The Italian National Law covers all grounds of discrimination. In the last years, there have been two tendencies: on the one hand a strengthen of the contrast of racism (by UNAR, trade unions and NGOs); on the other hand there are also some difficulties in the application of the legal framework. For example the access to justice by certain groups is a real problem and there are differential pay rates in the labour market.

Clear
  • Anti-discrimination Legislation & Implementation

    If one puts together the Immigration Act (1998) and the Decrees (2003), the grounds of discrimination prohibited by statute law (beyond the equal treatment provisions contained in the Constitution) coincide with those covered by the Directives, with the relevant addendum of discrimination on ground of nationality.

    • Is racial discrimination defined in national law?

      Yes.

      Qualitative Info

      The Italian Constitution, in its article 3, guarantees the “equal dignity” of all citizens and the principle of equality before the law “without distinction based on sex, race,language, religion, political opinion, or personal and social conditions.” Italy’s Constitutional Court has repeatedly interpreted article 3 as applicable to all persons within Italian territory.

      Italy has robust anti-discrimination legislation. While specific norms existed before, comprehensive legislation was adopted in 2003 when Italy transposed EU Directives 43 (on equal treatment between persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin) and 78 (one qual treatment in employment and occupation) in Legislative Decrees 215 and 216 of July 9, 2003.

      The most important instrument in Italian law for prosecuting racist and other hateviolence is the penalty enhancement provision contained in Law no. 205 of 1993, commonly referred to as the “Mancino Law”. Its article 3 allows judges to increase the sentence to be imposed for acrime, by up to half, if it was committed “with the purpose of discrimination or hatred based on ethnicity, nationality, race, or religion, or in order to facilitate the activity of organizations, associations, movements, or groups that have this purpose among their objectives.” (Judges in Italy have discretion with respect to sentencing within the parameters established by law. A sentence for a racially-motivated offense can be increased by any amount of time up to one half again the minimum sentence for the offense in question). The aggravating circumstance of racist or other hate purpose can be applied to any crime, except those punishable by life in prison (the harshest penalty under Italian criminal law). The Mancino Law also makes it a crime to “instigate in any way or commit violence or acts of provocation to violence for racist, ethnic, national or religious motives,”punishable by six months to four years in prison, and to “propagate ideas based on racial superiority or racial or ethnic hatred, or to instigate to commit or commit acts of discrimination for racial, ethnic, national or religious motives,” punishable by up to one year and six months in prison or a € 6,000 fine.

      After that in January 2006 the Parliament adopted an act, requested by the xenophobic party Lega Nord, which significantly weakens the penal­ties against hate speech and instigation to racial discrimination, the Mancino Law was modified by Law 85 of 24 February 2006, that substituted the word “instigate” for the original “incite”.


      Source:

      Human Rights Watch – Everyday Intolerance. Racist and Xenophobic Violence in Italy, 2011 - /resources/toolip/doc/2011/10/21/hrw---racist-and-xenophobic-violence-in-italy-2011.pdf

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Refugees
      • Roma & Travelers
      • Muslims
      • Ethnic minorities
      • Religious minorities
      • Asylum seekers

      Type (R/D)

      • Extremism - organised Racist Violence
      • Anti-migrant/xenophobia
      • Anti-semitism
      • Islamophobia
      • Afrophobia
      • Arabophobia
      • Anti-roma/zinghanophobia
      • Religious intolerance
      • Inter-ethnic
      • Intra-ethnic
      • Nationalism

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Policing - law enforcement
      • Anti-discrimination
      • Anti-racism
      • Integration - social cohesion
      • Daily life
      • Religion

      External Url http://www.non-discrimination.net/content/media/2009-IT-Country%20Report%20LN_final.pdf

      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Is there a definition of discrimination on the grounds of race, ethnic origin and/or religion in national law in conformity with the EU Directives?

      Yes.

      Qualitative Info

      In order to transpose Directives 2000/43/EC and 2000/78/EC in Italian law, the government (on the basis of the lawmaking power previously delegated for this purpose by the parliament) approved in July 2003 two decrees, decree 215/2003 (transposing directive 43/2000) and decree 216/2003 (transposing directive 78/2000).

      The Decrees reproduce the text of each Directive. Decree 215/2000 is thus applicable, within all fields mentioned in directive 43/2000, to discrimination on ground of race and ethnic origin, while decree 216/2003 applies within the field of employment to discrimination based on religion and belief, sexual orientation, disability and age. Both decrees are basically aimed at transplanting the Directives into the legal system as they are, without attempting to coordinate between them or with other existing Italian legal rules. Some formal mistakes which occurred in the drafting work have been corrected by a later decree, and legislation of early 2008 amended some of the major discrepancies with the directives.

      One criticism addressed (also in parliament) at this transposition technique concerns the fact that, since it does not abolish the pre-existing anti-discrimination rules nor attempts unification, it adds a further legal regime, creating a complex situation which could lead to litigation involving many legalistic arguments. The coordination in a single text of all rules on equal opportunities (all grounds, included gender) has been discussed, but until now the government did not take action in that sense.


      Source:

      European Network of Legal Experts in the Non-Discrimination Field – Italy – Main Legislation - http://www.non-discrimination.net/content/main-legislation-13 (Date of access: 2.12.2011)

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Refugees
      • Roma & Travelers
      • Muslims
      • Ethnic minorities
      • Religious minorities
      • Linguistic minorities
      • Majority
      • Asylum seekers
      • Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender
      • Persons with disability

      Type (R/D)

      • Extremism - organised Racist Violence
      • Anti-migrant/xenophobia
      • Anti-semitism
      • Islamophobia
      • Afrophobia
      • Arabophobia
      • Anti-roma/zinghanophobia
      • Religious intolerance
      • Inter-ethnic
      • Intra-ethnic
      • Homophobia
      • On grounds of disability
      • On grounds of other belief

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Policing - law enforcement
      • Employment - labour market
      • Health and social protection
      • Culture
      • Political discourse -parties - orgs
      • Anti-discrimination
      • Anti-racism
      • Integration - social cohesion
      • Religion

      External Url http://www.non-discrimination.net/content/media/2009-IT-Country%20Report%20LN_final.pdf

      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Does the national law cover all grounds of discrimination as in the International Conventions and EU law or additional discrimination grounds?

      Yes.

      Qualitative Info

      If one puts together the Immigration Act (1998) and the Decrees (2003), the grounds of discrimination prohibited by statute law (beyond the equal treatment provisions contained in the Constitution) coincide with those covered by the Directives, with the relevant addendum of discrimination on ground of nationality.


      Source:

      http://www.non-discrimination.net/content/media/2009-IT-Country%20Report%20LN_final.pdf

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Refugees
      • Roma & Travelers
      • Muslims
      • Ethnic minorities
      • Religious minorities
      • Linguistic minorities
      • Majority
      • Asylum seekers
      • Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender
      • Persons with disability
      • Africans/black people
      • National minorities

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Anti-discrimination
      • Anti-racism
      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Does nationality, citizenship serve as a ground for discrimination in access to public goods and services, employment and/or deprivation of economic and social rights?

      No

      Qualitative Info

      The Italian Decree (9 luglio 2003, n. 215 “Implementation of the Directive on the equal treatment of persons independently from race and ethnic origin”) is a transposition of the Directive 2000/43. “This Decree – as well as the pre-existing antidiscrimination provisions of immigration law – apply to all persons without requirements of citizenship or nationality. The exclusion of nationality from their field of application – formally in line with the Directives- implies, however, some problems”. (p. 31)


      Report on measures to combat discrimination, Directives 2000/43/EC and 2000/78/EC Country Report 2009, Italy. Alessandro Simoni

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Anti-discrimination
      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Does statelessness serve as a ground for discrimination in access to public goods and services and/or deprivation of economic and social rights?

      no

      Qualitative Info

      The Italian Decree (9 luglio 2003, n. 215 “Implementation of the Directive on the equal treatment of persons independently from race and ethnic origin”) is a transposition of the Directive 2000/43. “This Decree – as well as the pre-existing antidiscrimination provisions of immigration law – apply to all persons without requirements of citizenship or nationality. The exclusion of nationality from their field of application – formally in line with the Directives- implies, however, some problems”. (p. 31)


      Source:

      Report on measures to combat discrimination, Directives 2000/43/EC and 2000/78/EC Country Report 2009, Italy. Alessandro Simoni

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Anti-discrimination
      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Discrimination on the grounds of race, ethnic origin and/or religion is prohibited in all the areas provided for by the EU Directives?

      Yes.

      Qualitative Info

      If one puts together the Immigration Act and the recent Decrees, the grounds of discrimination prohibited by statute law (beyond the equal treatment provisions contained in the Constitution) coincide with those covered by the Directives, with the relevant addendum of discrimination on ground of nationality. A statutory principle of equal treatment was indeed already in force in the Italian legal system before the enactment of the Decrees transposing the Directives, due to the antidiscrimination provisions contained in the 1998 Immigration Act19 which provides in its article 43 a definition of direct and indirect discrimination which is in general in line with that of the Directives, applicable to the grounds of race and colour, ethnic origin, “religious beliefs and practices” (le convinzioni e le pratiche religiose), and nationality (national origin).


      Source:

      Report  on Measures to Combat Discrimination, Directives 2000/43/EC and 2000/78/EC Country Report - Italy by Alessandro Simoni - http://www.non-discrimination.net/content/media/2007-IT-Country%20Report%20Final.pdf

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Roma & Travelers
      • Muslims
      • Ethnic minorities
      • Religious minorities
      • Persons with disability
      • Africans/black people
      • National minorities

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Anti-discrimination
      • Anti-racism
      • Integration - social cohesion

      External Url http://www.non-discrimination.net/content/media/2007-IT-Country%20Report%20Final.pdf

      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Are there specialised bodies/agencies/mechanisms which receive, handle/investigate complaints in discrimination cases?

      Yes.

      Qualitative Info

      An equality body has been created only with regard to race and ethnic origin, named Ufficio Nazionale Antidiscriminazioni Razziali (UNAR). It was established within the Department for Rights and Equal Opportunities in 2003, in response to the European Directive 2000/43/CE, so it is not an autonomous body. UNAR’s role is to promote equality of treatment, monitor the effectiveness of legal instruments that tackle racial discrimination and, eliminate it. UNAR recognises the different impacts discrimination can have on women and their experience of cultural and religious discrimination. UNAR’s work is mandated through the Council of Ministers’ Legislative Decree 215/2003, Article 7. UNAR is

      According to its founding act, the competences of the office include providing independent assistance to victims of discrimination in pursuing their complaints, carrying out independent surveys on discriminations, promoting the adoption of specific measures aimed at eliminating or compensating the disadvantages related to a certain race or ethnic origin, issuing of opinions and proposing legislative reforms concerning racial and ethnic discrimination, issuing recommendations on matters related to racial and ethnic discrimination and diffusion of information concerning the rules on equal treatment between persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin. The office has two different units, one primarily oriented toward legal assistance and dispute resolution and the other toward study, and research. It reports every year to the parliament and to the executive. The office has been operational since November 2004.


      Source:

      European Network of Legal Experts in the Non-Discrimination Field – Italy – Equality Bodies - http://www.non-discrimination.net/content/equality-bodies-12 (Date of access: 2.12.2011)

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Refugees
      • Roma & Travelers
      • Muslims
      • Ethnic minorities
      • Religious minorities
      • Linguistic minorities
      • Majority
      • Asylum seekers
      • Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender
      • Persons with disability

      Type (R/D)

      • Extremism - organised Racist Violence
      • Anti-migrant/xenophobia
      • Anti-semitism
      • Islamophobia
      • Afrophobia
      • Arabophobia
      • Anti-roma/zinghanophobia
      • Religious intolerance
      • Inter-ethnic
      • Intra-ethnic
      • Homophobia
      • On grounds of disability
      • On grounds of other belief

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Policing - law enforcement
      • Employment - labour market
      • Housing
      • Health and social protection
      • Education
      • Culture
      • Media
      • Sport
      • Political discourse -parties - orgs
      • Political participation
      • Anti-discrimination
      • Anti-racism
      • Integration - social cohesion
      • Daily life
      • Religion

      External Url www.unar.it

      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Are there mechanisms in place to collect data on racial discrimination in line with data protection legislation as an effective means of, monitoring and reviewing policies and practices to combat racial discrimination and promote racial equality?

      Yes

      Qualitative Info

      The only official national statistics on cases related to racial or ethnic discrimination are provided by the National Office Against Racial Discrimination (UNAR), based on cases of discrimination reported to its Contact Centre that runs a toll-free number.

      Moreover, the 1998 Immigration Act planned the creation of a national Commission for integration policies which is supposed to draft an annual report on migration and integration (art. 46 1998 Immigration Act).


      Source:

      Cospe, Complementary Data Collection. Contribution to the FRA Annual Report 2009

      Italian Immigration Act (Testo unico delle disposizioni concernenti la disciplina dell'immigrazione e norme sulla condizione dello straniero (Dlgs 286/1998) -

       

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Roma & Travelers
      • Ethnic minorities

      Type (R/D)

      • Anti-migrant/xenophobia
      • Anti-roma/zinghanophobia

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Anti-discrimination
      • Anti-racism
      • Integration - social cohesion

      External Url http://www.interno.it/mininterno/export/sites/default/it/sezioni/servizi/legislazione/immigrazione/legislazione_200.html

      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Does legislation provide for the possibility of adopting special/positive measures prevent or compensate for disadvantages linked to racial or ethnic origin in order to ensure full equality in practice?

      No.

      Qualitative Info

      Italian national legislation does not provide for any positive measures.


      Source:

      Unar, Parità di trattamento e uguaglianza in Italia, Armando Editore, Roma, 2011 - http://www.unar.it

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Ethnic minorities

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Anti-discrimination
      • Anti-racism
      • Integration - social cohesion
      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Are special/positive measures for securing advancement and protection of certain racial or ethnic groups widely adopted and implemented?

      Not provided by law but some local-regional initiatives do exist.

      Qualitative Info

      Acording to the Italian Migration Act (Testo unico delle disposizioni concernenti la disciplina dell'immigrazione e norme sulla condizione dello straniero (Dlgs 286/1998) and the EU Directives  43 (on equal treatment between persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin) and 78 (on equal treatment in employment and occupation) transposed in Legislative Decrees 215 and 216 of July 9, 2003,  in IItaly there are no positive measures for securing advancement  and protecion of  certain racial or ethnic groups. However, at the local and regional level, there are some projects aiming at protecting and facilitating the advancement of specific minorities as Roma and Sinti.


      Source:

      http://www. anci.it/Contenuti/allegati/presentazione_citta_sottili_2007.doc

      http://www.interno.it/mininterno/export/sites/default/it/sezioni/servizi/legislazione/immigrazione/legislazione_200.html

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Roma & Travelers
      • Ethnic minorities

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Integration - social cohesion

      External Url http://www. anci.it/Contenuti/allegati/presentazione_citta_sottili_2007.doc

      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Is the State or are state representatives reported to engage in discriminatory acts or practices by independent authoritative sources?

      Yes

      Qualitative Info

      In Italy, at national and local level there are many independent authoritative sources which have reported several discrimitation practices and acts by state or state representatives. The most important  national sources are Caritas, ISMU Foundation and ASGI. Caritas and ISMU Foundation publish every year an annual report on the state of migration, while ASGI regularly publishes on his web site updated information and documents regarding the national immigration law and cases of institutional discrimination taking place in Italy.

      At the local level, a good example of anti-discrimination observatory is Articolo 3. Osservatorio sulle discriminazioni, created in Mantua in 2008. It publishes a monthly newsletter and an annual report on every type of discrimination (e.g. institutional). It particurarly focuses his attention on municipalities policies which can be considered discriminating agaisnt migrants and minorities.

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Refugees
      • Roma & Travelers
      • Muslims
      • Ethnic minorities

      Type (R/D)

      • Anti-migrant/xenophobia
      • Anti-semitism
      • Islamophobia
      • Afrophobia
      • Arabophobia
      • Anti-roma/zinghanophobia
      • Homophobia
      • Anti-roma/ romaphobia
      • Xenophobia

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Anti-discrimination
      • Anti-racism
      • Integration - social cohesion

      External Url www.asgi.it; www.ismu.org; www.caritasitalia.it; www.articolo3.org

      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Is legal support for victims available from public agencies/bodies? Is there access for victims to assistance and justice?

      Yes.

      Qualitative Info

      Although the reception of the European directive on discrimination in Italy does not require the Unar can act directly in court, if the victim of discrimination goes to trial, the office as well as providing a list of associations that can offer free help, for example free legal aid, follows the entire judicial process until the end.


      Source:

      Unar, Parità di trattamento e uguaglianza in Italia. Un anno contro ogni forma e causa di discriminazione, Armando Editore, Roma, 2011 - http://www.unar.it

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Ethnic minorities

      Type (R/D)

      • Anti-migrant/xenophobia
      • Anti-semitism
      • Islamophobia
      • Anti-roma/zinghanophobia

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Anti-discrimination
      • Anti-racism
      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Does the law foresee the shift of the burden of proof in civil / administrative procedures? Are there problems of implementation reported by independent authoritative sources?

      Yes.

      Qualitative Info

      Italy has recently transposed the shift of the burden of proof required in Article 8 of Directive 2000/43/EC, with Italy/legge 101/2008 (06/06/2008), after the European Commission initiated an infringement procedure. It is too early to assess the effect of this emendation. In general, the victims of discrimination can use statistical data and other factual elements to support the case.


      Source:

      http://fra.europa.eu/fraWebsite/attachments/access-to-justice-2011-country-IT.pdf

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Ethnic minorities

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Anti-discrimination
      • Anti-racism
      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Can associations, organisations or other legal entities, who have a legitimate interest, engage, either on behalf or in support of the complainant, with his or her approval, in any judicial and/or administrative procedure concerning discrimination?

      Yes.

      Qualitative Info

      In Italy individual lawyers working for associations such as NGOs or trade unions may represent a victim with their permission. Moreover, NGOs are able to bring case to court without the consent of the victim in certain circumstances (such as for ‘class actions’.


      Source:

      http://fra.europa.eu/fraWebsite/attachments/FRA-RED-synthesis-report_EN.pdf

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Ethnic minorities

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Anti-discrimination
      • Anti-racism
      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Is class action or actio popularis possible? (court claims or action in the name of a group)
    • Are sanctions foreseen/provided by anti-discrimination legislation?

      Yes.

      Qualitative Info

      Article 3 of Law no. 205 of 1993, commonly referred to as the “Mancino Law”, allows judges to increase the sentence to be imposed for a crime, by up to half, if it was committed “with the purpose of discrimination or hatred based on ethnicity, nationality, race, or religion, or in order to facilitate the activity of organizations, associations, movements, or groups that have this purpose among their objectives”. (Judges in Italy have discretion with respect to sentencing within the parameters established by law. A sentence for a racially-motivated offense can be increased by any amount of time up to one half again the minimum sentence for the offense in question). The aggravating circumstance of racist or other hate purpose can be applied to any crime, except those punishable by life in prison (the harshest penalty under Italian criminal law). The Mancino Law also makes it a crime to “instigate in any way or commit violence or acts of provocation to violence for racist, ethnic, national or religious motives, ”punishable by six months to four years in prison, and to “propagate ideas based on racial superiority or racial or ethnic hatred, or to instigate to commit or commit acts of discrimination for racial, ethnic, national or religious motives”, punishable by up to one year and six months in prison or a € 6,000 fine.


      Source:

      European Network of Legal Experts in the Non-Discrimination Field – Italy – Main Legislation - http://www.non-discrimination.net/content/main-legislation-13 (Date of access: 2.12.2011)

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Refugees
      • Roma & Travelers
      • Muslims
      • Ethnic minorities
      • Religious minorities
      • Asylum seekers

      Type (R/D)

      • Extremism - organised Racist Violence
      • Anti-migrant/xenophobia
      • Anti-semitism
      • Islamophobia
      • Afrophobia
      • Arabophobia
      • Anti-roma/zinghanophobia
      • Religious intolerance
      • Inter-ethnic
      • Intra-ethnic

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Policing - law enforcement
      • Anti-discrimination
      • Anti-racism
      • Integration - social cohesion

      External Url http://www.non-discrimination.net/content/media/2009-IT-Country%20Report%20LN_final.pdf

      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Is there provision within anti-discrimination legislation/practice forfinancial compensation/restitution of rights and are these applied in practice?

      Yes.

      Qualitative Info

      The Italian judicial system tends to provide victims of discrimination forms of compensation that almost always reinstate the previous status to discrimination without offering a fee for the damage suffered. Courts do not usually order any compensation, preferring other forms of satisfactions (like reinstating of the employee unlawfully discharged). The level of compensation set in consideration of the damage caused to the individual does not seem to be proportionate to the damage actually suffered.


      Source:

      Unar, Parità di trattamento e uguaglianza in Italia, Armando Editore, Roma, 2011 - http://www.unar.it

      http://fra.europa.eu/fraWebsite/attachments/access-to-justice-2011-country-IT.pdf

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Ethnic minorities

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Anti-discrimination
      • Anti-racism
      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Are there any problems concerning the implementation of national legislation prohibiting discrimination?

      Yes.

      Qualitative Info

      Discrimination on the grounds foreseen in the Directives has until recently been a marginal subject in Italian legal and political debate. As a result of the low priority that combating discrimination has had for social and political actors, empirical research on the dimension of the actual problems has been carried out to a limited extent. The weakest equality policies in Europe are undermining equal opportunities guaranteed in Italian law. Thanks to EU law, victims of ethnic, racial, religious and nationality discrimination can use new concepts and slightly favourable mechanisms to enforce their rights in all areas of life. However, access to justice may be denied. The Prime Minister controls the Office for Racial Discrimination, Europe’s 2nd weakest equality body after Spain, according to MIPEX III. Anyway, Italy gave its residents full protection against discrimination following threats from the European Commission to take legal action. In order to tackle existing discrimination and continuously improve the law, the government responded to the points set out in the infringement proceeding 2005/2358 by implementing the Anti-Discrimination Law on 6 June 2008. Now more victims are protected from harassment and victimisation, while they do not have to shoulder the whole burden of proof throughout the legal proceedings.

      At least until the transposition of the Directives, reaction to xenophobia has not taken the form of well-defined policy proposals, as the debate has been mostly focused on immigration law and not on anti-discrimination law strictly speaking. Racial and ethnic discrimination often overlaps with discrimination on the basis of religion and belief, mostly in the form of hostility towards “Arabs” and “Muslims” which occurs without distinction. With regard to religious minorities not linked to immigration (Jews, Waldensians, and others) there are no reports of serious cases of discrimination. However, the absence of a general law on religious freedom (which has been pending in parliament for years) is a cause of practical disadvantage for those groups (the Muslim, but also Jehova’s witnesses) that did not sign agreements with the Italian state. Sexual orientation is now more rarely the target of openly hostile statements in the public arena. This notwithstanding, problems of discrimination and harassment on this ground are sometimes reported, although rarely with judicial outcomes. With regard to sexual orientation, the traditional position of the Catholic Church towards gays and lesbians can – at least in theory - cause problems when employment implies some sort of evaluation of religious and moral qualities, and this can in its turn strengthen homophobic attitudes arising in other contexts. The condition of gays and lesbians is, however, increasingly the object of public debate, specially with regard to the possibility of same sex marriage, and this probably contributed  to the strong decrease of homophobic statements by politicians, that in the past were not uncommon. Problems concerning age and disability, quite often discussed in the media although almost never brought to courts, are instead more linked to the structure of the labour market, where difficulties exist in enforcing the Directives, especially with regard to age (protective rules for disabled employees do exist).

       

      The recommendations by ENAR in 2010 pointed to:

      - Take measures to ensure that the national equality body (UNAR) is really independent rather than under the Department for Rights and Equal Opportunities within the Presidency of the Council of Ministers;

      - Unify the various provisions on racial /ethnic discrimination contained in civil and administrative laws under one act and undertake public awareness raising initiatives on existing legal instruments and how they can be best used to ensure equality;

      - Entrust the systematic collection of data on discrimination in different spheres of public life, including ethnic profiling, to an independent body

      - Combat barriers to access to employment for non Italian citizens and promote the conversion of diplomas and work experience gained in other countries

      - Approve a comprehensive law on the protection of asylum seekers and refugees, which is in line with both international instruments and legal standards on the subject including the principle of non-refoulement and the right to a fair and satisfactory asylum procedure

      - Cancel the provisions that affect the rights of regular and irregular migrants, in particular the introduction of the crime of irregular immigration;

      - Develop legal and policy measures that favour the legal entry of migrant workers and allow them, especially seasonal workers, to stay in a legal condition;

      - Stop the segregation of Roma and Sinti in camps and instead carry out policies aimed at promoting their inclusion. For instance favour their access to public residential housing managed by municipal authorities as well as to loans to enable some to acquire their own homes or pieces of land where they can construct their own houses;

      - Reform citizenship laws to ensure that long term residents, unaccompanied minors, children born in the country to foreign parents or those who arrive at a young age have easier access to citizenship

      - Ensure that attacks on migrants, Roma and other ethnic minorities are promptly investigated by the police and those responsible are brought to justice;

      - Condemn forcefully and consistently all racist and xenophobic statements, especially by public and elected officials, and make clear that racist discourse has no place in Italian society.


      Sources:

      European Network of Legal Experts in the Non-Discrimination Field – Report on measures to combat discrimination. Directives 2000/43/ec and 2000/78/ec. Country report 2009 Italy - /resources/toolip/doc/2011/12/05/2009-it-country-report-by-european-network-in-non-discrimination.pdf

      Migrant Integration Policy Index III – Italy - http://www.mipex.eu/italy (Date of access: 5.12.2011)

      ENAR SHADOW REPORT 2009/2010 - Racism and Discrimination in Italy by Laura Di Pasquale - /resources/toolip/doc/2011/10/17/enar-italy-2009-2010.pdf

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Refugees
      • Roma & Travelers
      • Muslims
      • Ethnic minorities
      • Religious minorities
      • Linguistic minorities
      • Majority
      • Asylum seekers
      • Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender
      • Persons with disability

      Type (R/D)

      • Extremism - organised Racist Violence
      • Anti-migrant/xenophobia
      • Anti-semitism
      • Islamophobia
      • Afrophobia
      • Arabophobia
      • Anti-roma/zinghanophobia
      • Religious intolerance
      • Inter-ethnic
      • Intra-ethnic
      • Homophobia
      • On grounds of disability
      • On grounds of other belief

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Policing - law enforcement
      • Employment - labour market
      • Housing
      • Health and social protection
      • Education
      • Culture
      • Media
      • Internet
      • Sport
      • Political discourse -parties - orgs
      • Political participation
      • Anti-discrimination
      • Anti-racism
      • Integration - social cohesion
      • Daily life
      • Religion
      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Has there been a thorough evaluation/assessment of the effectiveness of the national implementation of EU Anti-discrimination Directives?

      Yes.

      Qualitative Info

      Since its creation UNAR monitors and evaluates the implementation of European directives in national laws. In addition, UNAR monitors and evaluates the forms of direct and indirect discrimination at regional and local level according to anti-discrimination nationl laws .

      The assessment  is availlable in annual report on Unar activities.

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Refugees
      • Roma & Travelers
      • Muslims
      • Ethnic minorities
      • Religious minorities
      • Linguistic minorities
      • Asylum seekers
      • Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender
      • Persons with disability

      Type (R/D)

      • Extremism - organised Racist Violence
      • Anti-migrant/xenophobia
      • Anti-semitism
      • Islamophobia
      • Afrophobia
      • Arabophobia
      • Anti-roma/zinghanophobia
      • Religious intolerance
      • Inter-ethnic
      • Intra-ethnic
      • Homophobia
      • On grounds of disability
      • On grounds of other belief

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Policing - law enforcement
      • Employment - labour market
      • Housing
      • Health and social protection
      • Education
      • Culture
      • Media
      • Sport
      • Political discourse -parties - orgs
      • Political participation
      • Anti-discrimination
      • Anti-racism
      • Integration - social cohesion
      • Daily life
      • Religion

      External Url www.unar.it

      See other countriesSee indicator history
  • Policing - Law Enforcement - Justice

    The Ministry of the Interior has included human rights law in the training curricula for police staff at all ranks. There are reported cases of ethnic profiling by the police, municipalities operators. There is no case reported regarding immigration services. No relevant restrictions can limit the right to access to justice in discrimination cases, even if the lack of information on anti-discrimination law, irregular status, poor Italian language skill can hinder the access to justice.

    • Is there evidence or indication that the police force engages in ethnic profiling?

      Yes.

      Qualitative Info

      Little research or data is available on the situation of ethnic profiling in Italy in the period 2009-2010. An exception is the 2010 EU MIDIS report on racism and discrimination.The perceptions of ethnic profiling in Italy is quite high among all three migrant minorities surveyed: 67% of Albanians, 45% of Romanians and 55% North Africans believe that the last time they were stopped by the police; they were stopped due to their ethnic background. The survey also explores casual police stops in the street which are extremely frequent in Italy for migrants. In fact, one of out of three respondents (of migrant origin) has been stopped by the police at least four times in the last 12 months. Only half of the respondents from Albania and Romania and one third North Africans in Italy evaluated the police conduct during stops positively. Migrants from North Africa had the worst experience with the police, 41% believed that the police were disrespectful to them during the checks while only 21% of Romanian and 18% of Albanians claimed that the conduct of the police during checks was fairly to very disrespectful. The percentage of negative evaluations of police treatment during checks by migrants living in Italy is the highest among all migrant communities in all the EU countries included in the study, suggesting that the conduct of the police should be monitored.
      While in the aftermath of September 11th, discriminatory treatment by the police was especially directed to Muslim citizens within their anti-terrorism operations, lately ethnic profiling seem to occur as an excuse to enforce migration policies. As noted by the Open Society Justice Initiative in relation to anti-terrorist police operations post September 2001, in Italy, ethnic profiling practices are driven by policy making.


      Source:

      ENAR SHADOW REPORT 2009/2010 - Racism and Discrimination in Italy by Laura Di Pasquale - http://cms.horus.be/files/99935/MediaArchive/Italy.pdf.

      EU-Midis, Relazione "dati in breve". Fermi di poliizia e minoranze, FRA, 2010.

       

       

       

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Roma & Travelers
      • Muslims
      • Ethnic minorities

      Type (R/D)

      • Anti-migrant/xenophobia
      • Afrophobia
      • Arabophobia
      • Anti-roma/zinghanophobia
      • Anti-roma/ romaphobia
      • Xenophobia

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Policing - law enforcement

      External Url http://fra.europa.eu/fraWebsite/attachments/EU-MIDIS-police_IT.pdf

      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Is there evidence of significant disparities between the number of racist incidents and crimes reported and the numbers of racist incidents and crimes recorded by police authorities?

      Probably, according to victimisation surveys.

      Qualitative Info

      Very probably, in italian context there are significant disparities between the racist incidents and crimes reported and/or recorded by police authorities.The main reason is the lack of complaints by migrants, in particular who are in irregular status for fear of being expelled or in the condition of exclusion as Roma and Sinti People.


      Source:

      EU-MIdis, Relazione Dati in breve. Fermi di polizia e minoranze, FRA, 2010.

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Refugees
      • Roma & Travelers
      • Muslims
      • Ethnic minorities
      • Asylum seekers

      Type (R/D)

      • Anti-migrant/xenophobia
      • Islamophobia
      • Afrophobia
      • Arabophobia
      • Anti-roma/ romaphobia
      • Xenophobia

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Policing - law enforcement

      External Url http://fra.europa.eu/fraWebsite/attachments/EU-MIDIS-police_IT.pdf

      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Is there evidence that areas containing significant numbers migrants and minorities are policed in different ways than others?

      Yes.

      Qualitative Info

      In 2010 the Milan municipality establishes, through ordinances in the area of via Padova, via Paolo Sarpi (Chinatown) and in the Corvetto neighbourhood, stricter controls on rents and limitations on opening hours of same (ethnic) business categories (massage parlours, phone centres, bars and takeaways). The ordinances which have been defined "measures against degradation" by politicians and "a curfew" by the press, focus on areas with a high rate of immigration where some episodes, sometimes sensational, had been a sign of uneasiness and malaise.


      Source:

      Fondazione ISmu, The Sixteenth Italian Report on Migrations 2010, McGraw-Hill, Milan, 2011.

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Policing - law enforcement
      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Do migrants/minorities face disproportionate problems in accessing justice?

      No.

      Qualitative Info

      The right of access to justice recognized by Article 24 of Constitution is an inviolable and non disposable right and a fundamental principle of Constitution. No relevant restriction can limit the right to access to justice in discrimination cases, as a matter of law. But, for many sociological and demographics reasons the access to justice can be difficult, for example lack of information on anti-discrimination law, irregular status, poor italian language skill.


      Source:

      http://fra.europa.eu/fraWebsite/attachments/access-to-justice-2011-country-IT.pdf

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Ethnic minorities

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Policing - law enforcement
      • Anti-discrimination
      • Anti-racism
      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Is there evidence of differential sentencing?

      Yes.

      Qualitative Info

      A number of the measures introduced as part of the so-called “security package” adopted in May 2008, in the wake of an election campaign dominated by the law and order agenda and by criticism of migrants and Roma people by members of the coalition led by Berlusconi, have been quashed in a series of recent decisions by the Italian Constitutional Court and the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg. Three key issues that the rulings highlighted include the discrimination that introducing longer sentences for the same criminal offences in cases involving “illegal” immigrants entails, that the imprisonment under criminal law of immigrants who have been caught while their status is illegal and have not complied with an order to leave the country contravenes the so-called Returns Directive, and the unconstitutionality of the wideranging expansion of local councils’ powers (in particular mayors) to issue ordinances on matters pertaining to policies on security and public order.


      Source:

      Maccanico Yasha, Statewatch Analysis Italy, Series of defeats in court for the “security package”, July 2011 - http://www.statewatch.org/analyses/no-137-italy-security-package.pdf

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Roma & Travelers
      • Ethnic minorities
      • Asylum seekers

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Policing - law enforcement
      • Anti-discrimination
      • Anti-racism
      See other countriesSee indicator history
  • Employment

    In the Italian labour market the difference between the unemployment rate of Italian workers and migrants ones is particularly evident. Moreover in 2009, foreign worker receives, on average, 987 euro per month, compared to 1.281 euros of Italian worker. Nonetheless in Italy there are several good practices and positive initiatives against discrimination at the workplace. Trade unions are generally engaged in defending migrants and minorities’ rights in the labour market.

    • Differential unemployment levels/rates of migrants?

      Yes.

      Qualitative Info

      In the Italian labour market the difference between the unemployment rate of Italian workers and migrants ones is particularly evident. In the first quarter of 2010, as reported by the Istat (National Statistic Institute) Survey on Workforce,  the unemployment rates among foreigners is 13% and among Italy’soverall population is 9,2%.
      Unemployment rates point out growing occupational difficulties among the foreign population. This worsening affects both the male component – among which the incidence of unemployment in the considered threeyear period, that is to say, between the 1st quarter of 2007 and the 1st quarter of 2010, virtually doubled reaching 12 per cent – and the female component – which though starting from a comparatively more disadvantageous condition, reported again a negative differential by more than two per cent points compared to males. At the same time, the gap between the rates referring to migrants and the overall ones, continued to grow, reaching almost four per cent points both among men and among women. Regardless of other specific elements pertaining to the economic situation, these data move Italy towards a recurring situation in almost all immigration countries, which report a penalization of the population with a migratory background, and a twofold penalization of the female component.
       


      Sources:

      Fondazione ISmu, The Sixteenth Italian Report on Migrations 2010, McGraw-Hill, Milan, 2011.

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Employment - labour market

      External Url http://www.fondazioneleonemoressa.org/newsite/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/abstract-in-italiano-Economia-dellimmigrazione1.pdf

      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Differential unemployment levels/rates of minorities?

      Yes

      Qualitative Info

      In Italy the Roma and Sinti workers have higher rates of unemployement compare to Italian workers and migrant workers, in particular between Roma and Sinti from Romania and ex-Yugoslavia. But for this evidence,  there are not quantitative data available from official national reports, just only from local studies. This situation is due to a strong and direct discrimination affect these minorities in th4e labour market and as other dimensions of everyday life.


       

      Source:

      Senato della repubblica, Commissione straordinaria per la tutela e la promozione dei diritti umani - Rapporto conclusivo dell'indagine sulla condizione di Rom, Sinti e Caminanti in Italia 2010, http://www.senato.it/documenti/repository/commissioni/dirittiumani16/Rapporto%20conclusivo%20indagine%20rom,%20sinti%20e%20caminanti.pdf (Accessed on 16.03.2012).

      Groups affected/interested

      • Roma & Travelers

      Type (R/D)

      • Anti-roma/zinghanophobia

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Employment - labour market
      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Differential pay rates?

      Yes.

      Qualitative Info

      In 2009, foreign worker receives, on average, 987 euro per month, compared to 1.281 euros of Italian worker. The geographical area of residence, gender and activity sector are relevant factors which affect the differences among wages. For example, in the South of Italy the average level of wages is lower than in the North of Italy and the gap between foreigners and Italians is stronger. Gender, as mentioned above, strongly affects the wage: a foreigner woman earn monthly an average of 797 euro; instead a foreigner man earns 1135.


      Source:

      Fondazione Leone Moressa, Rapporto annuale sull'economia dell'immigrazione, edizione 2011, Il Mulino, Bologna, 2011.

       

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Employment - labour market

      External Url http://www.fondazioneleonemoressa.org/newsite/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/abstract-in-italiano-Economia-dellimmigrazione1.pdf

      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Legal restrictions and/or effective practices of exclusion of migrants regarding membership of and participation in trade unions

      No.

      Qualitative Info

      There are no cases of legal restrictions or practices of exclusion of migrants/minorities in the access to trade unions.

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Ethnic minorities

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Employment - labour market
      • Political participation
      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Legal obstacles to access employment in the public sector under equal conditions for migrants

      No.

      Qualitative Info

      The third country nationals have the possibility to partecipate in the selection for a job in the Public Admistration. The law disposition n. 487/1994 required the Italian citizenship as condition to access to job in the PA, but with the new law disposition n. 286/1998 reaffirmed the principle of equal treatement and equal rights for foreing worker compared to italian worker was reaffirmed.


      Source:

      http://www.altrodiritto.unifi.it/ricerche/migranti/cilibert/cap1.htm

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Ethnic minorities

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Employment - labour market
      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Legal restrictions and/or effective practices of exclusion of minorities regarding membership of and participation in trade unions

      No.

      Qualitative Info

      There are no cases of legal restrictions or practices of exclusion of minorities in the access to trade unions.

      Groups affected/interested

      • Roma & Travelers
      • Ethnic minorities

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Employment - labour market
      • Political participation
      • Anti-discrimination
      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Are there examples of good practices and positive initiatives against discrimination/racism at the workplace?

      yes

      Qualitative Info

      The project  "Diversità come valore" was financed by the European Commission (Progress Program). Among its objectives, it aims at 1) analysing the problems and the critical situations, at the local and national level, concerning the discrimination aspects which affected the vulnerable groups, 2)  implementating training courses in order to cope with discrimination in workplaces and 3) offering a consultancy activity in order to support the local institutions and the decision makers.

      The trade unions promote themselves different activities and campaigns in order to face discrimination. (e.g. Uguali e diversi promoted by CGIL)

      At the end of 2011, 19 organizations (Arci, Asgi-Associazione studi giuridici sull'immigrazione, Caritas Italiana, Centro Astalli, CGIL, Cnca-Coordinamento nazionale delle comunità d'accoglienza, Comitato 1° Marzo, Coordinamento nazionale degli enti locali per la pace e i diritti umani, Emmaus Italia, Fcei - Federazione Chiese Evangeliche In Italia, Fondazione Migrantes, Libera, Lunaria, Il Razzismo Brutta Storia, Rete G2 - Seconde Generazioni, Sei Ugl, Tavola della Pace, Terra del Fuoco)) promoted a sensibilization campaign “L’Italia sono anch’io” in order to promote the equality of rights among immigrants also in the workplaces.


      Source:

      http://www.litaliasonoanchio.it/

      http://www.cgil.it

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants

      Type (R/D)

      • Anti-migrant/xenophobia

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Anti-discrimination

      External Url http://www.pariopportunita.gov.it/images/stories/documenti_vari/UserFiles/PrimoPiano/diversitacomevalore.pdf

      See other countriesSee indicator history
  • Housing & Segregation

    There are not evidences of migrant segregation in Italy. It's possible to find in metropolitan areas (as Milan or Rome) significant levels of concentration of migrant groups in the popular neighbourhoods but they are not segregated from majority of population. From local and national researches emerges that immigrants seeking a house to rent often face forms of discrimination arising exclusively from their being foreigners

    • Is there evidence of significant levels of segregation between migrant groups and the majority population?

      No.

      Qualitative Info

      There are not evidences of migrant segregation in Italy. It's possible to find in metropolitan areas (as Milan or Rome) significant levels of concentration of migrant groups in the popular neighbourhoods but thery are not segregated from majority of population.  


      Source:

      Agustoni A., Alietti A., Migrazioni, politiche urbane e abitative: dalla dimensione europea alla dimensione locale, Fondazione Ismu, Milano, 2011

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Housing

      External Url http://www.orimregionelombardia.it/index.php?c=512

      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • What is the ethnic origin of the highly segregated migrant group?

      There is not a specific higly segregated migrant group.

      Qualitative Info

      In the metropolitan context as Milan and/or Rome there are some popular neighbourhoods with a high concentration (up to 30%) of different nationalities of migrants, but are not segregated.  A different situation affects seasonal workers from African countries in the agricultural sector, especially in Southern Italy, who live segregated and in inhuman conditions. 


      Source:

      Agustoni A., Alietti A. (eds.), Migrazioni, politiche urbane e abitative: dalla dimensione europea alla dimensione locale, Fondazione Ismu, Milan, 2011.

      ENAR SHADOW REPORT 2009/2010 - Racism and Discrimination in Italy by Laura Di Pasquale - http://ENAR SHADOW REPORT 2009/2010 - Racism and Discrimination in Italy by Laura Di Pasquale

       

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Housing

      External Url http://www.orimregionelombardia.it/index.php?c=512

      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Is there evidence of significant levels of segregation between minority groups and the majority population?

      Yes.

      Qualitative Info

      The housing situation of Roma and Sinti people has been highly criticised for years as they live segregated in camps frequently located far away from the city centres, often close to motorways or railways, to industrial areas, or even on former waste dump sites. A research carried out by the NGO COSPE for FRA has confirmed that they live in substandard conditions in segregated structures, often overcrowded lacking in services and basic infrastructure. While some of the settlements are authorized, others are not. Both types of settlements are often targets of social alarm and hostility from residents. Unauthorized settlements are often subject to eviction orders and the inhabitants of the settlements are moved out without alternative accommodation by law enforcement authorities. The only solution for most of the families evicted from camps is to find a barrack or some shelter and create another non authorized settlement in another segregated area.


      Source:

      ENAR SHADOW REPORT 2009/2010 - Racism and Discrimination in Italy by Laura Di Pasquale - http://cms.horus.be/files/99935/MediaArchive/Italy.pdf

      RAXEN Thematic Study, Housing Conditions of Roma and Travellers - Italy, March 2009, by Udo C. Enwereuzor and Laura Di Pasquale - http://www.cirdi.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/roma_housing_final.pdf

       

       

      Groups affected/interested

      • Roma & Travelers

      Type (R/D)

      • Inter-ethnic

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Housing
      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • What is the ethnic origin of the highly segregated minority group?

      Yes, Roma and Sinti

      Qualitative Info

      The housing situation of Roma and Sinti people has been highly criticised for years as they live segregated in camps frequently located far away from the city centres, often close to motorways or railways, to industrial areas, or even on former waste dump sites. A research carried out by the NGO COSPE for FRA has confirmed that they live in substandard conditions in segregated structures, often overcrowded lacking in services and basic infrastructure. While some of the settlements are authorized, others are not. Both types of settlements are often targets of social alarm and hostility from residents. Unauthorized settlements are often subject to eviction orders and the inhabitants of the settlements are moved out without alternative accommodation by law enforcement authorities. The only solution for most of the families evicted from camps is to find a barrack or some shelter and create another non authorized settlement in another segregated area.


      ENAR SHADOW REPORT 2009/2010 - Racism and Discrimination in Italy by Laura Di Pasquale - http://cms.horus.be/files/99935/MediaArchive/Italy.pdf

      RAXEN Thematic Study, Housing Conditions of Roma and Travellers - Italy, March 2009, by Udo C. Enwereuzor and Laura Di Pasquale - http://www.cirdi.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/roma_housing_final.pdf

      Groups affected/interested

      • Roma & Travelers

      Type (R/D)

      • Anti-roma/zinghanophobia
      • Inter-ethnic
      • Anti-roma/ romaphobia

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Housing
      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Is there evidence of majority driven segregation ("white flight" phenomenon)?

      Yes.

      Qualitative Info

      The "white flight" phenomenon is not so widerspread in the italian urban context, but concerns only some specific and limited neighbourhoods, especially in the North part of Italy. There are not  data available on this phenomenon.


      Source:

      Agustoni A., "Abitare e insediarsi", in XVI Rapporto sull'immigrazione 2010, Franco Angeli, MIlano, 2011.

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants

      Type (R/D)

      • Inter-ethnic

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Housing
      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Is there evidence of denial of housing/housing rights for certain ethnic groups?

      Yes.

      Qualitative Info

      On 21 June 2004, the European Roma Rights Center (ERRC) lodged a collective complaint under the Revised European Social Charter against Italy for persistent and systematic violations of the fundamental rights of Roma to adequate housing. This collective complaint alleges that as a result of the construction and maintenance, by policy and practice, of substandard and racially segregated camps for Roma (as well as in light of policies and practices of forced eviction of Roma, threats of forced eviction of Roma, sistemi destruction of property belonging to Roma, and the systemic invasion of Romani dwellings without due regard to Italy's international law obligations), Italy is in violation of Article 31(1) of the Revised European Social Charter. On 21 December 2005, the European Committee of Social Rights, the body overseeing implementation of the Social Charter, unanimously ruled that ‘Italy had violated Article 31 (right to housing) of the Revised European Social Charter taken together with Article E (ban on discrimination), with respect to the insufficiency and inadequacy of camping sites for Roma in Italy; the recurrent forced eviction of Roma by Italian authorities; and the lack of permanent dwellings made available for Roma’. This decision was later adepte by the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers as Resolution ResChS(2006)4 on 3 May 2006. The submitting organisations added that ‘in spite of the decision against Italy by the European Committee of Social Rights, the authorities have not taken effective measures at the national level to counter the segregation of Roma’.


      Source:

      Enwereuzor Udo and Laura Di Pasquale (COSPE), RAXEN Thematic Study - Housing Conditions of Roma and Travellers – Italy, March 2009 - http://fra.europa.eu/fraWebsite/attachments/RAXEN-Roma%20Housing-Italy_en.pdf

      Groups affected/interested

      • Roma & Travelers
      • Ethnic minorities

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Housing
      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Is there evidence that migrant/minority groups face especially serious problems in accessing housing of an acceptable quality?

      Yes.

      Qualitative Info

      From local and national researches emerges that immigrants seeking a house to rent often find themselves having to come to terms with particular forms of discrimination arising exclusively from their being foreigners. Some landlords renting houses to foreigners demand an additional fee and, in many cases, also request legally established immigrants to sign a bank security. Furthermore, especially in large cities, the rent requested from immigrants is generally provisional and is paid per person instead of per square metre. House-owners refuse to rent to foreigners without adequate guarantees. Having finally overcome the cliché of immigrants being dirty and delinquent, other dividing walls have been erected that exclude access to foreigners: unreliability, the number of members forming the family unit, different habits and time-tables, fear of terrorism. An immigrant searching for a house has become a business target: the only houses sold or rented to immigrants are the left-overs of the housing stock, the “substandard” houses discarded by the market. Even real-estate agenzie take advantage of the situation by frequently asking for sizable amounts for their intermediation in looking for an apartment that will never actually materialize and by refusing to reimburse the amounts paid. Lastly, legally established immigrants who have obtained a steady job and an acceptable level of disposable income and now want to take out a loan in order to purchase a house, come up against the rigidities of the banking world. Foreigners are often thought to be unreliable: the fear that they might leave Italy without having paid up their mortgage rates makes banks very reluctant to grant them the requested loan.


      Source:

      Censis, Housing Policies and Services for Immigrants in Italy, Summary, 2005 - http://www.lavoro.gov.it/NR/rdonlyres/B8B67F21-06AD-4041-BF9C-5CCF586285AE/0/Rapportomonitoraggiopoliticheabitativeinlinguainglese.pd

       

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Ethnic minorities

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Housing
      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Migrant or minority group which faces especially serious problems in accessing housing of an acceptable quality?

      Yes.

      Qualitative Info

      All different nationalities of migrant groups in Italy suffer of serious problem in accessing housing. Different case studies have tested discrimination in access to housing for migrant citizens. Researchers of the CAPP conducted research on the web, sending 3,000 emails with different false identities to landlords that had advertised a flat for rent. 62% of the mails “sent by Italians” received a positive answer, also if the working conditions of the potential lodger had not been specified. For non Italians the percentage of replies and follow ups was 41%. Mails “from migrants with an Arab name” had the lowest chances of getting a rental contract. EU migrants, from Eastern Europe seem to experience less discrimination as 49.5% received a reply. In the regions of northern Italy only one landlord out of four gave a positive reply to a male Arab name, while 70% positive replies were received to mails sent with an Italian male name. The unequal situation of people from ethnic minority backgrounds in Italy, has become even worse with the provisions of the Italian security package related to housing. It has become harder for immigrants to rent a house, as landlords risk jail if tenants do not have a permit to stay and a new requirement relating to housing has been added in order for migrants to be granted family reunification. The housing situation of Roma and Sinti people has been highly criticised for years as they live segregated in camps frequently located far away from the city centres, often close to motorways or railways, to industrial areas, or even on former waste dump sites. A research carried out by the NGO COSPE for FRA has confirmed that they live in substandard conditions in segregated structures, often overcrowded lacking in services and basic infrastructure. Notwithstanding national and international appeals, the approach of the national government45 regarding forced evictions continued in 2009. The census of inhabitants of camps carried out in some regions in 2008 and in 2009 has also been conducted in camps in other regions, for instance in Veneto. The "Nomad Plan"in force in Rome foresee forced evictions of thousands of Roma; most (but not all) of them will be resettled in new or expanded camps on the outskirts of Rome. Also in Milan, eviction will continue until at least December 2010.


      Source:

      ENAR SHADOW REPORT 2009/2010 - Racism and Discrimination in Italy by Laura Di Pasquale - http://cms.horus.be/files/99935/MediaArchive/Italy.pdf

       

       

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Roma & Travelers
      • Ethnic minorities

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Housing
      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Is there evidence of particular difficulties faced by migrant/minority groups in purchasing or renting property of their choice?

      Yes.

      Qualitative Info

      The housing situation of migrants in Italy has been at the centre of public attention for several years, since housing is a widely discussed issue at National level, especially with regard to the weakest groups of the population. It is not a coincidence that cases of discrimination in the housing sector are the most common, after those in the employment sector, reaching 16.2% of the calls of UNAR Contact Centre. 57.1 % of these calls pertain to tension with neighbours, 9.5% concern low rent public houses, 7.3% rented houses and 7.1% estate agents. The NGO CIDIS conducted a research on the housing difficulties of migrants in two Italian regions, pointing to stereotypes and lack of trust as the main obstacles faced by migrants in the access to respectful housing. In fact, the research shows that the house owners judge migrants in negative terms in many aspects: as poorly reliable in the management of a house, with bad relationships with neighbours and at risk of not paying rent. All these prejudices hinder significantly their access to housing.
      Furthermore, the economic crisis, with its negative impact on the labour market, has also affected migrant’s access to housing. The report on global rights 2010 indicates that immigrant citizens have less possibilities to buy a house than Italians. The purchase of housing by immigrants has decreased by 23,7% between 2007 and 2008, stopping the positive trends of the previous four years. Evictions for non payment of rent have increased heavily because of a rise in rent and an increase in the number of people losing their job. In the northern regions of Italy, evicted families of immigrant origin are 22% of all evicted families.


      Source:

      ENAR SHADOW REPORT 2009/2010 - Racism and Discrimination in Italy by Laura Di Pasquale - http://cms.horus.be/files/99935/MediaArchive/Italy.pdf

      ENAR SHADOW REPORT 2008 - Racism and Discrimination in Italy by Camilla Bencini, Sara Cerretelli, Laura Di Pasquale - http://cms.horus.be/files/99935/MediaArchive/national/Italy%20-%20SR%202008.pdf

       

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Roma & Travelers

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Housing
      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Affected group with particular difficulties in purchasing or renting property of own choice

      No, there are not affected group with particular difficulties.

      Qualitative Info

      The available researches don't show any evidences regarding these issues.


      Source:

      ENAR SHADOW REPORT 2009/2010 - Racism and Discrimination in Italy by Laura Di Pasquale - http://cms.horus.be/files/99935/MediaArchive/Italy.pdf

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Ethnic minorities

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Housing
      See other countriesSee indicator history
  • Education

    Foreign students and Roma ones are encouraged to lower their educational ambitions displaying higher school dropout rates or preferring schools with a more clearly vocational focus. As a consequence, we find a prevalence of foreign students enrolled in vocational routes. In Italy there are different intercultural initiatives and good practises which aim at combating discrimination in school.

    • Practical obstacles and evidence of problems and differential enrollment rates for certain minorities?

      Yes.

      Qualitative Info

      Practical obstacles, evidence of problems and diffential enrollement rates are all present concerning Roma and Sinti people. The main obstacle for a part of the Roma communities is the housing marginality and the continuing evictions that menace people living in “nomad camps”. For this reason the majority of children living in the “nomad camps” are threatened of exclusion from their specific school cycle (in most cases primary and secondary school). Roma and Sinti are de facto absent from high schools and universities. The italian school system is unprepared to receive the Roma and Sinti diversity and to promote successful paths of  school integration. Ther are not legal obstacles to integration of Roma/Sinti children in the school system, but the deprived living conditions and residential marginality play a negative role.

      Groups affected/interested

      • Roma & Travelers

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Education
      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Practical obstacles and evidence of problems and differential enrollment rates for migrants?

      Yes.

      Qualitative Info

      A recent study conducted by the Cariplo Foundation on secondary school choices, based on government data, highlights that the different choices made by Italians and foreign students are strongly influenced by nationality, even when controlling for status and academic abilities. There appears to be a specific discrimination towards foreign students who are encouraged (and they themselves become inclined) to lower their educational ambitions displaying higher school dropout rates or preferring schools with a more clearly vocational focus. As a consequence, we find a prevalence of foreign students enrolled in vocational routes and schools primarily geared to fast entry in the job market and professionalisation. In the 2008/2009 a.y., 78.5% of foreign students attended technical and vocational institutes.

      Apart from this, the Law n.94 passed on the 15th July 2009 -which established that all foreigners have to display their residence permit when addressing specific demands to public administration agencies – has raised doubts on migrants’ rights to access nurseries, pre-primary schools, upper secondary schools, vocational training after sixteen years of age and social educational services. The Associazione per gli Studi Giuridici sull’Immigrazione has produced a set of documents which argue that migrant students must be granted equality of access to school, to all services that are complementary to the right to education, and equality of conditions with italian minors from pre-primary schools to the completion compulsory education; that is to say, on the basis of constitutionally oriented interpretation of the current legislation, that is not in contrast with the European and international obligations of the Italian state, until they complete their upper secondary school degree or achieve their professional qualification.

      On the other hand, there is a reduction in the number of foreign students who are “newcomers” – that is to say of those who began their schooling in their country of origin and later had to interrupt their educational career in order to be reunited with their parents who had already emigrated to Italy, thus finding themselves with a problem of entering the Italian school system. Due to lack of knowledge of the Italian language, this group presents problems in the receptions and initial integration phases. According to a recent study, the presence of “newcomers” involves an excessive workload for teachers, inhibits and slows down the regular progress of the curriculum and causes a sense of inadequacy.

      School experiences of children from immigrant families are connected to the families’ migratory experience, which, in turn, is based primarily on the time necessary to complete the reunification process and not on the idea that children will have to be enrolled in Italian schools at a given age. Thus, the main event is adults’ labour-based migratory experience, which in turn determines a set of implications for the family and, consequently, for children’s educational careers.


      Source:

      Mariagrazia Santagati, "Education", in Fondazione ISMU, The Sixteenth Italian Report on Migration 2010, Milan, McGrawHill, 2011 - http://www.ismu.org/index.php?language=eng

      Fondazione Cariplo, Stranieri si nasce... e si rimane? Differenziali nelle scelte scolastiche tra giovani italiani e stranieri, Rapporto di ricerca a cura di Paolo Canino, Collana Quaderni dell’Osservatorio n.3, Anno 2010 - http://www.fondazionecariplo.it/portal/upload/ent3/1/Quad3_web_NEW.pdf

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Education

      External Url www.fondazionecariplo.it/portal/upload/ent3/1/Quad3_web_NEW.pdf

      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Poorer educational performance by certain groups?

      Yes.

      Qualitative Info

      From the 2009 MIUR report, it appears that the number of foreign students repeating a school year increases proportionally with school level, passing from 1.2% in primary school to 9.8% in upper secondary schools. For both Italian and non-Italian students, however, school year repetitions are more frequent and widespread in vocational institutes than in lyceums. The percentage difference between foreign and Italian students, however, tends to diminish in the passage from lower secondary school (+4.7%) to upper secondary school (2,5%). In lower secondary school foreign students’ educational success appears to be a more complex and problematic issue compared to other educational levels. In total, moreover, the number of foreign students who are “held back” (i.e., who are not attending the age-appropriate academic year-grade) is 211,324 (33.5% of the total number of foreign students). If, at the end of the academic year, the number of failures for foreign students is still striking, it is also true that very often the lack of age grade consistency is not due to school failure but is rather connected to entry in the school system at a lower grade (in terms of age-appropriateness) by transfers from other schools or entry after the beginning of the academic year.


      Source: Mariagrazia Santagati, “Education” in Fondazione Ismu, The Sixteenth Italian Report on Migrations 2010, Milan, McGraw Hill, 2011.

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Education

      External Url http://archivio.pubblica.istruzione.it/dg_studieprogrammazione/index_new.shtml

      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Problems with educational attainement by certain groups (drop out - fragmentation of educational experience)?

      Yes

      Qualitative Info

      A study conducted by the Cariplo Foundation, based on government data, on secondary school choices highlights that the different choices made by Italian and foreign students are strongly influenced by nationality, even when controlling for status and academic ability. There appears to be a specific discrimination towards foreign students, who are encouraged (and they themselves become inclined) to lower their educational ambitions, displaying higher school dropout rates or preferring schools with a more clearly vocational focus. Indeed, In the 2008/2009 a.y., 78.5% of foreign students attend technical and vocational institutes.

      Considering the promotion rate, In terms of those who took the State diploma exam, during a.y. 2008/2009 foreign students born in Italy have a promotion rate of 98.2%, followed by Italians (97.8%) and by foreigners born elsewhere (95.5%). Moreover, 45.5% of foreign students born in Italy who obtained the diploma attended vocational (45.5%) and technical schools (20.4%). Among the rest of the foreign student population, a significant percentage is represented by students who obtained a technical institute diploma (39.1%) and a vocational school diploma (24.3%). Italian students, on the other hand, obtained primarily technical institute diplomas (33.4%) and scientific lyceum diplomas (25.5%).

      Nonetheless, the percentage of foreign students enrolled in higher education, moreover, is slowly but constantly increasing. The Italian higher education system’s capacity to attract students from abroad, whilst still marginal on the international arena , seems to present a positive trend: in the 2007/2008 a.y. the total number of foreign students enrolled in the Italian higher education system was 51,803 (of which 60% are women),  which represents 2.9% of the total student population.


      Source: Canino P. (a cura di), Stranieri si nasce e… si rimane? Differenziali nelle scelte scolastiche tra giovani italiani e stranieri, “Quaderni dell’Osservatorio”, n.3, Fondazione Cariplo

      Cesareo (ed.), The Sixteenth Italian Report on Migrations 2010, McGraw-Hill

      Nomisma (a cura di), L’immigrazione in Italia tra identità e pluralismo culturale, Ministero dell’Intrno, Dde Editrice, Roma, 2009.

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Education

      External Url www.istruzione.it

      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Are there positive initiatives to improve/support poor educational provision for migrant and minority groups?

      yes

      Qualitative Info

      There are a lot of initiatives which aims at supporting migrants and minority groups. For example, the project “Obiettivo futuro” is a project to support the integration of Roma students and their families in school. This project, financed by the Labour Ministry, promotes a series of initiative to empower and support Roma families in their access to school services.

      Nonetheless, as Mipex research underlines, Italian education system has a series of strengths but at the same time weaknesses: “migrant needs are targeted but generally as a problem group. Besides civil society projects, the Italian education system is not actively supporting new opportunities and intercultural education” (p. 113, Mipex).


      Source:

      Accogliere bambini e ragazzi rom e sinti. Vademecum per le scuole, Fondazione ISMU, USR, USP, MLPS, 2010

      Mipex III, Migrant Policy Index III, 2011

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Roma & Travelers
      • Ethnic minorities

      Type (R/D)

      • Anti-migrant/xenophobia
      • Anti-roma/zinghanophobia

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Education

      External Url www.mipex.eu

      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Victimisation in schools (bullying/harassment/racist violence) ?

      Yes

      Qualitative Info

      Even if there are no official data on the phenomenon of bullying, various cases of racially motivated bullying were reported in different parts of the Italy.


      Source: Italy / MIUR (2009): Alunni con cittadinanza non italiana. Scuole statali e non statali. Anno scolastico 2007 - 2008. Aprile 2009. http://www.pubblica.istruzione.it/mpi/pubblicazioni/index.shtml

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants

      Type (R/D)

      • Anti-migrant/xenophobia

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Education

      External Url http://www.pubblica.istruzione.it/mpi/pubblicazioni/index.shtml

      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Provision of option to learn mother language other than the majority's

      Yes

      Qualitative Info

      There are no initiatives at the ministerial level regarding the teaching of the mother langiage. The teaching of migrant’s mother language relies on the Third Sector, for example Ismu Foundation’s projects, and also on  migrant associations. New minorities generated by immigration are not recognised as linguistic minorities and as such, do not enjoy any form of collective protection but only the individual protection deriving from the principle of non-discrimination.

      Regarding linguistic minorities, the framework law - Law 482 (15.12.1999) - on the protection of historic linguistic minorities states that  Italian is the official language and at the same, provides for the right to education in minority languages for protected minorities. At the nursery level, it is possible to have all activities in the minority language while at the elementary and middle school levels, teaching of a minority language, customs and traditions of the local community as subjects is guaranteed. Teaching of a minority language at this level is offered on request by pupils’ parents while the teaching of customs and traditions is organised and offered to the entire class within the decisional autonomy granted schools.


      Sources: Italy / Law 482 (15.12.1999). http://www.camera.it/parlam/leggi/99482l.htm (16/09/2009).

      F. Palermo (2006): ‘Le minoranze linguistiche in Italia dopo la legge generale di tutela’, EURAC Bolzano/Bozen

      Cospe, Contribution to the FRA Annual Report 2010 Italy, October 2009

      http://www.cirdi.org/studi-e-ricerche/raxen-rapporto-annuale-2010

       

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Roma & Travelers

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Education

      External Url http://www.camera.it/parlam/leggi/99482l.htm (16/09/2009); http://www.cirdi.org/studi-e-ricerche/raxen-rapporto-annuale-2010

      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Evidence of school segregation and/or policies of separate/distinct schooling of migrants

      No

      Qualitative Info

      In order to avoid the school segregation, the Circular Letter (CM) n. 2 dated 8th January 2010, issued by the MIUR (Ministry of Education, Universities and Research) offers guidelines for the management of the enrolment process for students who do not have Italian citizenship: ensuring an adequate distribution among different schools and setting the limit of foreign students with limited Italian linguistic skills to 30% per each class. The issue raised by the limit on the ethnic omposition of classes, over and above other issues, has received attention in the mass media and has been bject of debate in the public sphere. Like previous Ministry circular letters and directives, it has taken into account the need to maintain a certain level of heterogeneity among schools, as an ndispensable condition for a good level of integration and intercultural dialogue (Council of Europe, 2008).

      Nonetheless, a recent document produced by the MIUR Statistical Service offered an in-depth, albeit partial, analysis of the percentage of foreigners in different primary and lower secondary schools and in single classes for a.y. 2009/2010. The analysis aimed at offering a quantitative picture of the phenomenon in light of the application of the CM n. 2/2010. In total the census was conducted on 619 schools, of which 477 were primary schools, that is to say 3.08% of the total number of primaries in the country, and 142 lower secondary schools (2.04% of the Italian total) where the percentage of foreign students exceeded 30%. What emerged was that ¼ of such primary schools are located in Lombardia and 65.5% in Lombardia, Veneto, Emilia Romagna and Piemonte. The data for lower secondary schools, on the other hand, indicated that 38% are in Lombardia and 65.5% is the three regions of Lombardia, Emila Romagna and Veneto. In the South and in the Islands only 21 schools host a foreign student population greater than 30%.

      Moreover, recently, some national newspapers reported that the Invalisi test, recently added to the lower secondary school final exam (i.e., the Licenza media), might be  discriminatory towards foreign students. Among the different motivations on which this statement is founded, according to the teachers interviewed, is the fact that the use of a dictionary is not allowed and the test completion time is the same for all students (60 minutes for the Italian exam and 60 minutes for the Maths exam), independently of students’ level of Italian. In fact, exam results from the 2008/2009 a.y. have shown that foreign students really are disadvantaged: in Italian the percentage difference of correct answers is of 11% in favour of Italian students, whereas in Maths Italian students’ results are significantly lower than foreign students.


      Source: Cesareo (ed.), The Sixteenth Italian Report on Migrations 2010, McGraw-Hill             

      Miur, Focus in breve sulla scuola. La presenza degli alunni stranieri nelle scuole statali, Roma 2010

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Education
      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Evidence of school segregation and/or policies of separate/distinct schooling of minorities

      No, but there are some problems.

      Qualitative Info

      In order to avoid school segregation of minorities, as emerge in the report published by the Ministry of Education, University and Research (MIUR) on the population of non-Italian students in the school year 2007 / 2008, the Ministry intends to continue with the policy of signing agreements with various organisations throughout the country, 'aimed at pursuing the shared objective of education for Roma minors'. As part of this policy, the Ministry renewed its protocol of agreement with Opera Nomadi, 'a historic partner of the ministry in pursuing the education of all Roma, Sinti and Traveller minors'.

      The participation of Roma and Sinti to the school is still low. The Ministry of Education, University and Research (MIUR) published a  report
      on the population of non-Italian students in the school year 2007 / 2008. In the 2007-2008 school year, there were 12,342 registered Roma students in State and 1,043 in non-State schools and in all, they accounted for 0.14 percent of total school population in same school year. Roma and Traveller students were concentrated in five main regions where Roma populations have settled for hundreds of years. The highest number of students is in Lazio region (2,331) followed by Lombardia (1,939), Veneto (1,186), Calabria (1,167) and Piemonte
      (1,162). Regarding distribution at the different school levels, 2,061 minors were registered in nurseries, 6,801 in primary schools, 3,299 in lower secondary and only 181 in upper secondary schools.

      It is important to underline that Roma, Sinti and Travellers who live in all regions across the country are not recognised as a linguistic minority and are not included in the protection offered by the framework law regulating the protection of recognised minority languages.


      Source: Italy / MIUR (2009): Alunni con cittadinanza non italiana. Scuole statali e non statali. Anno scolastico 2007 - 2008. Aprile 2009. Available at: http://www.pubblica.istruzione.it/mpi/pubblicazioni/index.shtml

      Cospe, Contribution to the FRA Annual Report 2010 Italy, October 2009

      http://www.cirdi.org/studi-e-ricerche/raxen-rapporto-annuale-2010

      Accogliere bambini e ragazzi rom e sinti. Vademecum per le scuole , Fondazione ISMU, Milano, 2010

      Groups affected/interested

      • Roma & Travelers

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Education

      External Url http://www.pubblica.istruzione.it/mpi/pubblicazioni/index.shtml; http://www.cirdi.org/studi-e-ricerche/raxen-rapporto-annuale-2010

      See other countriesSee indicator history
  • Health And Social Protection

    Recent studies highlight that foreign workers contract serious diseases because of the bad housing and working conditions they face. In Italy the access to health services is guaranteed also for irregular immigrants and health services can not report to the police irregular migrants who use them.

  • Political & Civic Participation

    In Italy the right of voting, active and passive, is refused to migrants both at national and local level. Some actions have been carried out at local level for the right of administrative voting. But, these initiatives have only a cultural and political value, as they have been judged as unconstitutional. Italian-born children of migrants can only declare themselves Italian after 18 years with legal registration and uninterrupted residence (jus sanguinis).

    • Outreach - encourage participation - Practical obstacles or problems for migrants in exercising their right to vote

      In Italy the migrants or ethnic minorites have not rights to vote at local and national level.

      Qualitative Info

      The right of voting, active and passive, is refused to migrants both at national and local level. This right in the Italian Constitution (artt. 48 and 51) is linked to the citizenship. Any international treaty is binding Italy to it, resolutions from the European Parliament and from the Council of Europe are not received. In the last years, some actions have been carried out at local level for the right of administrative voting, also against the central State institutions. Several Statutes of municipalities and some regional Statues foresee the right of voting for long term residents. But, these initiatives have only a cultural and political value, as they have been judged as unconstitutional.


      Source:

      Puccinelli S., The Political Participation of Migrants in Italy, Future Project, 2007. - /www.futureplatform.eu/downloads/presentazionestefanoinnsbruck.pdf

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Ethnic minorities

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Political discourse -parties - orgs
      • Political participation
      See other countriesSee indicator history
  • Public Life, Culture, Sport & Media

    There are no restrictions in the freedom of association of the migrants. There are problems for the muslim communities  to be officially recongnised and for the construction of mosque. In the media system there are some difficulties in the representation of migrants and minorities and there are few initiatives which promote migrant saccess to the media. Also in sport, the presence of migrants and minorities is not so widespread.

    • Is self-identification of individuals/groups a criterion for recognition and respect of minority or ethnic cultural linguistic religious groups' rights by the state/government?

      No

      Qualitative Info

      In Italy the state law No. 482/1999 (Norme in materia di tutela delle minoranze linguistiche storiche”), which puts into practice the fundamental principle on the protection of minorities provided by art. 6 of the Constitution, recognises some minorities but not all. For example Romanos and Sinto languages are not recognised among the historical-linguistic minorities protected on a level of full equality. 


      Source: Act No. 482/1999 ((Norme in materia di tutela delle minoranzelinguistiche storiche”)

      Groups affected/interested

      • Ethnic minorities
      • Linguistic minorities
      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Association: are there restrictions of the freedom of peaceful assembly, and freedom of association for migrants

      No

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Integration - social cohesion
      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Association: are there restrictions of the of the freedom of peaceful assembly, and freedom of association for minorities

      No.

      Qualitative Info

      For the main ethnic minority, Roma and Sinti, in Italy there are no restrictions for freedom of associations or peaceful assembly, but often, in practice, the processes of spatial segregation and social, economic, and cultural discrimination do not permit it.


      Source:

      CERD Report, Rapporto sulla situazione italiana, 2008.

      Groups affected/interested

      • Roma & Travelers

      Type (R/D)

      • Anti-roma/zinghanophobia
      • Anti-roma/ romaphobia

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Political participation
      • Integration - social cohesion

      External Url http://www.cohre.org/sites/default/files/italy_-_shadow_report_to_cerd_2007.pdf

      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Religion: Persons belonging to minorities face legal and practical obstacles in exercising or manifesting their religion or belief?

      yes

      Qualitative Info

      A general protection against discrimination is established by article 3 of the 1948 Constitution, which recognises equal dignity and equality under the law without distinctions also on ground of religion (belief is not mentioned per se). “The 1948 constitution mentions religion within the general equality clause contained in article 3. It establishes also (article 8, section 1) that “All religious beliefs are equally free before the law”, and (article 19) that “ [all] shall be entitled to profess their religious beliefs freely in any form, individually or in association with others, to promote them, and to celebrate their rites in public or in private, provided that they are not offensive to public morality”. The practical enforcement of the general principle of religious freedom has been somewhat difficult because of its coexistence with other provisions deeply marked by the strong role of the Catholic Church. With regard to the religious confessions different from the Catholic one, the constitution establishes (article 8) that they can “organise themselves according to their own charters, provided that these are not in conflict with the Italian legal system” and that their “relations with the State are regulated by the law on the basis of agreements with their representative bodies”, thus leaving open to possibility of more favourable treatment for the religious associations that have signed those agreements”. There are “agreements - transposed in statutes approved by the parliament - with the representations of some religious confessions (these are the Adventists, the Waldensian movement, the Jewish Communities, the Assemblies of God, the Baptist movement, and the Lutheran Church). These agreements regulate the effects for the Italian state of the internal acts of the confessions, while solving several problems specific to each of these, like for instance holidays. Within the scope of application of Directive 2000/78, it is therefore clear that the employer enjoys a wider discretion to refuse taking into consideration the specific needs related to a religion or belief when the employee is a believer of a “religion without agreement”. Even more relevant problems exist out of the employment field, in any case where there a degree of judicial and administrative discretion, as for instance proved by the outright and explicit denial of some local authorities of the administrative authorisations required to start any kind of place of worship for Muslims. Because of the piecemeal approach followed with the agreements, the legal protection of freedom of religion in Italy is currently felt as being still unsatisfactory, primarily concerning the position of those confessions that were not able to sign the agreements or to have them transposed in an act of parliament. (besides Islam, this is the case for instance of Jehovah’s Witnesses), the situation of which is thus still regulated by the antiquated 1929 act on “tolerated cults” . The lack of an agreement applicable to Islamic believers is commonly explained with a mix of both political reasons and objective difficulties linked to the absence of a unified representation of Islamic communities. (p. 14-16, Report on measures to combat discrimination).

      “Since 2010 the protection of the Catholic religion seems to be the new obsession. With the aim of targeting Islamic groups, the Municipality of Trenzano (BS) passed an ordinance that made it compulsory the use Italian in public meetings which are discussing cultural, political or religious aims. The Regional Administrative Court and the Court of Justice of Brescia have revoked such ordinance for its discriminatory character” (p.30 Enar Shadow Report 2009-2010).


      Source:

      Report on measures to combat discrimination, Directives 2000/43/EC and 2000/78/EC. Country Report 2009, Italy, Alessandro Simoni

      Enar Shadow Report 2009-2010

      Groups affected/interested

      • Religious minorities

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Religion
      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Media: Are there positive measures for promoting or restrictions for Migrant and minority media?

      there are not positive measures

      Qualitative Info

      “[the media] use incorrect language and terminology and the voice of migrants is absent in newspapers and on TV”, (p.27 Enar Shadow Report 2009/2010). There are some good attemps as the following: “in 2008, another step towards a fairer representation of migrants in the media has been made in 2010 with the creation of ANSI, the national association of intercultural media. Acknowledged by the National Federation of Press, the association was born after a long process taken forward by multicultural journalists, experts, trade unions and the national order of journalists. The NGO Cospe www.cospe-fi.it , actively working for the promotion of cultural diversity in the media for over 10 years, had a crucial role in facilitating and supporting the process, still allowing multicultural journalists to be the protagonists . The main objectives of ANSI are to promote multiculturalism as a key element of journalism in Italy, promote policies on diversity in the media, and facilitate the access to the professional order for non Italian journalists defending their rights. ANSI intend to promote exchange of good practices at the international level” (p.28, Enar Shadow Report 2009/2010). 


      Source:

      Enar Shadow Report 2009/2010, Racism and Discrimination in Italy, Laura Di Pasquale

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Ethnic minorities
      • Linguistic minorities

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Media
      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Media: Are there positive measures for promoting or restrictions for minority and lesser used language in the media?

      no

      Qualitative Info

      “[the media] use incorrect language and terminology and the voice of migrants is absent in newspapers and on TV”, (p.27 Enar Shadow Report 2009/2010).


      Source:

      Enar Shadow Report 2009/2010, Racism and Discrimination in Italy, Laura Di Pasquale

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants
      • Ethnic minorities
      • Linguistic minorities

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Media
      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Sport: Effective participation of migrants in sport

      Yes, but with limitations.

      Qualitative Info

      Indirect discrimination in sports takes many forms in relation to the groups affected and the given sport federation. In most of the sport federations, it takes the form of under-representation or outright exclusion of legally resident migrants, especially those from outside the European Union. In general, EU citizens are not formally excluded from taking part in any sport as professionals or in the various amateur categories. On the contrary, there are various limitations on the participation of legally resident non-EU citizens in almost all sports, except rugby where the “National Team” includes non-citizens. In all popular sports, there are severe restrictions affecting non-EU migrant minorities.


      Source:

      Udo C. Enwereuzor and L. Di Pasquale, ‘Preventing racism, xenophobia and related intolerance in sport across the European Union’ RAXEN Italy, COSPE, March 2009 - http://www.cirdi.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/ITRacism-in-Sports.pdf

      Groups affected/interested

      • Migrants

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Sport
      See other countriesSee indicator history
    • Sport: Effective participation of minorities in sport

      No data available.

      Qualitative Info

      There is no publicly available information concerning the participation of Italian Roma and Sinti groups and foreign Roma resident in the country, in sports of any kind and at all levels. The vast literature on the living conditions of Roma populations and the integration of their children into the educational system does not contain any thing on their involvement in sports of any kind.


      Source:

      RAXEN Italy, ‘Preventing racism, xenophobia and related intolerance in sport across the European Union’ COSPE by Udo C. Enwereuzor and L. Di Pasquale March 2009 -

      Groups affected/interested

      • Roma & Travelers
      • Ethnic minorities

      Type (R/D)

      • Anti-roma/zinghanophobia
      • Anti-roma/ romaphobia

      Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas

      • Sport

      External Url www.osservatoriosport.interno.it

      See other countriesSee indicator history