Indvandrere i Italien fulgte tidligere på måneden eksemplet fra en række andre sydeuropæiske lande og gennemførte en endages-strejke. Det skete i protest mod bølgen af anti-indvandrer-retorik og for at vise, at indvandrerne spiller en vigtig rolle for Italiens økonomi.
Italien har på det seneste oplevet flere tilfælde af voldelige sammenstød mellem unge indvandrere og italienere. Forud for de regionale valg, der finder sted senere i denne måned, har man også set premierminister Silvio Berlusconi skrue op for indvandrerkritikken.
Det kan være taktisk smart, men økonomisk uklogt:
"[...] various studies suggest that immigrant labor has become a fundamental component of the Italian economy.
“Many Italians are convinced that immigrants are a burden, but in fact they have a very positive effect on our welfare system,” said Maurizio Ambrosini, a professor of the sociology of migration at the University of Milan, pointing out that Italian families have become increasingly dependant on foreign caregivers to look after their children and elderly parents. The construction industry, too, is heavily dependant on foreigners, particularly from East European countries, he added. “If anything, Italy constantly needs new waves of immigrants,” he said.
Statistics published last autumn by the Catholic Caritas Migrants foundation suggested that the 4.5 million legal immigrants in Italy (about 7.2 percent of the population) contribute about 10 percent of the country’s gross domestic product, often in jobs snubbed by Italians."
