IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/joimai/v24y2023i4d10.1007_s12134-023-01042-8.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Two Emergencies of Migrant-Related Policies in Italy During the First Wave of COVID-19: the Spread of the Virus and the Workforce Shortages

Author

Listed:
  • Nicola Montagna

    (Middlesex University London)

Abstract

Italy was the first European country touched by COVID-19 and one of the most severely affected, with a death toll that overtook China’s by mid-March 2020. As a result, lockdown measures aiming to mitigate — and eventually interrupt — the spread of COVID-19 proliferated during the first wave of the pandemic. The vast majority of these concerned the resident population, regardless of their status or country of origin, and mainly involved the closure of public offices and proscription of private activities with the aim of reducing mobility and social and physical contacts. Only a few concerned the foreign population and arriving irregular migrants. This article analyses migrant-related policy measures taken by the Italian government during the first wave of the pandemic that aimed to prevent infection and reduce the impact of COVID-19 among the population. These measures addressed two emergencies: the spread of COVID-19 that hit the resident population hard, regardless of origin or nationality, and the workforce shortages in some key economic sectors with a high number of irregular migrant workers. The former aimed at containing the spread of the virus (sections 4 and 5) and targeted foreigners already residing in Italy as well as irregular migrants arriving along the Mediterranean route; the latter aimed at addressing workforce shortages (section 6) as a result of borders that were closed to external seasonal migration. This article is a contribution to the debate on changes to migration and migrant policy, and how these impacted on migration and foreign populations during the pandemic.

Suggested Citation

  • Nicola Montagna, 2023. "The Two Emergencies of Migrant-Related Policies in Italy During the First Wave of COVID-19: the Spread of the Virus and the Workforce Shortages," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 24(4), pages 1817-1833, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:joimai:v:24:y:2023:i:4:d:10.1007_s12134-023-01042-8
    DOI: 10.1007/s12134-023-01042-8
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s12134-023-01042-8
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s12134-023-01042-8?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Elliot Clissold & Davina Nylander & Cameron Watson & Antonio Ventriglio, 2020. "Pandemics and prejudice," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 66(5), pages 421-423, August.
    2. Ibrahim Sirkeci & Mustafa Murat Yucesahin, 2020. "Coronavirus and Migration: Analysis of Human Mobility and the Spread of Covid-19," Migration Letters, Migration Letters, vol. 17(2), pages 1-20, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Nano Prawoto & Eko Priyo Purnomo & Abitassha Az Zahra, 2020. "The Impacts of Covid-19 Pandemic on Socio-Economic Mobility in Indonesia," International Journal of Economics & Business Administration (IJEBA), International Journal of Economics & Business Administration (IJEBA), vol. 0(3), pages 57-71.
    2. Şeyda Koca Peker, 2022. "Changing Migration Mobility and Migration Policies During the Covid-19 Process," Journal of Social Policy Conferences, Istanbul University, Faculty of Economics, issue 83, pages 179-195, December.
    3. Sorin Cheval & Cristian Mihai Adamescu & Teodoro Georgiadis & Mathew Herrnegger & Adrian Piticar & David R. Legates, 2020. "Observed and Potential Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Environment," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(11), pages 1-25, June.
    4. Margubur Rahaman & Avijit Roy & Pradip Chouhan & Kailash Chandra Das & Md Juel Rana, 2021. "Risk of COVID-19 Transmission and Livelihood Challenges of Stranded Migrant Labourers during Lockdown in India," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 64(3), pages 787-802, September.
    5. Qianqian Sun & Weiyi Zhou & Aliakbar Kabiri & Aref Darzi & Songhua Hu & Hannah Younes & Lei Zhang, 2023. "COVID‐19 and income profile: How communities in the United States responded to mobility restrictions in the pandemic's early stages," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(3), pages 541-558, April.
    6. Natalia Maslii & Maryna Demianchuk & Igor Britchenko & Maksym Bezpartochnyi, 2022. "Modeling Migration Changes According To Alternative Scenarios in the Context of the Global COVID-19 Pandemic: The Example of Ukraine," Economic Studies journal, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences - Economic Research Institute, issue 1, pages 58-71.
    7. Jumadi Jumadi & Vidya N. Fikriyah & Hamim Z. Hadibasyir & Muhammad I. T. Sunariya & Kuswaji D. Priyono & Noor A. Setiyadi & Steve J. Carver & Paul D. Norman & Nick S. Malleson & Arif Rohman & Aynaz Lo, 2022. "Spatiotemporal Accessibility of COVID-19 Healthcare Facilities in Jakarta, Indonesia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-14, November.
    8. Cristi Raceanu, 2022. "Statistical Analysis Of The Influence Of Covid-19 On Population Migration," Annals - Economy Series, Constantin Brancusi University, Faculty of Economics, vol. 1, pages 248-253, February.
    9. Jošić Hrvoje, 2020. "The socio-economic catalysers of COVID-19 pandemic," Croatian Review of Economic, Business and Social Statistics, Sciendo, vol. 6(2), pages 12-26, December.
    10. Robert J. R. Elliott & Ingmar Schumacher & Cees Withagen, 2020. "Suggestions for a Covid-19 Post-Pandemic Research Agenda in Environmental Economics," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 76(4), pages 1187-1213, August.
    11. Syed Rafsan Ali & Syed Abul Basher & Zaeem-Al Ehsan, 2025. "Economic vulnerability amidst COVID-19: a district-level analysis of Bangladesh using satellite nightlight data," Asia-Pacific Journal of Regional Science, Springer, vol. 9(1), pages 297-326, March.
    12. Francisco Javier Lacarcel & Raquel Huete, 2023. "Digital communication strategies used by private companies, entrepreneurs, and public entities to attract long-stay tourists: a review," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 19(2), pages 691-708, June.
    13. Małgorzata Dudzińska & Marta Gwiaździńska-Goraj & Aleksandra Jezierska-Thöle, 2022. "Social Factors as Major Determinants of Rural Development Variation for Predicting Epidemic Vulnerability: A Lesson for the Future," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-24, October.
    14. Perrings, Charles & Espinoza, Baltazar, 2021. "Mobility Restrictions and the Control of COVID-19," Ecology, Economy and Society - the INSEE Journal, Indian Society of Ecological Economics (INSEE), vol. 4(01), January.
    15. Annamaria Nese, 2023. "Migrations in Italy and Perceptions of Ethnic Threat," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 939-968, September.
    16. Carr, Joel & James, Jonathan & Clifton-Sprigg, Joanna & Vujic, Suncica, 2022. "Hate in the Time of COVID-19: Racial Crimes against East Asians," IZA Discussion Papers 15718, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    17. Albu, Lucian-Liviu, 2020. "How much will the Coronavirus pandemic expand?," MPRA Paper 99862, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Lucian Liviu ALBU & Ciprian Ion PREDA & Radu LUPU, 2020. "Estimates on the dynamics of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the economy," Working Papers of Institute for Economic Forecasting 200518, Institute for Economic Forecasting.
    19. Yanting Zheng & Jinyuan Huang & Qiuyue Yin, 2021. "What Are the Reasons for the Different COVID-19 Situations in Different Cities of China? A Study from the Perspective of Population Migration," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-16, March.
    20. repec:ist:iujspc:v:0:y:2022:i:83:p:179-195 is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Lucian Liviu ALBU & Ciprian Ion PREDA & Radu LUPU & Carmen Elena DOBROTĂ & George Marian CĂLIN & Claudia M. BOGHICEVICI, 2020. "Estimates of Dynamics of the Covid19 Pandemic and of its Impact on the Economy," Journal for Economic Forecasting, Institute for Economic Forecasting, vol. 0(2), pages 5-17, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:joimai:v:24:y:2023:i:4:d:10.1007_s12134-023-01042-8. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.