performance. But this potential will be possible only if integration of migrants succeeds”. This quote leads me to the next point I would like to discuss which is, the problems that face immigrants once they have the right to stay in Italy; which is education and in particular the education of the youth. How can we expect the immigrants to succeed in Italy when much of the population isn't pro-immigration and when almost all politicians are unwilling to propose or vote for any pro-immigration legislation since for them it would be political suicide. As we have seen in some of the articles we have read over the past 2 weeks there is a general trend of more and more immigrants finishing high school. But this trend may just be because there is an increasing amount of second generation immigrants that are Italian speaking; but then there is also the problem of those who are learning ISL (Italian as a Second Language) where they tend to fall further behind in the education system and are less likely to finish. But then there is also another problem in Italy which could be the cause of many of these problems, which is the lack of funding for the public school system; but then again this is a problem not only in Italy but also in other European countries and America. As was discussed in the lakhous lecture much of the older Italian population is against immigrations and even the integration of them into Italian society, since they wish to preserve the Italian society; which can include the school systems. Much of the youth in Italy is open to idea of allowing people to immigrate to Italy, while many of the older population is anti-immigration; the problem with this is that many of the politicians in Italy ranges from 50 – 70, so it is only their ideals and beliefs that are expressed. If the EU and Italy want the immigrants to succeed and become a defining and helpful force in Europe then their needs to be political will and funding and the desire to help them. This means creating programs to help immigrants at younger ages and to offer classes that will help further their education to university levels. This is going to have to be achieved on the Italian government level since there is no political will in the European Union to have EU wide education requirements.
It is difficult to compare education of the youth and immigration between the United States and Italy especially when the counties differ so much (with the European system being much more complex when it comes to immigrations and asylum seekers due to the overseeing hierarchy of the European Union, which the United States does not have). I don't have much experience when it comes to immigration and education in the US, but from what I have observed in general about the US is it's much more accommodating to immigrants and their education when compared to Italy. While many of the states in America are pro-immigration there are some that have setup english only laws restricting the spoken language in government operations within those states to only english. This can be somewhat problematic when teaching in schools for those children that are learning english as a second language. Many states are also trying to curb illegal immigration like in Italy by passing laws that will deport those without the legal right to stay Arizona is one of the first states to try to pass such legislation (S.B. 1070) with many other states also writing and try to pass similar illegal immigration laws. Education in the States is in my opinion much more accommodating to immigrants especially those who don't speak english as their native tongue; at least from what I have seen in the eduction system in Washington State, which is also one of the few states to not have an english only law.
Much of my opinions and perspectives on the education and in particular immigration in Italy and the EU are based on my area of studies in European Studies. But much of opinions and perspectives about the US are from what have observed and learned during my time living in the US, but never formally studying these topic in school; in addition to this I have never had the experience of immigrating to another country. I also believe that the greatest problem facing immigrants in Italy and Europe, is that Europe has an integration problem when it comes to immigrants. The French are a perfect example of this type of thinking, an example I'll use is from the book Europe's Promise by Steven Hill; "The unspoken pact that France has had with the immigrés for decades has been, 'you come here, we'll greet you warmly, we'll give you free housing in suburban developments built just for you, you'll get spending money every month, free health care, a monthly allowance for every child you bear. You, in turn, will sweep our floors and dig our trenches. But don't even think about getting a REAL job!'" (Hill 305). This is the mentality that is shared throughout many larger western European counties Italy included, this still remains the problem even if more and more doors are opened for immigrants this mentality towards them only hurts any chance they do have of integration.
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