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EU Migrants' Advisers keep their diaries here while on work placement in Europe
Dear all,
Here’s another interesting aspect that I thought it’s worth mentioning about immigration to Italy, and the Italian ‘response’ to this phenomenon.
On the one hand, my Italian host organisation, Casa dei Diritti Sociali (CDS) defines itself as working with laypeople as volunteers (Associazione di volontariato laico che si occupa di lotta all’esclusione ed alle povertà per migranti, rifugiati e minoranze).
On the other hand, in order to have a broader image of efforts directed to solving the problems of immigration in Italy, one couldn’t make abstraction of the Catolic Church’s involvement in this area.
In this respect, I came across a very interesting article in the American newspaper The Los Angeles Times:
[English text] http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-catholic-muslim-20100719,0,6099591.story
Hi Bogdan,
I had a read of the article…..it is very annoying for me that religion is so much involved into politics…..will this ever end?…..I don’t think so, as it was always there and, unfortunately, at the root of so many wars…..
I am a religios person, but I do not agree with all this….
One very interesting Italian website relevant to our exchange programme is this one called ‘Foreigners in Italy’:
[mainly Italian texts but not only] http://www.stranieriinitalia.it/
A section that I recommend for anyone willing to learn more about the situation of immigrants to Italy is the one that links to guides on different themes like legalizing one’s status, fiscal matters, education, health etc:
[multilingual] http://www.stranieriinitalia.it/guide_sull_immigrazione.html
For example, here is how foreigners can register with the national health system (Servizio Sanitario Nationale) and get the mostly the same medical coverage as Italian citizens:
[English text] http://www.stranieriinitalia.it/guida_alla_salute_in_otto_lingue-medical_assistance_1796.html
Greetings to everyone!
I very well know that our exchange programme concerns the intra-EU migration of European citizens, however, I think it could be useful for all of us to learn what the European Commission has recently proposed regarding third-country seasonal workers:
http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/seasonal-workers.137
***
I think it’s an interesting proposal, because:
1) it does not interefere with the EU member states’ to accept or not this type of workers
but
2) it tries to give some protection to these people once they are being offered such a work contract by a EU employer
Other interesting aspects of the proposal:
a) it creates a standard seasonal work time (6 months)
b) it facilitates re-entry procedures, with a 3-year permit (3 seasons)
c) it stipulates the necessity of written work contracts
d) it grants the same rights to third-country workers as those of national workers, in matters related to a specific work
***
Sadly enough, sometimes seasonal agricultural workers have a real tough time in other EU countries, irrespective of the fact that they are EU citizens, as a summary of an article of mine shows:
[English text] http://www.gandul.info/english/romanians-bondservants-on-a-danish-count-fields-6433696
Is anyone aware of similar situations? I could offer at least one example of Bulgarian and Romanian seasonal workes being unfairly treated in the UK:
[Romanian text] http://munteanuk.blogspot.com/2009/07/la-munca-in-uk-7-working-in-uk.html
Unfortunately, some ‘technical problems’ (limited access to the internet) have prevented me from blogging in ‘real time’ about what I have been doing in Rome for the past days: http://munteanuk.blogspot.com/2010/06/all-roads-lead-to-rome-toate-drumurile.html
Nevertheless, although my ten days are due to end soon, I can report a bit about what I did, hoping that I could keep blogging afterwards about various issues, and things that I learned during my stay here.
***
In a nutshell, this is what I have been doing here:
DAY 1
- learned a bit about the CDS (Casa dei Diritti Sociali) structure and watched immigrants coming for help
- assisted at a meeting of volunteer teachers of Italian for immigrants, learning some intersting things concerning how these people can learn better, and the challenges of teaching Italian in a famous prison of Rome (CAarcere di Regina Coeli)
DAY 2
- I discussed with immigrants coming to the CDS office near Stazione Termini (Rome’s biggest train station); as long as I happen to speak English & French (but no Italian), I mostly spoke to people coming from outside the EU (African countries in particular)
- from 21:00 t0 23:30, I was part in the street unit of Roxanne Project – a project of the municipality (Comuna di Roma) and CDS trying to approach prostitutes and invite them to medical facilities where they are received irrespective of their legal status in Italy
DAY 3
- took part in some Italian classes (taught by volunteers) to immigrants from all over the world
- participated in a seminar related to the game of chess as an ‘intercultural tool’ to help integrate immigrants
DAY 4
- visited a camp for Roma people, and assisted a social worker in her programe for small children (up to 10 years old)
- the concrete result of my visit was a full page newspaper article about life in such a camp (for anyone who can read Romanian): http://www.gandul.info/international/sa-ne-intoarcem-in-romania-n-avem-ce-sa-facem-acolo-nu-merge-nimic-viata-intr-o-tabara-de-rromi-de-la-roma-6452597
DAY 5
- preparing the above mentioned article, and analysing statistical data of migration to Italy in the past years
- assisting in the activity of counselling at the CDS office near Stazione Termini
DAY 6
- sightseeing in Rome
DAY 7
- attended the Divine Liturgy at a Romanian Orthodox church in Rome, and afterwards spoke to the priest and to some Romanians about their every day challenges as migrant workers
- sightseeing in Rome
DAY 8
- participated in the activities at the Intercultural Summer Centre at Scuola di Donato (a school in Rome with many immigrant pupils); it was a true lesson about how volunteering parents can actually ‘work wonders’ with little resources – I wish all European parents (Italian, Romanian etc) would be as involved in the education of their children as these parents were!
DAY 9
- visited the CDS office in Tivoli (35 km from Rome), a little town with an ancient history, which now has a high percentage of Romanians
- learned about the problems of immigrants, CDS activities, the links between Tivoli and Vrancea county (where from most Romanians came to Tivoli), the problem of racism in Italy, established useful contacts etc
DAY 10
- took part in a daytime street unit of Roxanne Project, in the outskirts of Rome
***
Concerning what exactly I learned throughout the mentioned experiences, I guess I will have to blog about that from Romania.
We are all looking forward to finding answers to these questions, Bogdan. Those who see the “threatening”aspects of migration have their own model of the world, as well as those on the move. Trying to walk a mile on someone’s shoes…and the problem with that someone is more than half solved. Anyway, this is the philosohical side of Flowchart…:-)
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I am now some 15 hours before, God willing, reaching Rome for the first time in my life, where I’m due to be hosted by FOCUS (http://www.dirittisociali.org/).
Obviously, I’m pretty curious about visiting a country where over one million Romanians have settled since 2002. As a journalist (http://www.gandul.info/), I often had to deal with the many (real or exaggerated) problems caused by Romanian migrants to Italy, and heard complaints from both countries.
Getting “both sides of the story” is not always easy, but I’m hoping this FLOWCHART project will be very helpful. There surely must be an opportunity coming along any so-called ‘problem’.
Like someone once said… “Get to know your problem, more than likely it`s your friend – not your enemy.”
Collaborating with NACAB (http://www.robcc.ro/en/) since 2008, I had the chance to give little speeches on EU issues, and moderate citizen debates in various places throughout Romania. Migration within the EU was one of the people’s concerns.
Some wrongly see only ‘threatening’ aspects of migration in the EU, while actually labour mobility in Europe is not as as strong as in the USA (free) of China (controlled by the state).
Is the legitimate will of European citizens to find better job really a ‘threat’ or a solution to the EU’s economic problems?
I’m looking forward to finding answers to this question and many others in Rome, on this blog and during the entire exchange programme, which I hope will serve as a tremendous ‘networking’ opportunity for all of us!