Italian citizens favor policies that provide a pathway to regularization for irregular migrants, according to a study conducted in five European countries by researchers from the European University Institute (EUI) in Italy and Uppsala University in Sweden.
Across Italy and Europe, citizens prefer policies that offer irregular migrants a route to legal status under certain conditions rather than denying them this opportunity.
Italy is the most supportive of inclusive policies
The study surveyed 20,000 people across Italy, the United Kingdom, Poland, Sweden, and Austria as part of the "Protecting Irregular Migrants in Europe (PRIME): Institutions, Interests, and Policies" project, funded by the European Union through the Horizon Europe research program.
Contrary to the dominant narrative, the findings highlight Italy as the most supportive country among those studied when it comes to adopting inclusive policies for migrants.
Participants were given various policy options concerning social rights, labor protections, and healthcare for irregular migrants, along with "regularization programs" offering pathways to legal status.
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Healthcare access preferred over financial aid
The study also found that primary healthcare access for irregular migrants is preferred over providing financial subsidies for low-income individuals.
Public support for healthcare access varies across countries, but Italy recorded the highest level of support for inclusive policies in multiple areas examined. For example, while financial aid for low-income irregular migrants received little or no support overall, Italy was the only country where respondents were more ambivalent, showing no clear preference for or against such policies.
According to Martin Ruhs, project lead for PRIME, "The results show that residents in Italy and the EU reject simplistic policies, such as a blanket opposition to granting legal status to irregular migrants. Instead, they prefer policies that differentiate between different categories of irregular migrants and the rights they should have access to."
"This does not mean that our respondents want to grant unconditional legal status and rights to all irregular migrants. Rather, it shows that citizens have more nuanced views on migration management than policymakers often acknowledge," he added.
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