Investigating the link between migration and development in Italy

The Caritas project: reception and integration in the Piedmont region

Location Piedmont region, Italy.

Duration April – September 2017

Client  Caritas Piemonte e Valle d’Aosta, GREM (Gruppo Regionale di Educazione alla Mondialità).

Framework The activity was carried out as part of the Migration & Development project.

Context

In recent years, Europe has been affected by significant migratory flows, as a large number of asylum seekers have arrived in Greece and Italy. The quality of reception has become a hot button issue and it is linked to the extent to which adequate accommodation facilities and integration processes have been set up and implemented.  The integration process has a profound influence on larger socio-economic trends and development in both host countries and the various countries of origin.

General objective

The ultimate goal of the Migration & Development project is to create deeper insight into the main causes of migration and understand how migrants can trigger development.

Our contribution

ARCO’s research focused on understanding how the reception system works and how Caritas’ various socio-economic integration projects reinforce the link between migration and development. ARCO analysed the well-being and integration levels of different categories of migrants, as well as their impact on the host countries and the countries of origin.

Our efforts focused on:

  • Asylum seekers, international protection holders, and migrants whose asylum requests were either rejected or accepted by local Caritas reception facilities
  • Reception facilities and integration projects in six provinces in the Piedmont Region of Italy

A participatory approach was used to collect data, with special emphasis on focus groups and questionnaires, and interviews with people who work at reception facilities and projects promoted by Caritas and key national and international stakeholders.

Read more on our Local Development Unit