African Migration to Italy: Causes, Local Ethnic Communities and Integration Process

Abstract

This article analyses the phenomenon of African migration to Italy. Its emphasis is on the character of migration, migration motives and analysis of local ethnic communities in Italy. On the one side, the authors show that labor migration from Africa is a socio-economic resource, both for agricultural and industrial regions of the country. On the other side, regular African migration is currently accompanied by an increase in irregular migration flows and a significant increase in the request of residence based on both international protection and family reunification. Most of arriving immigrants are Muslims and do not have sufficient integrative resources. Moreover, the search for work, housing, access to basic social services and adequate health insurance is accompanied by the need for a definition of their status in the legal space of the host state. In order to analyze these processes, the article includes material collected during fieldwork conducted in Rome in October 2019. Based on expert interviews with representatives of a number of Catholic organizations and universities, the authors determine the character of the sociocultural transformation of the host society and the role of religious organizations in the integration processes of African migrants. The authors show that legislative amnesties and family reunification practices have contributed to the growth of African communities and the redistribution of the geography of migration and conclude that in a clash with immigrant North African communities, the Western mentality is more Eurocentric than multicultural.