2) The migration of Foreign Unaccompanied Minors – ITALY

The immigration into Italy of unaccompanied minors, as a mass phenomenon, dates back to the early 90’s.
With the fall in Tirana of the last and most backward bulwark of the communist regime of the former Iron Curtain.
In the wake of the hundreds of thousands adults who, crammed in old ‘shipwrecks’ attempt to leave their ill-conditioned land, also conspicuous groups of minors started to enter our country.

As it is showed by the results of the first census which was carried out in December 2000 by the Committee for Foreign Minors.
Out of 8.307 minors who were registered, in fact, 5.744 equal to 69% were ethnic Albanians.
A real exodus that, initially mainly regarded the Region of Apulia and, then many other Italian regions.

All this occurs in the framework of illegal immigration, which is mainly controlled, both at departure and arrival, by powerful and ferocious criminal clans. However, since 1998, thanks to new and stricter border controls; to the introduction of the residence permit for minors, which envisaged more stringent rules on the possibility for minors to stay on the territory after reaching the age of majority; to the Albanian-Italian joint patrol of the Otranto channel; to the slow but steady improvement of Albanian economy;

The flow of arrivals from that country significantly decreased. A vacuum that was quickly filled by Romanian minors.
In fact, in 2003 they were second in the ranking of presences and starting from 2004 to 2006 they reached the top of it.
Nevertheless, it is not enough. In 2004, in fact, the number of Albanian minors was surpassed, not only by Romanians but rather by those minors coming from Morocco. Who, starting from 2007, when Romania entered the European Union, constitute the most conspicuous community.

In this rapid process of replacement of the countries of origin, other presences of minors coming from different geographic areas started to be recorded: Palestine, Iraq, Egypt and Afghanistan.
In fact, since 2009 Egyptians and Afghans are the most numerous after Moroccans.

In conclusion, the phenomenon of the foreign unaccompanied minors in Italy has:

a) decreased during the last decade, and signalling too has declined from 8307 in 2000 to 6200 in 2009. Especially, after a considerable reduction of the number of arrivals (in Sicily, for instance, from 01/01/2009 to 15/09/2009 the new signals were 520 against 3680 of 2008 and the 1352 in 2007);
b) it is composed by males aged between 15 and17 that migrated for economic reasons with the active consent of the families;
c) Lazio, Marche and the Region of Apulia are the main access points for Afghan minors in Italy.
The Adriatic Sea has become in the last years their most important transit station;
d) the category of minors in search for international protection is on the increase.

In 2008, according to the data of (SPRAR), 537 requests have been submitted, of which 56 on behalf of females minors.
The most numerous nationalities: Afghan (200), Somali (69), Nigerian (66), Eritrean (49), Ghanaian (36), Ivorian (20).

The forms of protection that were recognised were basically three: refugee status (29,6%), subsidiary protection (31,3%) and humanitarian reasons (18,6%).

See Also:

1) The migration of foreign unaccompanied minors – EUROPE