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In 2021, Istat estimated that 5,171,894 foreign citizens lived in Italy, representing about 8.7% of the total population. These figures include naturalized foreign-born residents (about 1,620,000 foreigners acquired Italian citizenship from 1999 to 2020, of whom 130,000 did so in 2020) as well as illegal immigrants, the so-called clandestini, whose numbers, difficult to determine, are thought to be at least 670,000.

In 2021, around 6,260,000 people residing in Italy have an immigration background (around the 10.6% of the total Italian population).

Starting from the early 1980s, until then a linguistically and culturally homogeneous society, Italy began to attract substantial flows of foreign immigrants. After the fall of the Berlin Wall and, more recently, the 2004 and 2007 enlargements of the European Union, large waves of migration originated from the former socialist countries of Eastern Europe (especially Romania, Albania, Ukraine, Moldova and Poland). Another source of immigration is neighbouring North Africa (in particular, Morocco, Egypt and Tunisia), with soaring arrivals as a consequence of the Arab Spring. Furthermore, in recent years, growing migration fluxes from Asia-Pacific (notably China, South Asia, and the Philippines) and Latin America have been recorded.

Since the expansion of the European Union, the most recent wave of migration has been from surrounding European states, particularly Eastern Europe, and increasingly Asia, replacing North Africa as the major immigration area.

Romanians made up the largest foreign community in the country (1,077,876; around 10% of them being ethnic Romani people) followed by Albanians (433,130) and Moroccans (428,940). The fourth largest, but the fastest growing, community of foreign residents in Italy was represented by the Chinese; as of 2021 there were 330,495 foreigners holding Chinese citizenship. The majority of Chinese living in Italy are from the city of Wenzhou in the province of Zhejiang. As of 2021, foreign citizens' origins were subdivided as follows: Europe (47,6%), Africa (22.25%), Asia (22.64%), The Americas (7.49%), and Oceania (0.04%).

The distribution of foreigners is largely uneven in Italy: in 2020, 61.2% of foreign citizens lived in Northern Italy (in particular 36.1% in Northwestern Italy and 25.1% in Northeastern Italy), 24.2% in Central Italy, 10.8% in Southern Italy and 3.9% in Insular Italy.

The children born in Italy to foreign mothers were 102,000 in 2012, 99,000 in 2013 and 97,000 in 2014.

Statistics

On foreigners only, for more information dealing with foreigners who have subsequently acquired Italian citizenship refer to Eurostat site.

Foreign citizens (thus not including naturalized Italians and descendants) by country of origin

Country	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	Regions with significant populations
Romania	177,812	248,849	297,570	342,200	625,278	796,477	887,763	968,576	834,465	933,354	1,081,400	1,118,776	1,151,395	1,168,552	1,190,091	1,143,859	1,145,718	1,076,412	1,083,771	1,081,836	Lazio
Albania	270,383	316,659	348,813	375,947	401,949	441,396	466,684	482,627	450,908	464,962	495,709	478,069	467,687	448,407	440,465	423,212	421,591	433,171	419,987	416,829	Lombardy
Morocco	253,362	294,945	319,537	343,228	365,908	403,592	431,529	452,424	408,667	426,791	454,773	441,104	437,485	420,651	416,531	406,112	414,249	428,947	420,172	415,088	Lombardy
China	86,738	111,712	127,822	144,885	156,519	170,265	188,352	209,934	197,064	223,367	256,846	263,659	271,330	281,972	290,681	283,430	288,923	330,495	300,216	307,038	Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol
Ukraine	57,971	93,441	107,118	120,070	132,718	153,998	174,129	200,730	180,121	191,725	219,050	222,039	230,728	234,354	237,047	227,867	228,560	235,953	225,307	249,613	Campania
Bangladesh	27,356	35,785	41,631	49,575	55,242	65,529	73,965	82,451	81,683	92,695	111,223	113,901	118,790	122,428	131,967	131,023	138,895	158,020	159,003	174,058	Lombardy
India	44,791	54,288	61,847	69,504	77,432	91,855	105,863	121,036	118,409	128,903	142,453	145,879	150,456	151,430	151,791	147,153	153,209	165,512	162,492	167,333	Lombardy
Philippines	72,372	82,625	89,668	101,337	105,675	113,686	123,584	134,154	129,188	139,835	162,655	167,834	165,900	166,459	167,859	158,049	157,665	165,443	158,997	158,926	Lombardy
Egypt	40,583	52,865	58,879	65,667	69,572	74,599	82,064	90,365	66,932	76,691	96,008	103,471	109,871	112,765	119,513	119,864	128,095	139,569	140,322	147,797	Lombardy
Pakistan	27,798	35,509	41,797	46,085	49,344	55,371	64,859	75,720	71,031	80,658	90,615	90,336	101,784	108,204	114,198	116,631	121,609	135,520	134,182	144,129	Lombardy
Nigeria	26,383	31,647	34,310	37,733	40,641	44,544	48,674	53,613	48,220	56,476	66,833	70,775	77,264	88,533	106,069	114,096	113,049	119,089	119,435	123,646	Veneto
Senegal	46,478	53,941	57,101	59,857	62,620	67,510	72,618	80,989	73,702	80,325	90,863	93,352	98,176	101,207	105,937	105,227	106,198	111,092	110,763	112,598	Lombardy
Sri Lanka	39,231	45,572	50,528	56,745	61,064	68,738	75,343	81,094	71,573	79,530	95,007	100,368	102,316	104,908	107,967	104,763	107,598	112,018	108,069	109,828	Veneto
Moldova	24,645	37,971	47,632	55,803	68,591	89,424	105,600	130,948	132,175	139,734	149,434	143,442	142,266	135,661	131,814	122,762	118,516	122,667	114,914	109,804	Emilia Romagna
Tunisia	68,630	78,230	83,564	88,932	93,601	100,112	103,678	106,291	82,997	88,291	97,317	93,795	95,645	94,064	93,795	90,615	93,350	97,407	99,002	102,422	Lazio
Peru	43,009	53,378	59,269	66,506	70,755	77,629	87,747	98,603	93,841	99,173	109,851	108,465	98,176	99,110	97,379	91,859	91,662	96,546	94,131	98,733	Lazio
Poland	40,314	50,974	60,823	72,457	90,218	99,389	106,608	109,018	84,749	88,839	97,566	96,285	97,986	97,062	95,727	88,803	86,743	77,779	74,981	74,387	Lazio
Ecuador	33,506	53,220	61,953	68,880	73,235	80,070	85,940	91,625	80,333	82,791	91,861	90,680	87,427	83,120	80,377	74,661	72,644	72,193	66,590	63,211	Lombardy
Brazil	22,533	25,823	30,375	34,342	37,848	41,476	44,067	46,690	37,567	39,157	43,202	41,972	43,783	45,410	48,022	49,445	51,790	50,666	47,318	51,125	Lombardy
North Macedonia	51,208	58,460	63,245	74,162	78,090	89,066	92,847	89,900	73,972	76,608	78,424	72,175	73,512	67,969	65,347	60,581	55,816	55,771	53,443	51,090	Tuscany
Bulgaria	11,467	15,374	17,746	19,924	33,477	40,880	46,026	51,134	42,000	47,872	54,932	55,759	58,001	58,620	59,254	56,593	56,645	50,355	49,205	49,518	Lombardy
Ghana	29,252	32,754	34,499	36,540	38,400	42,327	44,353	46,890	44,364	48,575	51,602	49,961	48,637	48,138	49,940	49,797	49,543	50,778	48,280	47,335	Emilia Romagna
Russia	14,311	17,188	18,689	20,459	21,523	23,201	25,786	30,504	28,604	30,948	34,483	34,702	35,791	36,361	37,384	36,512	37,424	39,746	36,982	39,705	Lombardy
Kosovo						7,625	16,234	22,778	40,475	43,751	46,248	42,550	43,091	41,344	40,371	39,630	38,645	38,860	37,064	36,372
Germany	34,664	35,559	36,834	38,135	40,163	41,476	42,302	42,531	34,936	35,576	38,136	31,776	36,661	36,660	36,806	35,442	35,316	35,091	32,984	34,003	Lombardy
Serbia						57,826	53,875	52,954	43,022	43,816	46,958	41,708	42,264	39,937	39,690	35,578	33,322	32,898	31,342	30,835	Lombardy
France	26,428	26,951	28,021	29,205	30,803	32,079	32,956	33,400	23,985	25,016	29,078	27,436	28,634	29,281	29,991	29,008	29,721	31,354	28,735	29,942	Lombardy
Dominican Republic	13,904	15,286	16,725	17,892	18,591	20,583	22,920	24,529	23,020	25,405	28,623	28,277	28,202	28,002	28,451	28,208	29,111	30,255	28,812	29,571	Lombardy
Georgia	447	569	675	811	1,012	1,482	2,734	6,520	7,083	9,123	12,124	13,688	14,045	14,603	15,203	15,021	15,667	18,272	22,907	29,222	Tuscany
Ivory Coast	11,435	13,228	14,378	15,637	17,132	19,408	21,222	22,665	20,878	23,563	25,953	25,174	25,056	26,159	30,271	31,001	30,038	29,673	28,385	28,559	Lombardy
Spain	14,019	14,837	15,503	16,292	17,354	18,258	19,094	19,887	15,129	17,021	20,682	21,001	22,593	23,828	24,870	24,936	25,954	32,637	26,417	27,854	Lombardy
United Kingdom	20,972	22,318	23,324	24,673	26,448	28,174	29,184	29,560	22,839	23,744	26,377	25,523	26,634	27,208	28,168	27,857	29,654	30,325	28,355	27,758	Lombardy
Cuba	10,149	11,363	12,927	14,073	14,581	15,883	16,878	17,947	16,350	17,538	19,316	19,560	20,662	20,986	21,418	21,417	22,311	22,958	21,499	23,531	Lombardy
El Salvador	4,240	5,085	5,509	5,895	6,144	6,552	7,213	8,739	9,235	10,443	11,809	12,973	13,007	13,492	14,626	15,437	16,270	20,038	20,608	22,693	Lombardy
Gambia	541	628	650	676	748	825	912	1,033	941	1,244	1,630	3,271	8,016	13,780	19,567	22,075	21,336	22,213	21,826	22,637	Sicily
Mali	547	642	702	735	832	992	1,090	1,263	1,252	2,946	4,470	6,098	10,369	14,768	19,134	20,078	19,350	20,015	20,008	21,032	Campania
Colombia	13,989	15,843	16,810	17,640	17,890	18,615	19,573	20,571	17,086	17,880	19,661	18,956	18,777	17,968	17,956	17,539	18,053	19,848	19,025	20,856	Lombardy
Bosnia and Herzegovina	20,152	22,436	24,142	26,298	27,356	30,124	31,341	31,972	28,015	28,996	29,831	28,120	27,199	25,791	25,034	22,944	21,911	21,442	21,234	20,454	Veneto
Turkey	9,130	11,077	12,359	13,532	14,562	16,225	17,651	19,068	16,354	17,711	19,951	19,450	19,388	19,217	19,509	18,780	19,168	20,999	18,930	20,080	Lombardy
Algeria	15,493	18,736	20,202	21,519	22,672	24,387	25,449	25,935	20,725	21,801	23,095	21,899	21,765	20,437	19,823	18,507	18,468	18,538	17,998	18,095	Campania
Afghanistan	172	198	312	442	1,063	2,198	3,372	3,811	3,512	4,813	6,635	7,330	8,574	11,224	11,738	10,600	11,121	12,199	13,547	16,872	Lazio
Iran	6,405	6,550	6,566	6,850	6,913	6,983	7,106	7,444	5,962	7,273	8,995	9,540	10,304	10,794	11,565	11,837	12,866	14,255	14,009	16,490	Lombardy
United States of America	14,132	14,155	14,433	14,904	15,036	15,324	15,708	15,620	12,184	13,165	14,963	14,145	14,512	14,649	15,004	14,966	15,393	18,837	14,496	15,582	Lazio
Croatia	19,890	20,712	21,232	21,360	21,308	21,511	21,261	21,079	16,708	17,051	17,999	17,375	18,052	17,698	17,573	16,591	16,285	17,362	15,754	15,514	Lombardy
Cameroon	3,682	4,672	5,529	6,249	6,940	7,994	9,175	10,324	8,830	10,071	11,880	12,298	12,738	13,308	14,529	15,170	15,329	15,581	15,013	15,443	Emilia Romagna
Argentina	13,174	13,720	13,907	13,422	12,492	11,842	11,338	11,239	7,896	8,025	8,642	8,179	8,270	8,009	8,023	8,169	9,117	9,091	10,522	14,662	Lombardy
Burkina Faso	5,545	7,012	7,949	8,543	8,960	10,493	11,784	13,051	12,752	14,007	15,301	14,797	14,657	14,306	14,435	14,051	13,979	14,236	14,167	14,204	Lombardy
Venezuela	4,245	4,579	4,913	5,114	5,219	5,339	5,580	5,808	4,787	5,138	5,506	5,594	5,849	6,327	7,347	8,981	10,316	12,135	12,033	13,548	Lombardy
Bolivia	2,508	3,637	4,127	4,800	6,043	6,796	8,855	12,268	11,774	12,357	13,919	14,384	14,243	14,076	13,955	13,277	13,141	13,271	12,924	12,930	Lombardy
Guinea	1,259	1,604	1,813	2,014	2,268	2,679	2,991	3,360	3,297	3,896	4,371	4,425	4,928	6,897	11,240	12,728	12,213	12,255	11,796	11,880	Lombardy
Somalia	5,963	6,094	6,249	6,414	6,237	6,663	7,728	8,112	4,586	5,235	6,878	7,677	7,903	8,228	9,102	8,626	8,515	7,629	8,370	9,349	Lazio
Belarus	2,095	2,791	3,258	3,767	4,265	5,062	5,952	6,975	6,654	7,446	8,177	8,195	8,529	8,636	8,885	8,704	8,808	9,269	8,811	9,248	Lombardy
Netherlands	6,787	6,989	7,356	7,752	8,165	8,521	8,651	8,695	7,163	7,378	7,856	7,616	8,106	8,243	8,344	8,184	8,283	10,092	8,367	8,820	Lombardy
Eritrea	4,900	5,634	7,090	8,972	11,386	11,911	12,967	13,368	8,074	8,752	11,187	10,570	9,597	9,394	9,343	8,141	8,035	6,912	6,575	6,404
Rest of Europe	118,159	119,870	128,299	132,310	143,602	80,381	86,342	87,261	69,066	74,661	81,868	73,734		63,622	62,334		66,817		81,254	84,149
Rest of North Africa and Western/Central Asia	15,540	16,719	17,543	18,565	19,366	20,449	21,572	22,786	16,812	18,976	22,772	22,756		44,526	47,513				31,296	34,572
Rest of South Asia	266	329	426	466	514	608	701	860	787	928	1,189	1,258		1,516	1,630				1,729	1,816
Rest of East and South-East Asia	15,354	16,703	17,501	18,666	19,358	20,367	21,382	22,218	17,067	18,842	22,267	20,939		22,895	19,877				22,777	23,840
Rest of Sub-Saharan Africa	34,102	37,591	41,013	45,630	48,563	51,619	54,091	55,272	43,548	48,293	54,281	52,842		52,591	54,501		59,385		51,002	52,056
Rest of Americas	13,066	13,954	14,713	15,492	15,716	16,567	17,324	18,746	14,517	16,023	18,317	17,643		18,406	20,796				20,103	21,785
Europe	904,490 (1.57%)	1,111,199 (1.92%)	1,249,605 (2.15%)	1,380,974 (2.36%)	1,771,308 (3.01%)	2,067,868 (3.50%)	2,251,635 (3.80%)	2,422,399 (4.08%)	2,134,986 (3.59%)	2,298,498 (3.82%)	2,564,208 (4.22%)	2,546,281 (4.19%)	2,601,313	2,588,451 (4.28%)	2,600,748 (4.31%)		2,609,690 (4.33%)		2,378,907 (4.03%)	2,397,731 (4.06%)
North Africa and Western/Central Asia	409,762 (0.71%)	479,691 (0.83%)	519,325 (0.89%)	559,104 (0.96%)	593,606 (1.01%)	647,829 (1.10%)	691,783 (1.17%)	730,833 (1.23%)	625,532 (1.05%)	666,657 (1.11%)	735,035 (1.21%)	725,703 (1.19%)	741,090	729,064 (1.21%)	735,681 (1.22%)				764,636 (1.30%)	783,766 (1.33%)
South Asia	139,614 (0.24%)	171,681 (0.30%)	196,541 (0.34%)	222,817 (0.38%)	244,659 (0.42%)	284,299 (0.48%)	324,103 (0.55%)	364,972 (0.61%)	346,995 (0.58%)	387,527 (0.64%)	447,122 (0.74%)	459,072 (0.76%)	474,736	488,486 (0.81%)	507,553 (0.84%)				579,022 (0.98%)	614,036 (1.04%)
East and South-East Asia	174,464 (0.30%)	211,040 (0.36%)	234,991 (0.40%)	264,888 (0.45%)	281,552 (0.48%)	304,318 (0.51%)	333,318 (0.56%)	366,306 (0.62%)	343,319 (0.58%)	382,044 (0.63%)	441,768 (0.73%)	452,432 (0.74%)	459,572	471,326 (0.78%)	478,417 (0.79%)				481,990 (0.82%)	489,804 (0.83%)
Sub-Saharan Africa	170,267 (0.30%)	195,447 (0.34%)	211,283 (0.36%)	229,000 (0.39%)	244,727 (0.42%)	266,965 (0.45%)	287,605 (0.49%)	309,940 (0.52%)	270,444 (0.45%)	303,383 (0.50%)	345,249 (0.57%)	351,240 (0.58%)	369,567	397,309 (0.66%)	444,058 (0.74%)				455,620 (0.77%)	465,143 (0.79%)
Americas	188,455 (0.33%)	230,043 (0.40%)	255,661 (0.44%)	278,960 (0.48%)	293,550 (0.50%)	316,676 (0.54%)	343,143 (0.58%)	372,385 (0.63%)	328,590 (0.55%)	347,095 (0.58%)	385,670 (0.63%)	380,828 (0.63%)	376,556	369,555 (0.61%)	373,354 (0.62%)				368,061 (0.62%)	388,227 (0.66%)
Oceania	2,562 (<0.01%)	2,460 (<0.01%)	2,486 (<0.01%)	2,536 (<0.01%)	2,527 (<0.01%)	2,547 (<0.01%)	2,618 (<0.01%)	2,642 (<0.01%)	1,821 (<0.01%)	1,921 (<0.01%)	2,220 (<0.01%)	2,015 (<0.01%)	2,104 (<0.01%)	2,122 (<0,01%)	2,170 (<0.01%)	2,120 (<0.01%)	2,213 (<0.01%)	2,256 (<0.01%)	1,859 (<0.01%)	1,991 (<0.01%)
Total foreigners	1,990,159 (3.45%)	2,402,157 (4.14%)	2,670,514 (4.59%)	2,938,922 (5.03%)	3,432,651 (5.84%)	3,891,295 (6.58%)	4,235,059 (7.14%)	4,570,317 (7.70%)	4,052,081 (6.81%)	4,387,721 (7.28%)	4,922,085 (8.10%)	5,014,437 (8.25%)	5,026,153 (8.28%)	5,047,028 (8.33%)	5,144,440 (8.51%)	4,996,158 (8.35%)	5,039,637 (8.45%)	5,171,894 (8.73%)	5,030,716 (8.52%)	5,141,341 (8.71%)
Italians	55,694,841 (96.55%)	55,566,843 (95.86%)	55,473,486 (95.41%)	55,499,078 (94.97%)	55,394,349 (94.16%)	55,203,705 (93.42%)	55,041,941 (92.86%)	54,808,683 (92.30%)	55,487,919 (93.19%)	55,846,279 (92.72%)	55,866,915 (91.90%)	55,781,563 (91.75%)	55,639,847 (91.72%)	55,531,972 (91.67%)	55,339,560 (91.50%)	54,820,515 (91.65%)	54,601,851 (91.55%)	54,064,319 (91.27%)	53,999,417 (91.48%)	53,855,860 (91.26%)
Italy	57,685,000	57,969,000	58,144,000	58,438,000	58,827,000	59,095,000	59,277,000	59,379,000	59,540,000	60,234,000	60,789,000	60,796,000	60,666,000	60,579,000	60,484,000	59,816,673	59,641,488	59,236,213	59,030,133	58,997,201

• Turkey has been counted as an Asian country
• Sudan and Mauritania have been counted in Sub-Saharan Africa
• Afghanistan has been counted in South Asia

Prison population

According to the Ministry of Justice, the Italian prison population in 2019 counted 60,769 and of those 32.7% were foreigners. The largest groups came from Morocco (3,651), Albania (2,402), Romania (2,386), Tunisia (2,020), Nigeria (1,665).

Amongst national origins counting more than 5,000 individuals at national level, Algeria, followed by Gambia and Tunisia, had the biggest proportion of detainees (with, respectively, 25.8, 23.7 and 20.7 inmates per 1,000 residents). On the other hand, Japan, Thailand and the Philippines had the lowest proportion of inmates per 1,000 residents (respectively, 0.13, and 0.50 for both Thailand and the Philippines).

Public opinion

In 2018, a poll by Pew Research found that a majority (71%) wanted fewer immigrants to be allowed into the country, 18% wanted to keep the current level and 5% wanted to increase immigration.

A 2019 poll by Yougov showed that 53% thought authorities should not accept more refugees from conflict areas, 25% were in favour of more refugees and 19% were undecided.

According to poll published by Corriere della Sera in 2019, one of two respondents (51%) approved closing Italy's ports to further boat migrants arriving via the Mediterranean, while 19% welcomed further boat migrants.

In 2021, 77% of Italians thought the current immigrant influx was too high, as underlined by a poll published by La Repubblica and carried out by YouGov.

Mediterranean Sea crossings crisis

Due to the peninsula geographical position and close proximity to the North Africa coast, the crossing of the Mediterranean Sea has historically been the most used route for undocumented migrants. This route has become gradually more prominent, as flow through other routes to the EU gradually faded and political turmoil in Libya caused a general weakening of borders and coastal control, opening opportunities to people smuggling organisations.

The principal destination for sea crossings boats and rafts are the southernmost Italian territories, the Pelagie Islands. These islands are 113 km from Tunisia, 167 from Libya and 207 from Sicily.

The close distance between these islands and the African mainland has caused people smuggling organisations to employ boats and rafts otherwise hardly seaworthy, generally vastly filled above their capacity. Official reports list boats filled up to 2 or 3 times nominal capacity, including the use of rubber dinghies. This has led to several accidents at sea, as in 2007, the 2009, the 2011, the 2013, 2015. These accidents have become harder to document between 2014 and 2017, as people smuggling organisations changed their tactics: instead of aiming for a full crossing of the sea towards Lampedusa, their boats aimed just to exit Libyan territorial waters and then trigger rescue operation from passing mercantile vessels, seek and rescue organisations, Italian and Maltese coastguards and militaries. As per the United Nations Convention of the Sea, of which Italy is a subscriber, people rescued at sea have to be transported to the closest safe harbor: as Libya continues to be in political turmoil this means they are transported to Italy.

Once in Italy, the EU Dublin Regulation requires migrants to apply for legal residence, protection or asylum permits in the first EU country they cross into, effectively barring them from legally crossing internal EU borders until their case has been processed and positively concluded. As the vast majority of migrant people landing in Italy targets destinations in Central and Northern European States, there is a tendency to avoid filing permits applications in Italy and rather try a northwards land journey.

As a reaction to the gradual increase in migration flows through the Mediterranean Sea, Italian governments stepped up cooperation with Tunisian and Libyan authorities to halt activities of people smuggling organisation on land, as well as to allow boats rescued from the Italian Military in international waters to be towed back to the port where they left from. This policy, enacted in 2004 and 2005, sparked controversies related in particular to the compatibility with Italian and EU laws, as numerous reports documented acts of violence from Libyan authorities on migrant people. The policy was openly criticised by the EU Parliament.

In 2008, Berlusconi's government in Italy and Gaddafi's government in Libya signed a treaty including cooperation between the two countries in stopping unlawful migration from Libya to Italy; this led to a policy of forcibly returning to Libya boat migrants intercepted by the Italian coast guard at sea. The cooperation collapsed following the outbreak of the Libyan civil war in 2011. In 2012 the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Italy had violated the European Convention on Human Rights by returning migrants to Libya, as it exposed the migrants to the risk of being subjected to ill-treatment in Libya and violated the prohibition of collective expulsions., thus effectively ending the policy.

In 2009, as the flow of migrants picked up again, the overcrowded conditions at the Pelagie Islands' temporary immigrant reception centre came under criticism by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The unit, which was originally built for a maximum capacity of 850 people, was reported to be housing nearly 2,000 boat people. A significant number of people were sleeping outdoors under plastic sheeting. A fire started as an inmate riot destroyed a large portion of the holding facility on 19 February 2009.

In 2011, as Arab Spring rebellions in Tunisia and Libya disrupted government control over borders and coasts, by May 2011, more than 35,000 immigrants had arrived on the island of Lampedusa from Tunisia and Libya. By the end of August, 48,000 had arrived. As migration and asylum policies are exclusive responsibilities of each member State, the increased migration pressure at the EU Southern border sparked tensions between EU States on how to differentiate between people migrating due to economic reasons, which in principle are regarded as unlawful immigrants and thus are forced to leave or deported, and people fleeing violence or persecution for religious, sexual orientation, political reasons, who can be granted asylum rights. As the Libyan authoritarian governments struggled to keep control of the country, it allowed an increase in northbound migrant flows as a tactic to pressure Italy and the EU not to militarily intervene in the country, as Gaddafi feared his regime would be overthrown.

Some Italian towns and cities disobeyed instructions from the national government to house migrants. The Mafia Capitale investigation revealed that the Italian Mafia profited from the migrant crisis and exploited refugees. The murder of Ashley Ann Olsen in her Italian apartment by an illegal immigrant from Senegal rapidly acquired political significance in the context of the European migrant crisis. The police chief of Florence addressed safety concerns and "assur the public that Florence remained safe" in the wake of the Olsen murder.

Since 2014, thousands of migrants have tried every month to cross the Central Mediterranean to Italy, risking their lives on unsafe boats including fishing trawlers. Many of them were fleeing poverty-stricken homelands or war-torn countries and sought economic opportunity within the EU. Italy, and, in particular, its southern island of Lampedusa, received enormous numbers of Africans and Middle-Easterners transported by smugglers and NGOs operating along the ungoverned coast of the failed state of Libya.

There were 153,842 Mediterranean sea arrivals to Italy in 2015, 9 percent less than the previous year; most of the refugees and migrants came from Eritrea, Nigeria, and Somalia, whereas the number of Syrian refugees sharply decreased, as most of them took the Eastern Mediterranean route from Turkey to Greece.

The first three months of 2016 saw an increase in the number of migrants rescued at sea being brought to southern Italian ports. In April 2016, nearly 6,000 mostly sub-Saharan African migrants landed in Italy in four days. In June 2016, over 10,000 migrants were rescued in four days. In 2016, 181,100 migrants arrived in Italy by sea.

In April 2017, more than 8,000 migrants were rescued near Libya and brought to Italy in three days. From January to November 2017, approximately 114,600 migrants arrived in Italy by sea. Approximately 5,000 African migrants were rescued in waters off the coast of Libya between 18 and 20 May 2017.

Since 2013, Italy took in over 700,000 migrants, mainly from sub-Saharan Africa.

In September 2023, Boats, carrying roughly 7,000 migrants—more than the total population of Lampedusa—arrived on the island within the span of 24 hours.

In 2023, 155,754 migrants arrived in Italy, up from 103,846 in 2022.

Controversies regarding NGOs

After 2015, as an increased use of unseaworthy vessels by people smuggling organisations caused a marked increase in accidents at sea involving loss of lives, several European NGOs have started seek and rescue operations in close coordination with Italian Navy and coast guard units. These operations often happen close to Libyan territorial waters at the same time in order not to unlawfully enter Libyan jurisdictions and yet ensure migrants' safety. As per UNCLOS, rescued people are brought to the closer safe harbor, which is in most cases on Italian shore. This effectively means NGOs vessels are covering most of the distance between Libyan and Italian coast. Right-wing Italian newspapers and activists picked on that to make various claims, among which that NGOs active in migrants' assistance and rescue at sea would reap financial profits from their collaboration with the Italian authorities, or that some NGOs are part of unlawful people smuggling operations in coordination with operatives on Libyan coast, and funded by international criminal groups and financial institutions interested in developing political turmoil in Italy. The Italian Parliament investigated these claims and has found them to be unsubstantiated, with no further actions. Regardless of this, right-wing newspapers have continued campaigning against Italian and foreign NGOs.

In August 2017 the ship "Iuventa" operated by the German NGO "Jugend Rettet" (youth to the rescue) was impounded on the island of Lampedusa on the order of an Italian prosecutor on suspicion of facilitating illegal immigration. Jugend Rettet is one of the six out of nine NGOs which refused to sign a new code of conduct by the Italian government covering migrant rescues in the Mediterranean. The prosecutor alleged that there were "contacts, meetings and understandings" between the boat's crew and the smugglers. No crew members from the "Iuventa" had been charged and the prosecutor admitted that their motive was likely humanitarian. (Five out of eight refused to sign the new code of conduct, according to a Guardian article, the others refusing to sign being MSF, the Germany groups Sea-Watch, Sea-Eye and Jugend Rettet, and France's SOS Mediterranée ' abstained'. 'MSF, SOS Mediterranée and Jugend Rettet... called for clarification of the rules' while MOAS and Spanish group Proactiva Open Arms agreed to the conditions, and Save the Children 'backed the measures'.)

The Conte I Cabinet, influenced by hard-line Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, refused to let migrant ships dock in its waters. On 10 June 2018, Salvini announced the closure of Italian ports, stating that "Everyone in Europe is doing their own business, now Italy is also raising its head. Let's stop the business of illegal immigration." The vessel Aquarius, which is operated jointly by Médecins Sans Frontières and SOS Méditerranée and carried more than 600 migrants, was refused a port of disembarkation by the Italian authorities despite having been told to rescue the migrants by the same co-ordination centre. The Italian authority told the vessel to ask Malta to provide a disembarkation port, but Malta has also refused. On the following day, the new Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez accepted the disputed migrant ship. On 12 June 2019, the Sea Watch 3 ship picked up 53 migrants in the Mediterranean off the Libyan coast. Sea Watch 3 rejected an offer to dock at Tripoli, which is considered unsafe by humanitarian organizations, and headed toward Lampedusa. According to a report by the Süddeutsche Zeitung and NGOs this was the nearest safe harbor per maritime law. On 14 June, Italy closed its ports to migrant rescue ships. Salvini refused to allow the ship to dock until other European nations had agreed to take the migrants. Ten of the migrants, including children, pregnant women, and those who were ill, were allowed to disembark. On 29 June, without authorization, ship's captain Carola Rackete decided to dock. The motivation for this was that according to her the passengers were exhausted. Rackete was arrested by the Italian authorities after docking. Matteo Salvini accused Rackete of trying to sink an Italian patrol boat that was attempting to intercept her, calling the incident an act of war and demanding the Netherlands government intervention. However, on 2 July, Rackete was released from house arrest after a court ruling that she had broken no laws and acted to protect passengers' safety.

In August 2019, Salvini announced a motion of no confidence against Prime Minister Conte, after growing tensions within the majority. Salvini's alleged gambit failed, as Conte successfully negotiated the formation of a new cabinet with centre-left Democratic Party, which completely changed the immigration policy of the previous government, returning to receive NGO ships in Italian ports.

Italian naval mission to Libyan waters

On 2 August 2017, Italy's parliament authorized a limited naval mission to Libyan waters aimed at supporting the country's coastguard in the fight against illegal migration. Italy sent two patrol boats at the request of the UN-backed government in Tripoli and insisted it had no intention of violating Libyan sovereignty. However, General Khalifa Haftar, who controls most of eastern Libya, threatened to use his own forces to repel the Italians.

Comparison with other European Union countries 2023

According to Eurostat 59.9 million people lived in the European Union in 2023 who were born outside their resident country. This corresponds to 13.35% of the total EU population. Of these, 31.4 million (9.44%) were born outside the EU and 17.5 million (3.91%) were born in another EU member state.

See also

• Immigration detention in Italy
• 2015 Mediterranean migration crisis
• List of countries by foreign-born population
• Movies about immigration to Italy
• Lampedusa immigrant reception center

Notes

1. The figures for 2002–2011 have been revised downwards as a result of the 15th General Census of Italy which offered more precise data. The figures since 2012 are calculated adding to the foreign population enumerated by the census the foreign population inflows and outflows recorded in all Italian municipalities during each calendar year.
2. Since 2013, the European Union foreign nationals are no longer counted in the immigration statistics. This includes the Romanians, the largest minority group in Italy.

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Further reading

• Cusumano, Eugenio, and Kristof Gombeer. "In deep waters: The legal, humanitarian and political implications of closing Italian ports to migrant rescuers." Mediterranean Politics 25.2 (2020): 245–253. online

• Immigration to Italy
• Demographics of Italy