Anziano e inclusione socio-culturale: i diritti culturali degli immigrati di “prima generazione”

The chapter analyses the challenges of the socio-cultural integration of the “elderly foreigners” in the multicultural society: the social and cultural inclusion in the national society and in the services that its constitutional system provides of those foreigners belonging to new minorities that have reached the “third age”. This is a problem that is currently emerging in all the countries of the “Western world”, including Italy. While it is true that migrants are usually “young” individuals, it is also true that, in Italy’s case, the first large migratory flows from Albania and Northern Africa started in the 80s, and therefore the individuals that arrived on the national territory in that historical moment are now entering the advanced phases of their existences. These individuals are affected by a condition of double (or, in some cases, triple) vulnerability, as they are, at the same time, elderly, belonging to a cultural minority, and, often, non-citizens. This means that they are at a noticeable disadvantage when it comes to the full enjoyment of constitutional (civil, political, social, economic and cultural) rights and the possibility of fully developing their personality. The chapter highlight how the “elderly foreigner” is not – unlike other categories of vulnerable foreigners (such as minors or mothers) – the recipient of special protections in national immigration (and integration) law. It examines some selected examples of best practices (especially at the local level, and/or with the involvement of the “third sector”) that have started to surface to address the growing issue of facilitating the socio-cultural integration of “elderly foreigners”. The chapter argues that these practices are undoubtably implementing the fundamental personalist, pluralist and solidarist principles (article 2 Cost.), as well as the principle of equality (article 3 Cost.), but they cannot replace, in the long term, a structural intervention by the national legislator.