Migrations in 2010: A Comprehensive Outlook

This contribution is an introduction to the ISMU Report on Migrations in Italy. At the beginning of 2010, the foreign population established in Italy exceeded five million people. As already stressed in our previous national Reports, and further evidenced in this latest edition, this phenomenon is now considerable and consolidated, in Italy as elsewhere. This Report analyzes from a statistical and sociological point of view some of the most relevant aspects of the phenomenon by making available and explaining the data referring to the presence of migrants, labour (focused in particular on labour demand and supply and on after-crisis scenarios), school and education (with reference to the debate concerning the 30 per cent ceiling established in the number of foreign students attending the school), minors, crime, and costs of immigration for public finance. Furthermore, this Report examines in depth the developments in law and regulations concerning migration and the phenomenon of immigrants’ associations. A chapter is devoted to the activities of the Regional Observatory for Integration and Multiethnicity of Lombardy, an organization assigned to study and spread knowledge on the migratory reality in Lombard territory in support of the activities carried out by the regional and local administrations. The aim of this Report is to circulate correct data and information on migration flows in Italy, and to provide a reliable snapshot of this phenomenon against the background of the reference year, based on the respect for diversity and the rules of coexistence, in order to achieve an increasingly integrated society.