Comparative analysis between Andalusia and Sicily on variable impacts of governance on young migrants
Patrizia Rinaldi is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Institute for Migration Research at the University of Granada. This article is based on her paper “Variable impacts on young migrants and related measures in Spain and Italy. Andalusia and Sicily: a comparative analysis” published in June 2023 in the Journal of Research and Didactics in Geography.
Although migration is part of human history, the creation of nation-states, with the demarcation of borders, has presented this phenomenon as a watershed between legality and illegality. Despite this, migrants and asylum seekers irregularly use the Mediterranean routes to enter the EU. Within these flows is a specific subgroup of our interest, namely minors without a parent or legal representative. In my recent article “Variable impacts on young migrants and related measures in Spain and Italy. Andalusia and Sicily: a comparative analysis.” (1) I deal with the legislative changes that have taken place over the last two years and how these have affected the condition of young migrants in two Mediterranean countries, Spain and Italy. More specifically, two regions are compared: Andalusia and Sicily.
Mare Nostrum assists the migration of the vulnerable today as in the past: disembarkation, protection, and integration are the challenges. The problems related to protecting Unaccompanied Migrant Minors (UMMs) are linked to their condition, including their minor age, alien status, and the lack of parental figures. Both with the supranational legal space (international and European), recognizing an element of alienation from the domestic system for managing such situations, and with issues related to migrant law contribute to protections, creating conflicts and overlaps. The methodology used is socio-legal analysis combined with empirical research. According to socio-legal theory, (2) the legal analysis is directly related to the social situation to which the law applies. It is described by observing the implications of the law in changing or maintaining that situation.
The priority objective of the protection systems under consideration is the integration of unaccompanied migrant minors. It is a challenge and a success to bring active, trained, and above all, young people into society in countries of constant demographic decline, such as Spain and Italy. In these two countries examined, UMMs have the protection accorded to national minors, proposing the saying, 'a child is a child' wherever it comes from. (3) Therefore, minors must have a residence permit to regularly live in Spain and Italy in legal situations, whether in a reception center or not. Although Spain and Italy have geographical and historical affinities, there are numerous differences regarding our subject matter. In Spain, the protection of minors is the prerogative of the Autonomous Communities and Cities, while guardianship is of an administrative and centralized nature; the guardian of the residential center ensures the care of the protected child. Over the years, the cumbersome mechanism for issuing residence and work permits has raised numerous questions from the Ombudsman, NGOs, and academic experts. The delays have caused the irregularity of this collective at the end of their eighteenth year of age. (4) In Italy, the "Zampa Law" N ° 47 of 7 April 2017 has revolutionized and improved the entire reception and protection system. (5) The new legislation harmonizes the relevant legislation at the national level, implementing all-around protection in favor of the minor and to the detriment of migration control. Ad hoc regulations have complied with the rights recognized by international conventions, the standard European asylum system, and domestic law, without prejudice to the competencies attributed to the regions and municipalities in this area. (6) Undoubtedly fundamental is the "primary” need: the request for a residence permit.
As a side effect of government measures to mitigate the adverse effects of the pandemic, a season of reforms has begun in Spain. While in Italy, the pandemic crisis debased the positive effects of the Zampa Law by preventing mobility between municipal centres and SIPOIMI center’s ad hoc facilities for UMM’s. This situation has created overcrowding and inconvenience. In particular, the comparison between Andalusia and Sicily lies in their comparable magnitude in geopolitical and demographic terms. Both are regions of landing, transit, and permanence of migratory flows from North Africa. Both have had the same historical evolution: from being lands of emigrants to receiving immigrants. In Andalusia, the traditional immigration of young Moroccans is respected, primarily male. New nationalities have been added; in addition to Algeria, we find Mali, Guinea Conakry, Mauritania, and Ivory Coast. Their average age on arrival is 16 years. In Italy, on the other hand, the migratory complexity of the central Mediterranean route is reflected in a range of equally represented nationalities, such as the Ivory Coast, Bangladesh, Guinea, Egypt, Tunisia, and Albania. The age also drops to 15 on arrival, and the female sex is more represented, even in the minority. Despite the diversity of regulatory processes, education and training projects have been launched in both regions aimed at job placement in the agricultural and food sector. Likewise, negative similarities were found between Andalusia and Sicily:
Vulnerability in the face of COVID, (especially for irregular migrants who feared repatriation).
Increased psychological distress (e.g., escape from the centers).
Increased inequality (increased exploitation, especially in agriculture).
Stigmatization and increased racism and xenophobia towards the collective (“necessary enemy theory”).
In conclusion, reforms in Spain have allowed minors over 16 to enter the world of work, breaking the taboo of the 'sacrality' of the child. The migration project has become a priority over fundamental humanitarian reasons, marking a shift from welfarist protection to functional integration in the host society. In comparison with Italy, in Spain, the change has been in favor of employment integration. (7) In Italy, there have been mainly income and inequality support measures. Finally, the experience gained through field research suggests listening to unaccompanied migrant minors and understanding their motivations and goals without caging them in an inadequate protection system, made more to confirm our philosophy than to help their integration.
(1) Patrizia Rinaldi, Variable impacts on young migrants and related measures in Spain and Italy. Andalusia and Sicily: a comparative analysis, 2023 J. RES. & DIDACTICS IN GEOGRAPHY 57–72.
(2) David Schiff, Socio-legal theory: Social Structure and Law, 39 MODERN L. REV. 287–310 (1976).
(3) SAVE THE CHILDREN, REPORT: INFANCIA INVISIBLES invisibles (2016), https://www.savethechildren.es/publicaciones/infancias-invisibles.
(4) DEFENSOR DEL PUEBLO, INFORME ANUAL 2017 Y DEBATES EN LAS CORTES GENERALES (2018), www.defensordelpueblo.es/wpcontent/uploads/2018/03/Informe_anual_2017_vol.I.1_Gestion.pdf.
(5) Massimiliano Ferreri, I minori stranieri non accompagnati in Italia. La Legge 47/2017, III RIVISTA FILOSOFIA DEI DIRITTI UMANI [PHYLO. & HUMAN RIGHTS REV.] 36–50 (2020).
(6) Cinzia Valente, L’accoglienza dei minori stranieri non accompagnati: un obiettivo raggiunto o raggiungibile?, DIRITTI FONDAMENTALI.IT [FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS.IT] 1439–1483 (2020).
(7) F. J. Durán Ruiz, Política y regulación de la migración y el asilo en la Unión Europea en un contexto de pandemia y guerra, 2022 TRAYECTORIAS HUMANAS TRANSCONTINENTALES 51–74.
Cite as: Patrizia Rinaldi, Comparative analysis between Andalusia and Sicily on variable impacts of governance on young migrants, LAW AS SCIENCE: LEGAL METHOD LAB (August 2, 2023), www.lawasscience.org/legal-method-lab/comparative-analysis-between-andalusia-and-sicily-on-variable-impacts-of-governance-on-young-migrants.
