Introduction

This chapter aims at highlighting why Italy has not yet ratified the ICRMW, on the basis of interviews with various representatives of Italian society who in one way or another have dealings with migrants' rights: trade unions, NGOs, politicians and academics. It focuses on different kinds of possible obstacles (cultural, social, legal and political) and aims to show what role each of these categories plays in the non-ratification of the Convention. The research is largely based on interviews, as the Convention does not receive a great deal of attention from the academic community in Italy and thus very few sources are available on this subject.

Italy, as with many other developed countries faced with the absence of a willing domestic workforce, increasingly looks outside its borders for low-skilled workers. Migrant workers and irregular migrants from poorer countries have stepped in to fill the demand. In addition, receiving countries concerned with deregulating the labour market and making it more flexible have made it easier for cost-conscious and competition-minded employers to exploit migrant workers – at the expense of formal employment and human rights protections. This is especially true as the informal sector or ‘underground economy’ has expanded in wealthy countries, providing increased risks and rewards for immigrants (Cholewinski, 2005). As shown below, the underground economy is rather significant in Italy, and this has been identified during this research as one motive for not putting into place a legal framework granting rights to irregular migrants.