(back)
State
shelters and private shelters
According
to an investigation conducted in 2002 by the Federazione
Italiana Organismi per le Persone Senza Dimora among its member
organizations on the theme of immigrants and homelessness, 80% of the shelters
(all over Italy) that answered the questionnaires said they have immigrant
guests. Between 90 and 95% of homeless shelters are private-owned, the rest
being state-owned. In theory, State shelters won’t help undocumented people
and will send them to other places, while many private shelters welcome
undocumented people when they have space. Whether they give priority to
nationals depends on the specific shelter. Shelters owned by the Church don’t
tend to discriminate, though they remain cautious due to police controls.
Regarding the
private shelters, there is no legal restriction to provide assistance. The law
does not prohibit providing means of sustenance (food, shelter, clothing, etc.)
to a foreigner present irregularly on Italian territory. What is prohibited is
the exploitation of situations of clandestinity for one’s own financial ends.
The Northern League, part of the current government, has however recently
accused certain organisations (e.g. Caritas) of offering help (also) to foreign
citizens without a permesso di soggiorno to make their illegal stay
easier, to further the ends of the organisation (!).[2]
Problems
Stefano Galliani from FIO.PSD believes the Public Administrations would be facing a far greater problem with undocumented migrants if the private shelters weren’t providing their assistance. However, many people end up on the streets because of the lack of space in these places. Edda Pando from Todo Cambia, a local organization in Milan that helps and fights for the rights of undocumented people, believes there is so little available space in shelters that there is little point sending people all over everywhere to try and find a solution. On the other hand, Stefano Galliani from the Federazione Italiana Organismi per le Persone Senza Dimora (FIO.PSD-Italian Federation of Organizations for the homeless) believes that it is difficult to establish contacts with organizations specializing in helping undocumented migrants because there are so few of these.
Olinto Tommasini from the Unità Operativa Cittadini senza territorio says that undocumented migrants aren’t generally welcome in shelters because these places are often subjected to police controls. He claims that if a migrant has a (invalid) passport, it may be admitted to the shelter, and that even an Italian person without a passport can’t usually be admitted. However, it is easier for women with children to find a place than it is for single men.
Homeless
vs houseless
The FIO.PSD investigation showed that shelters tend to encounter two particular problems for assisting undocumented migrants: a legal and a practical one. First, there aren’t supposed to be undocumented migrants in Italy and thus there shouldn’t be any services for them. Many shelters still help them although they go against the Italian law. Second, homeless services were born and designed for national homeless who have individual difficulties (health and psychological problems, lack of work and housing), not for undocumented homeless who tend to be younger, stronger, and have more projects (but limited by their illegality).
Furthermore,
undocumented migrants’ greater willpower and sense of urgency enables them to
put more pressure on those working in the shelters to help them respond to their
needs and come out of their difficult situation. Indeed many seek work to pay
for some sort of accommodation. However, due to their different needs and causes
of homelessness and their illegal status, shelters cannot offer them the
projects they offer to the ‘legal’ homeless. They thus place themselves in a
difficult situation by taking care of people they don’t have the proper means
to assist. Another problem is that the national homeless sometimes feel
threatened by the greater capacities of undocumented migrants, which may cause
conflicts between these two groups staying in the shelters.
[2] Favé, E., “Social and Economic Aspects of Living Conditions of Undocumented Migrants in Italy” in PICUM. Book of Solidarity (Volume II): Providing Assistance to Undocumented Migrants in France, Spain and Italy. Brussels: PICUM, 2003.