Minorities in Italy
Main languages: Italian, German, French, Greek, Albanian, Ladin, Slovene, Sardu, Friulian, Occitan
Linguistic minorities include Sardu-speakers 1 million, Tyrolese German-speakers 350,000, Albanians 70,000 – 100,000, Slovenes 60,000, Franco-Provençal-speakers 50,000 – 70,000, Occitans 20,000 – 40,000, Ladins 30,000, Catalans 15,000, Greek-speakers 12,000 and Croatians 3,000, as well as Friulians 600,000.
The Italian Roma community is one of the largest ethnic minorities in the country. Due to the lack of disaggregated data the size of the community remains uncertain, with Council of Europe estimates of between 120,000 and 180,000. A significant proportion do not have Italian citizenship.
Italy has a growing foreign population in the country, amounting to more than 5.1 million registered inhabitants. This includes include Romanians 1,190,100, Albanians 440,500, Moroccans 416,500, Ukrainians 237,000, Chinese 290,700, Philippinos 167,900 and Indians 151,800.
Italy has historically been an overwhelmingly Catholic country, but this is now changing as significant numbers of Italians now self-identify as non-practising or atheists. Among Italian citizens, 3.5 per cent of the population are estimated to belong to religious minorities, including a range of non-Catholic Christians denominations (Protestants 471,300, Jehovah’s Witnesses 425,500, Orthodox 272,200 and other smaller groups), as well as Muslims 367,100, Buddhists 179,000, Hindus 41,700, Jews 36,600, Sikhs 17,200, Bahá’í 4,300 and others.
However, these figures do not include Italy’s growing immigrant population, a large proportion of whom adhere to non-Catholic religious beliefs. Indeed, when the immigration population is also factored in, the proportion of religious minorities in Italy rises to 9.7 per cent. Among the immigrant population, religious minorities include Muslims 1,641,800, Hindus 150,800, Buddhists 113,900 and Jews 4,600 as well as Orthodox 1,505,000, Protestants 216,800 and other Christian groups.
While Italy has experienced decades of immigration, in recent years tensions have risen as the debate around migration and diversity has become increasingly politicized. Against a backdrop of economic stagnation, right-wing political parties have enjoyed a resurgence in popular support, capitalizing on growing fears of minorities and migrants in the country. Though rooted in a history of racism, anti-migrant sentiment has also intensified in response to the European refugee crisis, beginning in 2015, that has seen hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers and migrants arrive in Italy, primarily from Libya. In this context, the far-right has enjoyed a surge in popularity, while minorities and migrants in the country have found themselves subjected to increasing vilification.
The political response to migration and the drowning of thousands of those who attempted the crossing has shifted over time. In response to the rising death toll, in October 2013 Italian authorities implemented a year-long humanitarian programme, Operation Mare Nostrum, with Italian naval patrols offering search-and-rescue operations in the Mediterranean. Though the initiative is credited with saving thousands of lives, for political and economic reasons it was not renewed after it expired in October 2014. Instead it was replaced by Operation Triton, managed by Frontex, with a focus on border security rather than rescue – a move that many human rights groups believe has cost many lives, despite the efforts of NGOs and other non-state actors to fill the gap. This approach was brought into question in April 2015 when more than 1,200 people died in two separate shipwrecks: the boats capsized as the ‘rescue’ cargo boats were approaching them to save the passengers in distress. In the wake of these episodes resources for Triton were increased, though the priority has remained on border management. Italy’s agreement in 2017 with the Libyan government, committing to provide support to the interception and detention of migrants in Libyan territory, has also been widely criticized in the context of the widespread human rights violations, including torture and sexual assault, perpetrated on migrants by Libyan border guards and security officials.
But migration has also come to play an increasingly prominent role in Italy’s internal politics, particularly with the rise of right-wing political groups such as Lega Nord (Northern League). The party, which began as a regionalist party focused primarily on secession of northern Italy from the poorer south of the country, first capitalized on strong social divisions within the country to trade in stereotypes of southerners that associated them with crime, lack of development and corruption. Latterly, however, particularly under the leadership of Matteo Salvini, the party has adapted these tactics to the vilifiation of migrants and asylum seekers. This shift has brought Lega Nord nationwide popularity and substantial gains in the 2018 elections, where its share of the popular vote rose from 4.1 to 17.7 per cent, making it the third largest party in Italy. The success was driven in large part by the party’s reorientation towards nationalist rather than regionalist rhetoric and its attacks on immigrants, frequently blaming them for a range of social ills including economic decline, criminality and terrorism.
Since his appointment in June 2018 as Interior Minister, Salvini has implemented a range of hostile measures towards asylum seekers and migrants, including refusing entry to rescue ships operated by NGOs at Italian ports. In September 2018, the last nongovernmental ship undertaking rescues off the Libyan coast, the Aquarius, was forced out of operation after Italy pressured Panama to revoke the use of its flag, with the Italian government subsequently calling for its seizure, alleging it had released toxic waste. Other laws passed during 2018 have also seen the limited protections offered refugees reduced even further. At the same time, authorities continue to turn a blind eye to the widespread exploitation of migrant workers in Italy, many of whom work long hours for little pay in inhumane conditions.
Salvini’s rhetoric has helped cement growing xenophobic sentiment not only towards asylum seekers and migrants, but also towards other ethnic and religious minorities within Italy. Racism in Italy is not a recent phenomenon, however, as illustrated by the treatment of the country’s African minority. While many African immigrants have struggled to secure citizenship, even after decades in the country, naturalized African-Italians have also faced widespread discrimination and abuse. This was illustrated by the treatment of Cécile Kyenge Kashetu, a former Integration Minister and now a European Minister of Parliament who was born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. She was frequently been the victim of racist slurs and attacks not only by members of the general public, but also senior politicians: for instance, Roberto Calderoli, a Lega Nord senator, compared her to an orangutan in 2013. This incident points to a much wider problem of racism within Italy, tragically highlighted in February 2018 when a far-right extremist and former failed candidate for the Lega Nord party wounded six Africans in the town of Macerata. The attack was apparently carried in revenge for the murder of Pamela Mastropietro, following the arrest of three Nigerian suspects.
Another historically marginalized minority, now also a target for Salvini and the Lega Nord, is Italy’s Roma population. Numbering between 120,000 and 180,000, a significant proportion of whom lack Italian citizenship. Long stigmatized, thousands of Roma live on the outskirts of major cities, often segregated in camps and in inadequate living conditions. At the same time, their situation has been made even more precarious as a result of repeated evictions that, besides leaving many families homeless, have further undermined their ability to access services or sustainable livelihoods. For example, in May 2019 Italian authorities forcibly evicted an estimated 500 Roma from their settlement in Giugliano, Campania, including children, pregnant women and elderly persons. Salvini has further entrenched popular prejudice towards Roma since his appointment by calling in June 2018 for the expulsion of all non-Italian Roma and a nationwide census of all Roma in the country. While a targeted census would likely be barred as unconstitutional, the proposal nevertheless highlights the ability of the Lega Nord to exploit stigmatized communities for political gain and has been compared by rights groups with policies implemented during Italy’s fascist era.
https://minorityrights.org/country/italy/
