Italian officials appear to be paying closer attention to crimes carried out by illegal migrants—especially sexual offences both against young and older women.
Il Giornale reported on Sunday that “approximately one in five irregular immigrants” have broken the law. That, of course, follows the first offence committed by all illegal migrants—namely, arriving in the country unlawfully.
The paper added that “since it is a hidden and illegal phenomenon, it is impossible to have official estimates,” suggesting that actual figures could be higher. More broadly, it said that data from the past two years “correlates crime and the presence, in Italy, of illegal immigrants.”
On the same day, La Verità led with findings that while illegal migrants make up less than 1% of the population, they are responsible for “9% of the overall misdeeds.”
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said towards the end of last month—on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women—that Europe must take a different approach to both legal and illegal migration if it wishes to reduce the number of crimes against women and girls. Deputy PM Matteo Salvini added that “defending girls also means recognising the inevitable and growing incidence of foreign aggressors.”
Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi later stressed that it is not enough to look at illegal migration in isolation, saying:
The fact remains that 65% of crimes in [Milan] are committed by foreign citizens. A figure that clearly shows how it is not at all sufficient to simply regularise those who have entered our country illegally. Those who think that integration only happens through the issuing of a residence permit are wrong.
Meloni hopes that Italy will become a “model to follow” in Europe when it comes to dealing with illegal migration and has already received praise for her results.
