Rome, October 15 - Italians view immigration as a threat to Italy but one that offers the country economic benefits, according to new research published on Monday.
The study by the French research institute TNT Sofres, which interviewed around 4,800 adults in five European countries, found that Italians had conflicting feelings about immigrants.
One in two believe immigrants are an economic advantage to Italy, a figure that rises to nearly 70% when questioned about foreigners' willingness to provide unskilled labour.
However, nearly a third of the 953 Italians questioned said they also viewed foreigners as a threat, posing a danger to Italy's cultural identity above all.
The study pinpointed two key concerns among Italians with regard to immigration. First, was the problem of illegal immigration, which worried three quarters of those questioned.
The second major issue was the "excessive number" of foreigners living in Italy, a concern for 57% of Italians polled.
Nearly two thirds of those questioned blamed the government for failing to develop adequate immigration policies.
Asked what policies they felt were important, 77% of respondents said tackling illegal immigration, 70% cited quotas on jobs for immigrants and 50% called for a greater focus on migrants' countries of origin.
Although 53% of Italians said immigrants themselves were to blame if they were unable to integrate properly with the host country, less then 40% viewed different religions and lifestyle as a problem for Italy.
SURVEY BACKS RESULTS OF ITALIAN STUDY.
The survey, commissioned by France 24, a French state- backed satellite news channel, was published less than a week after the results of another major piece of research into Italian attitudes towards immigrants.
Thursday saw the release of a study involving 3,000 people, commissioned by the Italian interior ministry and carried out by market research institute Makno.
The survey found a similarly conflicting attitude among Italians, which Interior Minister Giuliano Amato said highlighted "the complexity of the problem".
While nearly 56% of those questioned said they were in favour of immigration, a quarter were "categorically opposed", and a further 19% said they were "fairly opposed".
According to researchers, this hostility stemmed chiefly from a perceived lack of resources.
"It is not about racism but about a fear that there are not enough resources to go round," the study claimed, citing jobs, the cost of housing and health services as the areas over which Italians expressed greatest concern.
"This is because they believe the presence of foreigners has made their own position worse," it explained.
But the survey also found that misinformation and some particularly worrying prejudices were feeding hostility.
The ideas that half of Italy's foreigners are in the country illegally and that the number of immigrants arriving in Italy has risen a "great deal" in recent years were the two main misconceptions identified by pollsters, cited by 54% and 60% of respondents.
Prejudices over nationality were also prevalent, with Slavs, Albanians and Romanians perceived as the most dangerous immigrants.
Some expressed "distaste" towards Roma gypsies and "fear" towards North Africans, while their greatest hostility was reserved for Muslim Arabs.
In terms of integration, the Italian survey, like the French one, indicated that people believe the onus should lie with foreigners.
A job and home were considered fundamental, followed by a desire to follow Italian laws and customs, and being able to speak the language.
CHANGING IMMIGRATION POLICIES.
But, speaking at the presentation of the research, Minister Amato stressed his government had no plans to make fluency in Italian a compulsory prerequisite for would-be immigrants.
Referring to a new Dutch law that makes knowledge of the language obligatory, Amato said his own experience had shown him the dangers of such rules.
"My aunt would never have got into the United States if such a law had been in force when she entered, given that she barely spoke a word of English at the time," he said.
But he stressed that foreigners applying for citizenship would be required to show they spoke Italian and supported certain Italian values.
The minister also underscored the importance of immigrants for the country's future.
"Italy's population is aging at a frightening rate," he said. "If things continue as they are now, we will have as many people over the age of 80 as under the age of 20 by 2040".
Persisting in "ideological prejudices" against immigration would condemn Italy to decline, he warned.
Economy Minister Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa made a similar point during a meeting with the European Parliament over the weekend.
"Immigration is both necessary, because Europe's population is not growing, and inevitable, because you cannot prevent people from moving around," he said.
Italy is in the process of overhauling its immigration laws, as the centre-left majority coalition seeks to relax tough measures introduced by the last government.
