The Eighteenth Italian Report on Migration 2012

The analysis of migration in Italy in 2011 shows for the first time in many years a decline in the rise of the number of foreigners, estimated to amount to nearly five and a half million at the beginning of 2012. The heavy international economic and financial crisis has diminished the attractiveness of Italy for those seeking work and a better life. By contrast, arrivals for family reunification are still numerous, bearing witness of increasingly consolidated immigration and wish for stabilisation, as also numerous are asylum seekers, especially following the events of the so-called "Arab Spring". The rising complexity of the phenomenon of migration in Italy more and more highlights the need for a global approach in a supranational perspective.